THE WAGES OF FEAR
A film retrospective by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1988 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: A classic of tension and suspense that
lives up to its reputation. This tale of trucking
nitroglycerine over dirt roads had members of the audience
leaning forward in their seats and gasping at what they saw
on the screen. Rating: +3.
In Central America four men carry nitroglycerine over bumpy roads and pray that nothing sets their cargo off. THE WAGES OF FEAR (1953) is one of those film I had wanted to see for years but I really did not expect to like it a lot. First of all, I had seen Clouzot's DIABOLIQUE and was not greatly impressed even though it is considered a sort of semi-classic. I'd seen too many similar films, mostly from Hammer Films. Now, I had seen SORCEROR, William Friedkin's remake of THE WAGES OF FEAR and thought it was an okay exercise in suspense. In some ways it was a better approach, telling more of the history of the four drivers, though it suffered from an overblown budget that got used on things like car chases unnecessary to the plot. I had also seen a similar film--I've forgotten the title--about trucking rocket fuel. So I knew that seeing the original, robbed of its novelty, could be a disappointment. Au contraire. THE WAGES OF FEAR is a white- knuckle sort of suspense film.
Somewhere in Central America there is a town, probably one of many, that is a slow death trap. To leave takes money--a lot of money. But no job in town pays well enough to earn that kind of money, at least no job left. Those who cannot get jobs with the big American oil company are doomed by poverty to stay in the little town until they work themselves to death. But suddenly there is work. Four truck drivers are needed to haul nitroglycerine to a burning oil well and the oil company will pay $2000 for a day's work for anyone crazy enough to go on what might be a suicide mission. Carrying nitro, every twist in the road, every pothole, every unforeseen bump, every mudhole becomes a death trap. This is film noir with a vengeance; every yard of unpaved road becomes an enemy trying to find one unwary moment to go for the kill. (If that sounds over-dramatic, see the film.) Each man reacts differently to the pressures: one is coldly efficient; one is sloppy and foolhardy, taking foolish risks; one is heroic; and one crumbles under the weight of fear.
Ad,ittedly, there are some problems with THE WAGES OF FEAR. It takes a little too long for the plot to get underway. The final moments of the film are hackneyed. There are scenes so absurd as to be humorous. For example, an oil company foreman demonstrates the power of nitro by throwing some on the floor of his office. But it is a film that works, and works well enough to get audible gasps from the audience. THE WAGES OF FEAR is a classic that deserves to be. Rate it a +3 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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