Number 113 on IMDb's Top 250
In the South American jungle supplies of nitroglycerene are needed at a remote oil field. The oil company pays four men to deliver the supplies in two trucks. A tense rivallry develops between the two sets of drivers and on the rough remote roads the slightest jolt can result in death. Hilarity ensues.
Trivia: Yves Montand and Charles Vanel, the two men in the picture, both contracted conjunctivitis after filming in the pool of crude oil and being exposed to gas fumes. This was the first film to win both the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival and the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. Filming began in 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. The director broke his ankle. Vera 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.
This was actually a pretty good movie. The first hour was in the town and the next hour and a half was the actual journey to the oil field with the nitro. It held the tension very well. One thing that made it unique is that there are several nationalities represented in the town, and they all speak there on language to each other and common languages to others so there are actually several languages present in the film including English.
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