Tuesday Minute
No. 113 | June 8, 2010

Derrick and the Dominoes

Our theme this week
Films about oil, and what it does to people

Featured this week (theme introduction)
Monday         —   Giant (1956)

The Wages of Fear (1953)

A classic of European cinema from the 1950s, The Wages of Fear won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, the Golden Bear at Berlin, and Best Film at the BAFTA Awards.

An oil well in South America catches fire, and the company that runs it—a U.S. corporation called SOC (those initials ring a bell?)—hires four men to transport nitroglycerin to the well site for the fire to be extinguished.  The men—two Frenchman, a Dutchman, and an Italian—had been stranded in the isolated village of Las Piedras.  The job is their ticket out, and they take it, lured by the promise of high pay—$2,000 per driver.  It’s a perilous journey, across mountain roads in poor condition, with cargo that’s extremely hazardous.  Will the trucks make it?  Will the men survive?  Those are the questions in doubt.

The movie is a thriller, in part, with French director Henri-Georges Clouzot squeezing maximum tension from every scene, every twist and bump of the road.  There’s also a political angle.  The oil company exploits the local workers, then when the accident occurs, they hire nonunion foreign nationals, with little regard for their safety.  Clouzot’s handling of the men’s fate is a not-very-subtle statement.

The acting includes some notewothy portrayals, including Yves Montand as the playboy Mario, and Charles Vanel as ex-gangster Jo.  The director’s wife, Véra Clouzot, who appeared in three of her husband’s movies (most notably, Diabolique), plays one of the local women.

The success of the film led to a couple of American remakes, including Sorcerer, in 1977, directed by William Friedkin and starring Roy Scheider.

---

The Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la Peur) (1953)
Henri-Georges Clouzot, director
Trailer

---

Sorceror (1977)
Remake of The Wages of Fear
William Friedkin, director
Roy Scheider

---

Quote of Note
O’Brien:  The hell with the union!  There’s plenty of tramps in town, all volunteers.  I’m not worried.  To get that bonus, they’ll carry the entire charge on their backs.
Bradley:  You mean you’re gonna put those bums to work?
O’Brien:  Yes, Mr. Bradley, because those bums don’t have any union, nor any families.  And if they blow up, nobody’ll come around bothering me for any contribution.
—Bill O’Brien (William Tubbs), The Wages of Fear (1953)

…58…59…60.