Greed in the Sun

Greed in the Sun (French: Cent mille dollars au soleil) is a 1964 French-Italian adventure film directed by Henri Verneuil. The film was entered into the 1964 Cannes Film Festival.[4]

Greed in the Sun
French film poster for Greed in the Sun
Directed byHenri Verneuil[1]
Produced byAlain Poiré
Irenee Leriche
Robert Sussfeld
Written byMichel Audiard
Screenplay byMarcel Jullian
Based onOriginal story
by Claude Veillot
StarringJean-Paul Belmondo
Lino Ventura
Reginald Kernan
Music byGeorges Delerue
CinematographyMarcel Grignon
Edited byClaude Durand
Production
company
Gaumont
Ultra Film
Trianon Movies
Release date
  • 1964 (1964) (France)
Running time
122 minutes[2]
CountryFrance
Italy
LanguageFrench
Box office3.4 million admissions (France)[3]

Plot

The forwarder Castigliano instructs Steiner to drive a new truck with a payload through Sahara. Steiner is new to the operation and is viewed with suspicion by the other employees. In the evening Steiner goes out with Rocco, Marec and some colleagues. The next morning the truck is gone. Castigliano rages and commissions Marec to retrieve the truck which was stolen from Rocco. Rocco with his girlfriend Pepa go towards the border. A wild chase begins through the deserts and impassable areas.

Marec travels with Steiner. When crossing a state it turns out that Steiner is located under the name Frocht; he was the leader of a band of mercenaries in a coup. Rocco several times succeeds to shake off Marec. Mitch has to repeatedly help out Marec. After Rocco’s truck stops due to a defect, he provides a trap for Marec and Steiner. Rocco forces at gunpoint to exchange his defective truck with the roadworthy truck of Marec. Steiner wants to defend himself and for this suffers a gunshot through his leg. Rocco leaves Marec and Steiner back in the desert. Rocco wants to sell the cargo for $100,000 to a fence.

With great effort Marec and Steiner succeed to get to the next town. By chance Marec meets Rocco in a brothel. A wild brawl arises between the two. As they are both too weak to beat each other up further, Rocco admits that he showed up to the rendezvous with the fence. However, the fence was not there. When he comes back to the hotel, the truck disappears with his girlfriend Pepa.

Cast

Production

Director Henry Verneuil said the film was "a Western, but since in France we don't have horses, I use trucks. I give Jean Paul the hat, blue jeans, boots of a cowboy. He's one of the few young actors in France who is young and manly."[5]

Reception

Box office

The film was a box office hit in France.[3] It was the seventh most popular film of the year at the French box office.[6]

Critical

New York Times film critic Howard Thompson gave mixed review of the film, stating that "Some interesting ingredients hover in mid-air throughout this overlong film, which lacks real cohesion or impact".[7]

Awards

The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival.

References
  1. "Cent mille dollars au soleil". Bifi.fr (in French). Retrieved 10 February 2013.
  2. Erickson, Hal. "100,000 Dollars Au Soleil". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
  3. Box office information for movie at Box office story
  4. "Festival de Cannes: Greed in the Sun". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 28 February 2009.
  5. Barry, Joseph (21 June 1964). "THAT MAN' BELMONDO ON A MOVIE MERRY-GO-ROUND". New York Times. p. X7.
  6. "1964 French box office". Box Office Story. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  7. Thompson, Howard (19 August 1965). "100 000 Dollars Au Soleil (1963)". New York Times. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
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