Duel in the Sun
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DVD details
Actor: Gregory Peck, Herbert Marshall, Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Lionel BarrymoreBrand: Sony
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 129 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-05-25
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of Duel in the Sun
DVD Review: Dated and under-achieving
Summary: 2 Stars
"Duel in the Sun" (1947) was written and produced by David Selznick and stars Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotton, Gregory Peck, Lillian Gish, and Lionel Barrymore. It was to be Selznick's follow-up to "Gone with the Wind" (1939), the film he is most remembered for. Selznick was nominated for 8 other Oscars for films as diverse as "Viva Villa" (1934), "David Copperfield" (1935), "A Tale of Two Cities" (1936), "A Star is Born" (1937), "Rebecca" (1940) and "Spellbound" (1945). Beyond these, he was also involved in one capacity or another in such classics as "A Farewell to Arms" (1957) and "The Third Man" (1949) among the nearly 90 films he produced.
Selznick married Jennifer Jones in 1949, but their relationship started in 1944 on "Since You Went Away". "Duel" was their next film, and it was followed by "Portrait of Jennie" (1948) with Joseph Cotton, "Indiscretion of an American Wife" (1953) with Monty Clift, and "A Farewell to Arms" (1957) which was Selznick's last film. Jones was nominated for an Oscar 5 times and won once ("Song of Bernadette" in 1943) - a pretty good record for a woman who made only two dozen films.
In this film Jones plays a sexually charged half breed (part Native American) who has an ill fated relationship with Gregory Peck. Peck is a film icon, ranked #12 on the AFI list of Greatest Male Actors. He won an Oscar for "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962) and was nominated 4 more times ("Twelve O'clock High", "Gentleman's Agreement", "The Yearling", "The Keys of the Kingdom"). He was nominated for an Emmy in 1998 for the TV film "Moby Dick" for which he won the Golden Globe. He had two other Golden Globe nominations ("The Boys from Brazil", "Macarthur"). He made 57 films, starting in 1944. This was Peck's first western and he would make several more - "Yellow Sky" (1948), "The Bravados" (1958), "The Big Country" (1958), "How the West Was Won" (1962), Mackenna's Gold" (1969), "Shoot Out" (1971) and "Old Gringo" (1989). Jones and Peck worked together again in "The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit" (1956)
Joseph Cotton plays Peck's good brother. Cotton was a close friend of Orson Welles and appeared in "Citizen Kane" (1941), "Journey into Fear" (1943), "The Third Man" (1949) and "Touch of Evil (1958). He went on to star in such memorable films as "Gaslight" (1944) and "Portrait of Jennie" (1948), for which he won the Best Actor award at the Venice Film festival. He worked with Jennifer Jones and Selznick on this film.
Lillian Gish was probably the biggest female star of the silent era, appearing in "The Musketeers of Pig Alley" (1912), "Birth of a Nation" (1915), and "Intolerance" (1916). Her talkies include several memorable roles, including Mother Mary in "Portrait of Jennie" (1948) and Rachel in "The Night of the Hunter" (1955). Her TV films include "Trip to Bountiful" (1953) and "Whales of August" (1987). For her role as the matriarch in this film she was nominated for an Oscar but lost to Anne Baxter in "The Razor's Edge."
The great Lionel Barrymore appeared in more than 200 films between 1908 and 1956, and was twice nominated for an Oscar, winning once ("A Free Soul" ) in 1931 Though he's probably best known as the evil banker in "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) and from his recurring roles in the Dr. Kildare and the Dr. Gillepsie films, he gave us many memorable performances - as the innkeeper in "Key Largo" (1948), Thaddeus Stevens in "Tennessee Johnson" (1942), Grandpa in "You Can't Take it With You" (1938), and Billy Bones in "Treasure Island" (1934). Barrymore plays Peck's father.
Other members of the cast include Butterfly McQueen, Sidney Blackmer, Harry Carey, Charles Bickford, and Walter Huston.
Butterfly McQueen is best remembered as the quarrelsome Prissy from "GWTW" (1939) and this typecast her as a maid in several films (e.g., "Flame of the Barberry Coast", "Mildred Pierce"). She was upset with the typecasting and retired in 1947, then transitioned to TV and appeared on "Beulah" (1950-2) with fellow GWTW alumni Hattie McDaniel where she played a maid.
Suave Sidney Blackmer appeared in nearly 200 films between 1914 and 1971, He's best remembered for his role as a satanic worshiper in "Rosemary's Baby" (1968). Blackmer was not only busy in front of the camera, he had a distinguished Broadway career and won a Tony in 1950 for "Come Back Little Sheba". He had the distinction of playing Teddy Roosevelt more times than any other actor (8). Blackmer plays Jones' mother's lover, who is killed by Jones' father (played by Herbert Marshall) when he catches the two together. It's a small part and in some versions of the film he doesn't appear at all.
Harry Carey Sr. was one of the first western stars of the silent film era, and we have him to thank for getting John Ford his first few jobs. Over a 40 year career he appeared in more than 200 films and was nominated once for "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939). "Duel" was one of his last films, - he died in 1948. But he lived long enough to launch the career of his son Harry Carey Jr. in "Red River" (1948). Carey plays a friend of Barrymore.
Crusty Charles Bickford appeared in nearly 100 films. He was nominated for an Oscar three times ("Song of Bernadette" in 1943, "The Farmer's Daughter" in 1947, and "Johnny Belinda" in 1949), and each time, the actress who played opposite him won the Oscar for Best Actress - Jennifer Jones, Loretta Young, and Jane Wyman. Bickford plays a neighbor and the man Jones runs to on the re-bound.
At one point in his career, Walter Huston was churning out 4 to 8 films a year. His performances are relatively undistinguished, even if some of the films (e.g., "Gabriel Over the White House") were hits. Huston got better as he got older, and he was nominated for an Oscar in 1937 ("Dodsworth"), 1942 ("Devil and Daniel Webster") and 1943 ("Yankee Doodle Dandy") and won in 1949 for "Treasure of the Sierra Madre". Huston plays a preacher.
The film is directed by King Vidor (with William Dieterle completing the film after Vidor walked out). Vidor was nominated for an Oscar in 1928 ("The Crowd"), 1929 ("Hallelujah"), 1931 ("The Champ"), 1938 ("Citadel") and 1956 ("War and Peace"). He never won. He is listed in the Guinness Book as having the longest career as a film director (67 years). Vidor and Jones worked together again in "Ruby Gentry" (1952).
Sexuality in films in the 40s was generally limited to film noir (e.g., "Double Indemnity", "Laura", "Gilda"), but nothing equated with "Lust in the Dust" which is what this film became known as. Usually, sexuality was associated with death (e.g., "The Postman Always Rings Twice", "Laura", "Double Indemnity"). The Catholic League of Decency condemned the film, even though the ending was re-written to prove that lust doesn't pay. The Protestants condemned the film because the preacher (Huston) was made to look ridiculous.
For reasons of his own, Selznick hoped to have another "GWTW." In his new version, Tara was replaced by Spanish Bit and Scarlett by Pearl. He even brought in Butterfly McQueen who had been Scarlett's maid. He tried to match Gable with Peck and he threw in the Union army to boot. But to no avail. "Duel" was a pale comparison to "GWTW." Jones and Peck overact, but worse than this, they fail to establish any real sympathy for their characters. People are either weak and good (Gish, Cotton) or strong and bad (Peck, Barrymore). It's cardboard cutout time on the range, and the result is not compelling.
The film was nominated for two Oscars (Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress) but didn't win. Selznick spent more than $2 million to promote the film, and the total costs for the film were $8 million- it took many years for the film to make back its costs.
Description of Duel in the Sun
DUEL IN THE SUN - DVD MovieLegendary producer David O. Selznick dreamed of another magnum opus like his 1939 production of Gone with the Wind; he also purposed to make Jennifer Jones, his ladylove and eventually second Mrs. Selznick, a megastar. Accordingly, he micromanaged the making of Duel in the Sun (Lust in the Dust to some), an extravagant Technicolor epic about the collision of the old West with the new, wide-open spaces with railroads and barbed wire, and hot-blooded outlaws with civilized folk, often wimpy or unwell. Beginning among giant rocks drenched in a blood-red sunset, with velvet-voiced Orson Welles intoning the leibestod legend of doomed Pearl Chavez and her demon lover, Duel never strays far from lush romanticism, spiced with a dash of S/M. Orphaned Pearl (Jones) comes to live at Spanish Bit Ranch, where frail Laura Belle McCanles (Lillian Gish) tries to make a lady of her, despite her questionable origins and insistent voluptuousness. Sexual license versus law--Pearl's choices--are symbolized by the McCanles brothers: dark, undisciplined Lewt (a lubriciously wicked Gregory Peck) and reasonable, forward-looking, repressed Jesse (Joseph Cotten). The cast is huge (Lionel Barrymore, Walter Huston, Harry Carey, Herbert Marshall, Charles Bickford, Butterfly McQueen) and there are unforgettable set pieces: summoned by a cacophony of bells, the gathering of McCanles cowboys from the four corners of the earth; Pearl in heat, clutching Lewt's leg and being dragged across the floor as he makes his getaway to Mexico; and the lovers' final shootout among those red rocks, as orgiastic a finale as you could ask for. --Kathleen Murphy
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