Duel in the Sun
Sponsored by Park Cinemas, Orchid Hill Vineyards and Dining with Andre
Hollywood and Vines Event - $20/$15 students/Film Society
Wednesday, March 12 Park Cinemas Screening: 7:30 pm
Pre-screening Reception: 6:00-7:15 pm - Orchid Hill Vineyard Tasting room, 1140 Pine St. Paso Robles
Meet John Adams, King Vidor's grandson who will introduce the film.
Duel in the Sun pioneered the “adult” Western genre, and helped to return Vidor to the front rank of directors at the time of its release. The film started out being a moderate-sized Western with an unknown cast; however, it turned out to be the most visually aesthetic and lavish Technicolor movie of its time. Familiar in Vidor’s past films, the story is a melodrama focusing on the plight of women. Set in Texas in the 1880s, the story centers on Pearl Chavez (Jennifer Jones), a mixed-race beauty trapped in a racist world, who becomes the point of contention between the two McCanles brothers — Jesse (Joseph Cotten) who is good, and Lewt (Gregory Peck), the bad boy of the two.
Branded by critics as “Lust in the Dust” at the time of its release due to its sexually charged story, Duel is the most famous and controversial film Jennifer Jones ever made. Producer David O. Selznick (to whom Jones was married at the time) envisioned the film as his next Gone With the Wind, sparing no expense in its production. Because of Selznick’s intrusion into every aspect of the film, it was known as a producer’s picture rather than director’s film. It was rumored that Vidor had, at one point, walked off the set during the film’s production due to Selznick’s micromanaging every detail.
In his autobiography, A Tree Is a Tree, King recalls his and Selznick’s argument over the Lewt character’s actions in the story. However, in the end, Vidor acknowledges that Selznick was right in his convictions about not redeeming the character. The film turned out to be one of the biggest grossing pictures of its time. Western drama. USA. 2 hrs. 26m. — Joette Eisengart
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