The Wages of Fear

1953 Director Henri-Georges Clouzot

This film earned Henri-Georges Clouzot the reputation as a "French Hitchcock." In truth, Clouzot's ability to sustain suspense may have even exceeded Hitchcock's; when originally released, Wages ran for 155 tension-filled minutes. Based on the much-imitated novel by Georges Arnaud, the film is set in Central America.

The Southern Oil Company suffers a well fire, which can only be put out with the use of high explosives. It offers a bounty to any truck driver who can deliver enough nitroglycerin to do the job. So starts a nail biting trip across some of the most treacherous terrain on earth. Through tense interactions and flashbacks, we become intimately acquainted with the four drivers who sign up for this death-defying mission. The first half of the film slowly, methodically introduces the characters and their motivations. The second half, the drive itself, is a relentless, goosebump-inducing assault on the audience's senses.

This is a quite unique film and one of the first to use multiple languages simultaneously without excuse. Filmed against stunning backdrops and meticulously acted, this is a real treat in the art of suspense. The Wages of Fear was remade by William Friedkin as Sorcerer in 1977.