Legendary Hollywood producer David O. Selznick developed Duel in the Sun (1946) as both a lush, sweeping Western melodrama on the scale of his biggest hit Gone with the Wind and as a vehicle for (his later wife) Jennifer Jones. Jones, who won an Oscar a few years before as a saintly virgin with religious visions in The Song of Bernadette, here plays Pearl, a hot-blooded half-Mexican orphan torn between Cain-and-Abel brothers. Gregory Peck is the seductive bad boy Lewt and Joseph Cotten is the educated Jesse, a gentleman who defies the despotic rule of their cattle baron father (Lionel Barrymore) and the violent ways of Lewt. The direction is attributed to King Vidor but Selznick wrote the screenplay and oversaw the entire production. The cast includes Lillian Gish (as mother of the boys and adoptive guardian of Pearl), Herbert Marshall (Pearl's father in the opening scenes), Walter Huston, Charles Bickford, and the voice of Orson Welles as the narrator. Duel in the Sun would be just plain silly if it weren't so maniacally over-the-top. Peck relishes every villainous deed with a smirk and a wink, and Barrymore is power-mad as a former Senator willing to go to war over barb wire. It was nicknamed “Lust in the Dust” and condemned by church groups, but was also a big hit. Today it plays like a sultry, overheated melodrama in chaps, excessive in every way but certainly entertaining. Featuring the roadshow version of the film (with prelude, overture, and exit), extras include audio commentary by film historian Gaylyn Studlar, and interviews with Peck's children. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)
Duel in the Sun
Kino Lorber, 144 min., not rated, DVD: $19.99, Blu-ray: $29.99 Volume 32, Issue 6
Duel in the Sun
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