William Tubbs Movies

Together with Diabolique, The Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la Peur) earned Henri-Georges Clouzot the reputation as a "French Hitchcock." In truth, Clouzot's ability to sustain suspense may have even exceeded Hitchcock's; when originally released, Wages ran 155 tension-filled minutes. Based on the much-imitated novel by Georges Arnaud, the film is set in Central America. The Southern Oil Company, which pretty much rules the roost in the impoverished village of Las Piedras, sends out a call for long-distance truck drivers. Southern Oil's wages of 2,000 dollars per man are, literally, to die for -- the drivers are obliged to transport highly volatile nitroglycerine shipments across some of the most treacherous terrain on earth. Through expository dialogue, tense interactions and flashbacks, we become intimately acquainted with the four drivers who sign up for this death-defying mission: Corsican Yves Montand, Italian Folco Lulli, German Peter Van Eyck, and Frenchman Charles Vanel. The first half of the film slowly, methodically introduces the characters and their motivations. The second half -- the drive itself -- is a relentless, goosebump-inducing assault on the audience's senses. The winner of the Grand Prix at the Cannes Festival, The Wages of Fear was remade by William Friedkin as Sorcerer (1977). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Set in 18th-century South America, The Golden Coach (Le Carrosse D'Or) stars Anna Magnani as an earthy Commedia Del Arte performer. Magnani is lusted after by diplomat Duncan Lamont, who leaves both his job and his mistress to pursue the sexy actress. Also vying for Magnani's favors are a bullfighter and a nobleman. Magnani tries to avert bloodshed by giving away the Golden Coach that had been bestowed upon her by the expansive Lamont. When director Jean Renoir was asked if he intended The Golden Coach to be Pirandellian, what with its linking of reality and theatricality, Renoir responded that his intention was to establish that "life is life and the stage is the stage." Maybe so, but the film's brilliant Technicolor and superb performances easily transcend that mundane entity known as Real Life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Guardie e Ladri (Cops and Robbers) is buoyed by the combined comic talents of Aldo Fabrizi and Toto. Toto plays Ferdinando Esposito, a thief who has successfully eluded the law for many years. Fabrizi plays Bottoni, a detective who has been given three months to bring Esposito to justice. Deciding to bore from within, Bottoni ingratiates himself with Esposito's warm-hearted family. He finally meets his prey at a colorful family get-together. The men discover that they're kindred spirits. But this does not dissuade Bottoni's determination that the law must take its course. Amazingly, Cops and Robbers has yet to be remade as an American film: this would have been an ideal vehicle for the likes of Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Opera star Beniamino Gigli stars as The Singing Taxi Driver. When not picking up fares and bursting into song, Gigli searches for the parents of a cute baby who was left in the back seat of his cab. Along the way, our hero suffers one setback after another, but he always recovers with a song in his heart and a smile on his lips -- or is it the other way around? The film's romantic angle is handled by Danielle Godet and Virginia Belmont. Comedy relief is in the capable hands of Aroldo Tieri, doing a "Mischa Auer" turn as a vainglorious nobleman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Surprisingly, the "Sardinian" protagonist of the Italian Faddija is played by an American actor. William C. Tubbs is cast as Pietro Atzeni, a bombastic landowner with three marriage-age daughters. Atzeni manages to squelch his daughters' romantic yearnings through his own greed, which consists of buying up any patch of land he decides he wants, by means both fair and foul. His avarice culminates in a deadly feud and a desperate elopement. Whenever the story flags in Faddija, the viewer can revel in its location photography and its colorful utilization of genuine Sardinian peasants and shepherds in minor roles.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Disciples of "B"-picture stylist Edgar Ulmer will not be disappointed with Pirates of Capri. Lensed in Italy, the film stars Louis Hayward as swashbuckling Captain Sirocco. Posing as a foppish nobleman by day, Sirocco tirelessly works on behalf of a group of insurgents bent on deposing the wicked Queen Carolina (Binnie Barnes, endearingly miscast). Every so often, the Captain pauses to romance Countess Mercedes (Mariella Lotti), whose character name was evidently lifted from The Count of Monte Cristo. The musical score is by Nino Rota, better known for his work on the Godfather films. As in his other films, the resourceful Edgar Ulmer works miracles with a skintight budget. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Roberto Rossellini's Paisan (originally Paisa) is one of the best-known and most important of the postwar Italian neorealist films; certainly it has one of the finest pedigrees, representing the combined talents of two of Italy's most prestigious filmmakers. The second of Rossellini's "war trilogy" (bracketed by Open City and Germany Year Zero), Paisan is divided into six episodes, each elucidating upon the tenuous relationship between the recently liberated Italians and their American liberators. In the first episode, Joe From Jersey (Robert Van Loon), assigned to guard a taciturn Sicilian woman (Carmela Sazio), tries to communicate with his monolingual prisoner. Next, a black MP (Dotts Johnson) is robbed of his shoes by an impoverished Neopolitan street urchin (Alfonsino Pasca). This is followed by an episode set in Rome, where drunken GI Fred (Gar Moore) is reunited with a streetwalker (Maria Michi) whom he's met before but does not recognize. In Florence, American nurse Harriet (Harriet Medin) and an Italian partisan (Gigi Gori) dodge bullets as they make their way through enemy-held territory in search of Harriet's lover. Next comes a comic interlude involving a theological argument between a Catholic, a Protestant, a Jew and a group of Fransiscan monks. The film concludes with a bloody confrontation in the Po Valley between the OSS and a band of intractable Germans who refuse to surrender. Everyone who's ever seen Paisan has his or her favorite episode: by consensus of opinion, the most popular vignettes are the Naples episode (largely adlibbed by actors Dotts Johnson and Alfonsino Pasca) and the thrilling Florentine vignette with Harriet Medin and Gigi Gori. Giulietta Masina, the wife of Federico Fellini, shows up in a bit role; Fellini himself collaborated on the screenplay with Rossellini and Annalena Limentani. Originally released at 115 minutes, Paisan was expertly edited to 90 minutes for American consumption by Stuart Legg and Raymond Spottiswoode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide