GRAND PRIX (1966)

Centering around a fictionalized version of the 1966 Formula One season GRAND PRIX tells the story of four drivers and all of their adventures both on and off the race track.  Of course you got the expected girl troubles and rivalries, but all of that stuff is only so-so.  The main attraction here is the racing scenes!  Filmed in 70mm with cameras actually strapped to race cars going fast as fuck it's almost enough to take your breath away.  I bet people who saw this in a proper theater back in 1966 couldn't believe their eyes.  I know I couldn't and I ended up watching all of the racing scenes multiple times.

James Garner is an American driver looking to make a comeback but when some gearbox trouble inadvertently leads to the injury of another driver he does the only honorable thing and starts sleeping with injured guys wife.  At the same time French driver Yves Montand is cheating on his wife with a reporter (Eva Marie Saint).  There's as a young Italian driver, but he's pretty boring, even though his girlfriend is hot as fook! 

Toshiro Mifune speaking in English (even though his lines are dubbed), Jessica Walter looking young and sexy, great title sequence by Saul Bass, Yves Montand speaking in English, James Garner doing all of his own driving, nice musical score, strong direction by John Frankenheimer.  I really enjoyed GRAND PRIX and even the melodrama between the races wasn't so bad thanks to believable acting and the beautiful photography.

THE WAGES OF FEAR (1953)

In a remote South American town (if you can even call this small collection of shacks connected by a dirt road, a town), a group of non-citizens melt the day away dreaming under the smoldering sun of a way out of this hell. The only way out is by plane, but with no money and no jobs they might as well be waiting on Falkor from THE NEVERENDING STORY to come and pick them up.

Things look grim for the guys, but then a stranger, Jo, an ex-gangster, comes to town and soon the group is divided. Most of the men hate the newcomer, but fellow Frenchman Mario (Yves Montand) mistakenly thinks that Jo is his ticket out and starts kissing up to Jo and even turns his back on his friends. At the same time, an oil fire erupts 300 miles away and the oil company needs a truckload of nitroglycerin delivered in order to put it out. The job is too dangerous for the company to risk using their own unionized men so they offer the job to the bums who hang out at the cantina. Two men to a truck. Two trucks and $2,000 per person upon delivery.

THE WAGES OF FEAR is a brilliant film and one of the key elements to its success is it takes the time at the beginning of the film to build up the characters so that way when disaster strikes we're firmly invested in them and actually care what happens to them. It also doesn't hurt that there's so many talented actors onscreen, especially Yves Montand.

Anyway, it's a great film, masterful direction and adapted script by Henri-Georges Clouzot, beautiful photography, great acting by everybody and Vera Clouzot was absolutely beautiful. Even many years later, THE WAGES OF FEAR is still has the power to excite. Highly recommended.

Depressing fun fact: Due to McCarthyism, THE WAGES OF FEAR was branded as Communist propaganda because it showed American oil companies as being unfair to it's S. American workers.  Variety ran a headline calling it "Red-Tainted" and when it was finally released in America it had to be trimmed by 50 minutes!!!