Synopsis for
Duel in the Sun (1946) More at IMDbPro »

Pearl Chaves (Jennifer Jones) can't prevent her father, Scott Chaves, (Herbert Marshall) to get wind of her mother's (Tilly Losch) unfaithfulness with a lover (Sidney Blackmer). Scott gets so angry that he shoots them both. He's sentenced to death. After the sentence has been carried out, Pearl goes to live with her cousins, the McCanleses.

Jesse, the younger brother (Joseph Cotten), can't recognise her, because she expected a Southern lady and she is a half-caste woman who dresses as a gypsy. Jesse's just returned after finishing his Law studies up north. The older brother, Lewton McCanles (Gregory Peck), is a true Western cowboy. He feels attracted to Pearl. Laura Belle (Lillian Gish) is the cousin, a weak woman who hasn't been happy in her marriage to the Senator Jackson McCanles (Lionel Barrymore).

Jesse offers to teach Pearl, but he doesn't carry it out. He feels attracted to her as well. Lewt dares Pearl to ride an unsaddled horse. She tries, but she can't control the horse, who jumps the fence and runs away until she falls to the ground. There, Lewt helps her to stand up. Another day, Lewt follows Pearl to a pool where she is swimming naked. She spends hours in the water because she doesn't want him to see her. They both arrive late for dinner home.

The next day, Laura Belle calls for a preacher (Walter Houston), who orders Pearl to fight sin, sexual pleasure, and says that purity is much more harder for beautiful women. He gives her a medallion to help her.

Senator, although he is wheelchair-bound, and Jesse go to the limits of the ranch to fight the railway workers. The railway is going to cross the ranch, and Senator doesn't want it. At the last moment, Jesse changes sides. Senator decides not to fight the Texas army, because he had fought under the Texas flag they are carrying. However, he won't forgive Jesse his disobedience.

That night, Lewt returns from a trip and only Pearl and the talkative slave Vashti (Butterfly McQueen) is there. He enters Pearl's room and kisses her. They make love. When he's about to leave, Jesse arrives. On seeing them he feels so disapointed that he says he won't ever forgive her, although he used to love her.

Pearl feels so angry with him, that he decides to enter a relationship with Lewt. They make love many times, and he promises to announce their marriage in a town's party. However, Senator talks Lewt out of it. Lewt tells Pearl he only wants to have fun with her. Pearl leaves the party, and she meets the new ranch worker Sam Pierce (Charles Bickford). He can't dance, but they make it somehow. Soon, they get engaged. However, the night before the wedding Lewt kills Sam, because Pearl is his grilfriend until he gets tired of her.

Lewt has to live as a runaway, blowing up trains, because of his murder. Laura Belle is very sick and she dies after making peace with his husband. Jesse returns home with his new fiancée, Helen Langford (Joan Tetzel) and her father (Otto Kruger). Lewt visits Pearl at night, to make love to her, and she is responsive to him. The sheriff knocks her door, but she doesn't betray him.

Lewt and Jesse have a duel to win Pearl. Lewt wins, as usual. Pearl dies when she learns that Jesse is dead.