THE WAGES OF FEAR (1953)
Special Features: New 4K Restoration
[LE SALAIRE DE LA PEUR]
Henri-Georges Clouzot’s existential action masterpiece was an international hit in its day, even in the truncated cut, significantly shorter than the restored version available today. Stuck in a remote South American outpost, four European oil riggers sign up for a dangerous job: drive two trucks laden with nitroglycerin across rough mountain roads to the site of a raging oil rig fire and snuff out the blaze. A star-making performance for chanteur-turned-tough guy Yves Montand; Charles Vanel was named Best Actor at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival, and the film nabbed the top prizes in both Cannes and Berlin that year. Film critic Pauline Kael called it, “the most original and shocking French melodrama of the ’50s.” DIR/SCR/PROD Henri-Georges Clouzot; SCR Jérôme Géronimi, from the novel by Georges Arnaud; PROD Louis Wipf. France/Italy, 1953, b&w, 153 min. In English, French, Spanish, German, Italian and Russian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
The film was restored by TF1 Studio, in collaboration with the Cinémathèque française, with the
support of the CNC, the Archives audiovisuelles de Monaco, Kodak and CGR Cinémas. The 4K
restoration was created from a nitrate image negative and a sound duplicate made by Hiventy.
Run Time: 153 Minutes
Opening Date: Friday, July 04, 2025
Genre: Adventure, drama
