Gas Oil

Based on the novel by George Bayle From Grape in the Diesel, this crime thriller follows a story of mistaken identity. Early morning, Jean Chape (Jean Gabin), a down-to-earth truck driver, is caught up in an accident after a night out with his girlfriend, Alice (Jeanne Moreau), a homespun primary school teacher. He inadvertently runs over a body in the road and in reporting it to the police is suspected of foul play.  The plot unravels to suggest the dead body is that of a notorious gangster, placing Jean at the centre of a criminal investigation and undesired attentions of the mob.

Two years after Henri-Georges Clouzot’s internationally revered The Wages of Fear, director Gilles Grangier (Archimède le clochard) pursues the unlikely, yet winning formula of merging truck driving with suspense (15 years later, Spielberg would do the same with his feature debut Duel). The concision of story telling allows Grangier to weave the gangster narrative seamlessly into the plot, drawing to mind other classic mob tales, such as Rififi or the finest from Jimmy Cagney’s catalogue.

Following in the footsteps of The Wages’ Yves Montand, an even heavier weight takes his position behind the wheel, in the form of the legendary Jean Gabin, who shares the screen for the second time with an upcoming Jeanne Moreau, soon to acquire international fame through a career of outstanding roles (The Lovers, Jules et Jim, La Baie des anges, Diary of a Chambermaid to name but a pinch).
However, the feature marks an even more significant second collaboration, that between director and star who would go on to make another 10 features together, most notably the timeless Maigret voit rouge, part of the immensely popular detective series. 

Gas Oil is testament to the great school of French filmmaking that merges suspense with naturalism and pulsating thrills with endearing characters.