La route de Salina

A drifter in his 20s, having just walked 10 miles through the desert, comes upon a diner/filling station and helps himself to the water pump; the diner's proprietress, an older woman--possibly mad--welcomes the young man in believing him to be her long-lost son Rocky, a volatile kid who apparently left his mother and sister four years ago after a family row. Unpredictable bughouse melodrama, a French-Italian co-production shot in the Canary Islands, which lends to the story's netherworld atmosphere. Well-directed by Georges Lautner, who also co-adapted the screenplay with Jack Miller and Pascal Jardin, from the novel "Sur la Route de Salina" by Maurice Cury. Bernard Gerard's dramatic music cues contribute greatly to the queasily mounting suspense, although the celebrated rock music which blankets most of the film (by artists Christophe and Clinic) dates the movie more than anything else. A terrific performance by Rita Hayworth in the last act of her career is just one of the many surprises to be found here. Unusual and thrilling. *** from ****