Duel in the Sun (1946)

Director:

King Vidor

Writers:

David O. Selznick (screenplay)
Niven Busch (novel)

Release Date:

8 December 1948 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Western

Tagline:

Emotions . . . As Violent As The Wind-Swept Prairie !

Plot:

Beautiful half-breed Pearl Chavez becomes the ward of her dead father's first love and finds herself torn between her sons, one good and the other bad.

Plot Keywords:

Half Breed | Shooting | Texas | Lovers | Barbecue

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Jennifer Jones	...	Pearl Chavez
Joseph Cotten	...	Jesse McCanles
Gregory Peck	...	Lewton 'Lewt' McCanles
Lionel Barrymore	...	Sen. Jackson McCanles
Herbert Marshall	...	Scott Chavez
Lillian Gish	...	Laura Belle McCanles
Walter Huston	...	The Sinkiller
Charles Bickford	...	Sam Pierce
Harry Carey	...	Lem Smoot
Joan Tetzel	...	Helen Langford
Tilly Losch	...	Mrs. Chavez
Butterfly McQueen	...	Vashti
Scott McKay	...	Sid
Otto Kruger	...	Mr. Langford
Sidney Blackmer	...	The Lover

Also Known As:

King Vidor's Duel in the Sun (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

USA:144 min (roadshow version) | USA:129 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Iceland:12 | USA:Approved (PCA #11649) | West Germany:16 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (video rating) (1986) | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Arizona, USA

Company:

Vanguard Films

Trivia:

David O. Selznick reportedly spent $2,000,000.00, an unheard of sum in 1946, on the promotion of this film.

Quotes:

Pearl Chavez: Oh Vashti, why are you so slow?
Vashti: I don't rightly know, Miss Pearl, except I always have so much to remember.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Celebrity (1998)

Soundtrack:

Beautiful Dreamer

Loud, boisterous, silly but hugely enjoyable sex Western

A half-breed named Pearl (Jennifer Jones) is sent off to live with her second cousins after her parents are killed. She disrupts the household causing problems between two brothers--one named Lewt (Gregory Peck) who's bad and Jesse (Joseph Cotten) who's good. She also is hated by the father (Lionel Barrymore) and protected by the mother (Lillian Gish).

Beautifully filmed in Technicolor this is a fun movie. The dialogue is full of howlers and, for it's time, this was pretty strong stuff. The emphasis is on sex and that bothered audiences in the late 40s. An entire dance by Jones was cut out and the release of the film was delayed because of the content! Today it's very tame and pretty funny.

Jones is horribly miscast as Pearl. She's very beautiful and wears tight, revealing clothing all through the film, but her acting is terrible. She sneers and glares her way through all her scenes and seems incapable of saying any line believably. Peck is surprisingly very good playing an evil man. Cotten and Gish are stuck with thankless good person roles. Barrymore REALLY chews the scenery. And the opening narration is by Orson Welles!

This movie was made by David O. Selznick to showcase his then girlfriend (and future wife) Jones. Purportedly he made this with serious intentions. It was a big hit but most critics dismissed it as trash. Today it's just a true camp classic. Hysterically bad but beautifully filmed and loads of fun. The climax especially is a howler. A great party flick.

In it's own way, this is a definite must-see.