As a kid watching TV shows and movies in The Fifties, I can't tell you how many I ran across that had nitroglycerine as part of the plot. There were at least a couple of Westerns along with straight dramas, but it didn't seem to matter the genre. A souped up hot rod carrying four quarts of nitro that just happened to be hanging around was used by the main character to destroy "The Giant Gila Monster" in a campy 1959 monster flick.

Whatever the fascination with nitroglycerine, and it had to be it's unpredictability, the idea of carrying around a ton of it was the premise of this film, "The Wages of Fear". Actually, it was two trucks carrying a ton of nitro between them, I guess to heighten the drama and provide twice as much in the way of nerve shattering tension. The thing is, unlike a host of reviewers who hold the picture in the highest regard, I really didn't get a whole lot out of the movie.

For starters, the first forty five minutes or so was used to introduce characters and situations that eventually had nothing to do with the outcome of the story. Yves Montand portrayed his character Mario well enough, but the guy was just a reprobate for the most part. He consistently berated the lovely saloon gal Linda (Vera Clouzot),and actually threw her in the dirt when he drove off on the mission to deliver the goods. Same thing with his partner Jo (Charles Vanel),who started the picture as one of film's ruggedest macho men, and turned into a cream puff when the going got tough. I just didn't understand how characters would just suddenly switch their basic personas as the story progressed.

Then there's the adventure on the road. Maybe I missed it, but what was the rationale for that wooden bridge turnabout that both drivers had trouble with? Was it that the size of the trucks wouldn't allow for a smooth ninety degree turn? Even so, after the first mishap with the truck driven by Bimba (Peter van Eyck),why would Mario feel compelled to back his truck right to the very edge of the unstable platform? It didn't make sense to me.

And then, showing his contempt for Jo, Mario runs him over in that manic oil pit scene. I have to admit, that was the stunner for this viewer. That scene had both actors earning their paycheck, and it rivals the clay pit scene in "The Defiant Ones" with Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis for sheer insanity, in another Fifties action flick. Both are just hellacious, you be the judge.

Except for that scene, most of the rest of the story didn't hold the same amount of interest for me. When the truck with Bimba and Luigi (Folco Lulli) blew up, I thought that it would have been better served if there was a close-up of the two men in the truck hitting a rut and offering a grimace just before fading to black and then showing the explosion. That would have better sealed their fate; I had to wonder why no one thought of it.

With all that, I don't mean to imply this was a terrible picture. It's watchable enough, but just doesn't seem to measure up to the accolades it's given as an IMDb Top 250 film. But that's the case for a lot of others as well, so in this case, maybe it's just me. On another day I might have seen it in an entirely different light.

The first quarter of this movie was not particularly exciting but did set the stage for the rest of the movie. So, if you initially feel bored--STICK WITH IT!!! The plot is so incredibly simple that it seems like it must be a pretty boring picture: an oil company in South America needs to transport shipments of nitroglycerin 300 miles to an oil fire ASAP. However, due to the rotten condition of the roads and equipment, the trip seems like certain death, so they get some hungry out of work guys to do this. It doesn't sound very interesting, I'm sure, but it is. The writing, editing, pacing, acting and direction are PERFECT during this LONG trip. So many times, I found myself tensing up or moving in my seat as each near-death event occurred. The only negative? Well, the ending might be a bit of a letdown for some (though, in hindsight, I liked it despite being a bit of an anticlimax).

A group of disparate foreigners are all stranded in a desert Mexican town. None of them has work and barely scratching out an existence. They don't have enough money to pay for a ticket out of town. The town's main employment is Southern Oil Company. There's a fire in the oil fields and the company needs nitroglycerin explosives to put it out. Foreman Bill O'Brien hires Mario, Luigi, Bimba and Smerloff to drive the dangerous cargo to put out the fire. When Smerloff fails to show, Mr. Jo gets the job.

The first half is a bit slow as the movie spends time with the various characters meandering in this dusty town. The second half is one of the most thrilling drives around. It is a better thrill ride than most modern movies can achieve. The desperation and the sense of impending doom never leaves this trip.