The first film after The Third Man to win the Palme d’Or on its own was Henri-Georges Clouzot’s thriller about men in South America transporting nitrogylcerin in rickety trucks over rocky roads. Bitterly downbeat and remorsely suspenseful — any bump could blow the drivers to oblivion — this was an action film for postwar misanthropes. Despite or because of its cynicism, The Wages of Fear was a success in Europe and the Americas, and it propelled its leading man, Yves Montand, to international stardom.
