Violent Road

When the truck looses its brakes and is out of control. In the closeups and overheads the hill rises on driver's side. In the longshot the hill is on the passenger side.

While I can't say I prefer this film to either Wages of Fear or Sorcerer, I agree that it is pretty enjoyable. Some of the wisecracks and banter are pure 1950's hard-boiled pulp, and Brian Keith has never been better as a certain type of swaggering man's man particular to that Era.

"Walker would shrink his own mother's head for a dollar."

"I'm not allergic to a buck, either."

"You pull a stunt like that again I'll rub yer head in the sand til its hamburger!"

While all of this is certainly amusing in a time capsule kind of way, the film itself plays like the storyboards to a much more tension-filled film. Compared to the trials and tribulations undergone by the doomed men in both Wages of Fear and Sorcerer, the journey in Violent Road is rather muted. But still, an enjoyable way to spend an hour and twenty eight minutes.

This little B-movie may be a long way from its classic French predecessor The Wages of Fear (1953), but it still manages a few shudders. Six guys drive tanker trucks down a winding mountain road, with a load of rocket fuel. One false move and they're less than toast. Of course, there're the inevitable hazards-- a runaway bus, sloppy brakes, and who forgot to tighten the fuel valve, plus, a wild- driving kid (Garrison).

Good thing Brian Keith's in charge. He's perfect for the blue-collar role, though poor Zimbalist Jr. looks a little lost, even as a professor doing double duty as a driver. Notice how they work the good-looking girls into a macho story-line. The movie knows its drive-in audience will get tired of the ugly guys. Also, the canny producers went out and got one of Hollywood's best actresses, Ann Doran, for the heavy-duty role of the Sarge's wife. And, if memory serves, the Kennedy Meadows road northwest of Lone Pine was used for the mountain hair-raiser scenes.

Unfortunately, this is the type of solid little B-movie that would soon drive off into the sunset.

The Violent Road casts Brian Keith taking on a really hazardous trip, transporting three components of rocket fuel, any one of them could reek havoc of some kind if it is jarred. Making it worse Keith has to travel over an abandoned road with little traffic that is rocky. It's like traveling with nitroglycerin with triple the risk.

The place storing the stuff has to move because a military rocket experiment went horribly wrong and crashed into the town causing death and destruction. Keith also has to pick five other men willing to make the risk. One is picked for him, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. who is a scientist and knows how to handle the fuel.

The other four are Sean Garrison, Perry Lopez, Arthur Batanides and Dick Foran. Foran's portrayal is a poignant one. A former Marine who was mandatory retired he can't get used to it. He just drinks all day and bores the young Marines at the bar that Keith finds him. Foran's scenes with wife Ann Doran are truly touching.

The Violent Road is a nice no frills B picture from Warner Brothers, the kind that used to fill the second bill on a program. Now that stuff would be found on television and shortly Keith and Zimbalist would be seen there often.

One of the great French films of the 1950s was "The Wages of Fear". This tense movie was at heart an attack on capitalism....and this caused a predicament for American studios. They wanted to remake the film....after all the main plot is dynamite! But they didn't want to make the film an attack on capitalism. So, they came up with a ruse....the entire plot all rests on chemicals that are needed for the rocket industry and the rocket industry is needed to protect America. So, it's a film with patriotism and anti-communism in the American version...whereas the French could easily be seen as a pro-communist picture! Unfortunately, by changing the plot, the risk to the drivers' lives made less sense...as there SHOULD have been soldiers/cops along the route to ensure the safety of the drivers. They also should have checked the route thoroughly to make sure it was passable. They also should have thoroughly checked the drivers to be sure they weren't deranged--as one of them clearly is yet they let him drive the rocket fuel!

So, aside from being more illogical than "Wages of Fear", is the movie any good? Yes and no. The story is modestly engaging and the actors try their best...but much of the tension seems more muted and the flashbacks throughout the film seem like filler. Overall, an okay film remake of a much better movie.