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IMDb > Le salaire de la peur (1953)
Le salaire de la peur
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Le salaire de la peur (1953) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 91% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Writers:
Georges Arnaud (novel)
Henri-Georges Clouzot (writer)
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Wages of Fear on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
16 February 1955 (USA) more
Genre:
Action | Drama | Thriller more
Tagline:
The complete restored version of the 1953 French classic [reissue] more
Plot:
In a decrepit South American village, men are hired to transport an urgent nitroglycerine shipment without the equipment that would make it safe. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 5 wins more
User Comments:
One of the greatest movies ever made more

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Yves Montand ... Mario
Charles Vanel ... M. Jo
Folco Lulli ... Luigi
Peter van Eyck ... Bimba (as Peter Van Eyck)
Véra Clouzot ... Linda (as Vera Clouzot)
William Tubbs ... Bill O'Brien
Darío Moreno ... Hernandez (as Dario Moreno)
Jo Dest ... Smerloff
Antonio Centa ... Camp Chief (as Centa)
Luis De Lima ... Bernardo
Grégoire Gromoff
Joseph Palau-Fabre
Faustini
Seguna
Darling Légitimus (as Miss Darling)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
The Wages of Fear (UK) (USA)
Il salario della paura (Italy) (alternative title)
Vite vendute (Italy)
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Runtime:
131 min | France:156 min | 148 min (director's cut)
Country:
France | Italy
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric)
Filming Locations:
Bouches-du-Rhône, France more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
This was the first film to win both the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival and the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Bimba is shaving in the cab of the truck, he has the right side of his face covered in shaving cream, but he when he turns to talk to Luigi the right side of his face is clear of shaving cream. more
Quotes:
Mario: When someone else is driving, I'm scared. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Speed (1994/I) more

FAQ

A Note Regarding Spoilers
What caused the nitro to explode?
Is this movie based on a novel?
more
28 out of 39 people found the following comment useful:-
One of the greatest movies ever made, 6 October 2005
10/10
Author: barleeku from United States

This movie is astonishing, a gritty story filmed in an ultra-real style that relies simply on the beauty of lighting and film to achieve its stunning effects. It seems from another world, which in a way, it is. The acting is superb: Montand's Mario is full of jerky movements and intense impulses but always maintains his Gallic savoir-faire, while Charles Vanel as Jo brings, at first at least, a type of macho to the screen that modern movie-makers simply do not comprehend. The rest of the cast, especially the camp chief, Luigi, and Peter van Eyck as Bimba are incredible, as is Vera Clouzot who is incomprehensibly but believably upbeat and innocent - and totally gorgeous - in the midst of the hellhole of a town they're all stuck in. Clouzot's directing is flawless - I don't think anyone has ever squeezed more tension with just a few essential scene elements. The trucks wheeze and grunt as well as they ever have in the movies - the only comparison is Spielberg's early gem, "The Duel", but Clouzot's automotive cinematics outdo even Spielberg. The stripped down existentialism of the characters, the starkness of their shared dilemma, the grim and grimy scenery, and the cinematography itself are all of a piece. The latter is what elevates this movie to the very top rank, including some of the most dramatic and effective black and white shooting I've ever seen. Yet it never becomes mannered or gratuitous - it is orchestrated with the rise - and rise! - of tension in the film. The final scene takes on a surreal as opposed to ultra-realistic quality that has its own logic. One last word about the acting - we don't see anything like it anymore. The self-conscious mannerism of method acting (which has had its own triumphs) and the toxic awareness of everyone from the actors to the audience, the camera, directors, etc. that each actor is a celebrity and potential artiste, has ruined that conviction that actors were once larger than life people before they went on-screen, that they came to acting as an outcome of living rough, unadorned, and yet imaginative lives as opposed to shooting for fame and fortune and celebrity within an artificial corporate star-making incubator.

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name of character who hangs himself? CharLee64
Did the idea for the movie 'Speed' come from this film? lewdog2020
The Ending kthelonius
What did Linda hide in the flour sack? Pearl_Jade
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