FILM 1453: THE WAGES OF FEAR
TRIVIA: Accusations of
anti-Americanism led to the US censor cutting several key scenes from the film.
Filming began on 27 August 1951 and
was scheduled to run for nine weeks. Numerous problems plagued the production,
however. The south of France had an unusually rainy season that year, causing
vehicles to bog down, cranes to fall over and sets to be ruined. Director Henri-Georges Clouzot
broke his ankle. Véra Clouzot
fell ill. The production was 50 million francs over budget. By the end of
November, only half the film was completed. With the days growing short from
winter, production shut down for six months. The second half of the film was
finally completed in the summer of 1952.
Yves Montand and Charles Vanel both
contracted conjunctivitis after filming in a pool of crude oil and being
exposed to gas fumes.
Henri-Georges Clouzot
originally planned on shooting the film in Spain, but Yves Montand refused to
work in Spain as long as fascist dictator Francisco Franco was in
power. Filming took place instead in the south of France, near Saint-Gilles, in
the Camargue. The village seen in the film was built from scratch.
No comments:
Post a Comment