Duel in the Sun

source: Duel in the Sun

It is common for people to say that DUEL IN THE SUN was an attempt (one of several) for David Selznick to repeat his greatest production success in Hollywood. He had produced GONE WITH THE WIND, and tried repeatedly to duplicate it. It was impossible. I feel the closes he got was with SINCE YOU WENT AWAY, which is still a very moving film showing the alterations World War II caused on the home front. But his films with Hitchcock (including REBECCA and SUSPICION and NOTORIOUS and SPELLBOUND) and DUEL IN THE SUN and A FAREWELL TO ARMS all fall short. This does not mean the films are negligible. Most of the Hitchcock-Selznick partnership films are damned good, and one finds even A FAREWELL TO ARMS worth watching. But GONE WITH THE WIND, despite the stereotypes Margaret Mitchell put into it, showed the collapse of a whole way of life in this country a century earlier due to the Civil War. It can't be reproduced in a western - the west was an entirely different problem of survival in a hostile atmosphere - not one that had built up a set of institutions (unfortunately including slavery) and traditions that were just destroyed. Still DUEL IN THE SUN tries hard, and succeeds to some extent. The story is one of racism in 19th Century Texas. The McCandless Family (Lionel Barrymore, Lillian Gish, Joseph Cotton, and Gregory Peck) are Texas royalty (in a sense) with a huge estate. It is supposed to be the equivalent of Tara in GONE WITH THE WIND. Into their world comes Lillian's cousin, Jennifer Jones, whose father was Mexican (the father was Herbert Marshall). Marshall kills his wife and her lover at the start of the film, and is hanged (his execution scene is very moving actually, as he willingly accepts his death but regrets the loss of his contact with his daughter). Barrymore hates the girl - she is part Mexican and part Indian (he refers to her as "Pocahontas" at one point), and he hates her dead father, who may have had an affair with Gish. Barrymore favors his son Peck over the more civilized Cotton, and the latter is aware of this. Peck is quite charismatic, but he is also quite a murderous type. Luke McCandless was the wickedness villain Peck played prior to the film THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL thirty years later. Jones' Pearl Chavez is also wicked in her ways, using her attractiveness to destroy men (Cotton and Peck are both interested in her, as is Charles Bickford). She likes Cotton, but her inner sense realizes that she and Peck are very much the same, and she wishes to win him. But Peck is too uncontrollable, and he and Jones rarely get their chemistry together properly. There are some good moments: the death of Gish, when she confronts Barrymore on her death bed and the wind and rain push her porch rocking chair back and forth as she leaves this world. Or when Peck destroys a railroad track with dynamite, and starts humming, "I've Been Working On The Railroad"! The film got the nickname (since taken by a comedy that starred Divine and Tab Hunter back in the 1980s) of LUST IN THE DUST. This was due to the odd conclusion of the film. 1946/47 was a year where twice men and women killed each other in films. Orson Welles (who narrates the start of this film) would direct THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI the following year, wherein Rita Hayward and Everett Sloane shoot each other in a crazy house hall of mirrors. But they really hated each other in that film. Here a desperate Jones shoots Peck to prevent him from killing Cotton, and he returns the favor. Both bleeding to death from multiple wounds they crawl to each other and die in a final embrace. The mutual shooting has been subject to much interpretation. My guess is that the two characters were just so super-sexed that it was impossible to imagine them riding off together into married bliss. Possibly they just had to destroy each other - certainly nobody else could have satisfied their desires. Whatever the reason, it was the final reason that the film remains so memorable to this day.

David O. Selznick spent the rest of his life trying to top Gone With the Wind. What other mountains did he have to climb after making the most acclaimed motion picture ever? In addition he had another obsession, his second wife Jennifer Jones. He was going to make her the greatest leading lady in the history of film. Well he didn't succeed at either, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Jones herself was in a peculiar position similar to her husband's. She got an Oscar for her first feature film after she changed her name from Phyllis Isley to Jennifer Jones. Selznick knew that she couldn't play saints all her life as she did in The Song of Bernadette. So for this western answer to Gone With the Wind as Pearl Chavez she plays about as opposite a character from Bernadette Soubirous as you can get. Duel in the Sun got mixed reviews by the critics, but the public ate it up. It's the story of the McCanless family, parents Lionel Barrymore and Lillian Gish and sons Joseph Cotten and Gregory Peck. Cotten is the good son, Peck the bad one. In fact as Lewt McCanless Peck played his worst character until Josef Mengele in Boys from Brazil. A kissing cousin of their's Jennifer Jones comes to live with them. She's the offspring of an old beau of Lillian's, Herbert Marshall and the Indian wife he ran off with back in the day. Lillian and Herbert were kissing cousins also. As Pearl Chavez, Jen gets the McCanless boys testosterone going into overdrive. Take one look at her and you can hardly blame them. One of the not so hidden subtexts of Duel in the Sun is racism. Jennifer's good for a quick roll in the hay, but marriage is out of the question, at least for Gregory Peck. Barrymore's and Peck's racism is overt, the others not quite so, but it's still there. The negotiations with Louis B. Mayer for Lionel Barrymore must have been interesting. Selznick's former wife was Irene Mayer, Louis's daughter. One thing with Selznick, he spared no expense. He got the best in talent for this film. Dimitri Tiomkin did the score, King Vidor the direction, Ray Rennahan the color photography which is absolutely stunning. He even got Bing Crosby to record Gotta Get Me Somebody to Love with Les Paul's guitar. Peck sang it in the film, Crosby's record sold a few platters. He even got Orson Welles to do the off-screen narration if you don't recognize that voice. It misses being a classic mainly because Selznick couldn't keep his hands off it. Sometimes the acting is about as subtle as a sledgehammer from all the performers. I'm willing to bet it's Selznick more than Vidor. Yet it's good entertainment and Duel in the Sun does have its moments.

Well, it's obvious that Selznick was trying his best to recapture that GWTW magic...but this is an unbelievably inept failure. Here's what you can expect from this overblown sex-western: --Jennifer Jones (in pancake make-up so orange that she put me more in mind of an Oompa-Loompa than the half-breed we're supposed to see) apparently directed to act as though she's Scarlett O'Hara with a lobotomy and bad grammar. --Gregory Peck as rogue murdering rapist and the apple of his daddy's eye. At one point even doing a pretty decent vocal imitation of Clark Gable -- too bad it's just the voice. --Lionel Barrymore lazily repeating his "It's a Wonderful Life" role from the same year -- wheelchair & grumpiness standing in for effort. --Butterfly McQueen as kerchiefed ditzy maid. Hmmm, wonder where they got that idea? All in all, a miserable movie experience. You'd think that since they cribbed from the best it'd have turned out better! Go figure.

PURE OPERA. From the scenic backdrops seething in passionate colors to Jennifer Jones' over-ripe performance and Dimitri Tiomkin's tempestuous score...'Duel In The Sun' isn't just another soapy oater, it is the ultimate soapy oater. Brimming with more bad taste than any screenwriter could possibly misconceive, this Selznick classic is the penultimate guilty viewing pleasure...if you like you're Westerns on the sleazy side that is! The performances are all unapologetically over-the-top, with Ms. Jones, in an Oscar winning performance no less, as Pearl Chavez, the 'half-breed' vixen torn between lust for Gregory Peck's Lewt McCanles, the bad-boy brother gone badder, and the 'save-me-from-myself' brand of love for Joseph Cotten's Jesse McCanles, the good brother with not-a-whole-heck-of-alot of sex appeal going for him. In between all this indecision, Ms. Jones sets fire to the scenery with as many sultry leers and poses as, I suppose, the censors of the time would permit her. "I'm TRASH, TRASH, TRASH," Pearl exclaims. And that about sums it all up. In spades! I should also make mention of the other Oscar winning performance, that by the venerable Lillian Gish as Laura Belle McCanles who, in perhaps the most painfully rapturous sequence, resurrects her silent film training in a tour-de-force of physical acting that, in less capable hands, would only be embarrassing. Not that you won't be tempted to laugh mind you, even Grand Opera, at the best of times, isn't this exquisitely sublime. And then there is Butterfly McQueen...as the befuddled maid (what else)...in the only role written for obvious comedic effect, whose long-winded sincerity couldn't be the more perfect foil for a hurried house full of whitees with nothing but sex on the brain... On the technical side, it is an unquestionably ravishing film to look at. In glorious Technicolor, the 'Old West' never looked more mythic or more prone to tragedy...the 'campy' side that is. And, yet once more, Dimitri Tiomkin finesses our ears with a resounding melody of wide open spaces and of still bigger ambitions and desires, culminating in a symphonic tempest for two ill-fated (or over-sexed) lovers who could only be united in death. WOW, this picture is right off the Harlequin Romance map! And I enjoyed every minute of it.

No need to recap the plot. One thing about this overblown fandango— once seeing it, you won't forget it. How could anyone when everything is done to such tasteless excess. Poor Pearl (Jones). Apparently, Jones was told her part was that of a hot-blooded wench, which she unfortunately took to mean parboiled. It's hard not to laugh at the first hour when she acts like a nympho on steroids, tossing hair and leering wildly like pampas grass in a windstorm. Not far behind is that vintage ham Lionel Barrymore doing his usual blustery bit, like we won't get his hard-bitten patriarch unless he takes it into hyper speed. And who could have guessed that the usually constricted and constrained Gregory Peck could actually over-act. I think it was his first and last time—good thing, too. It's possible to go on about the unrelenting excess— the sunsets that appear to hemorrhage, a musical score that's as necessary as sugar on molasses, and a loony ending that defies parody. But you get the idea. Too bad so much money and effort went into such a generally overheated result. Only Cotten, Gish and the black stallion come through unscathed. I'm thinking RKO could have made a dozen worthwhile programmers on the same budget. As things turned out, Selznick did his beloved Jones no favors with this one. It's hard to believe the man responsible for Gone with the Wind (1939) is also responsible for this swollen mess.

For those who prefer soap operas instead of horse operas, this western might be for you. If you prefer the normal action-packed western you'll still might enjoy this if you have the patience to go past the first hour. The second half of the this far more interesting. Jennifer Jones, who became famous playing some wholesome roles in the '40s, was the definition of "sultry" in this movie. She really demonstrates the weakness of the flesh that human beings deal with many times. She wants to be good, but succumbs quickly to temptations almost every time. Gregory Peck also plays against type, playing an arrogant pig in this movie. It was the first time I had ever seen him play the bad guy, and it looked strange. Lionel Barrymore also shines as the bigoted tyrant-type father. Who was the "good guy?" Joseph Cotten, who almost always gives a good performance as the other actors just named. Add Herbert Marshall, Lillian Gish, Walter Huston and Charles Bickford and you have some cast! Some of the cinematography is nice, too, reminiscent of film noirs with the shadows and light and a number of night scenes. Yet, despite all these positive things going for it, it is not a film I would watch many times because it drags in spots and is too long (app. 2 hours, 20 minutes). It also gave a cheap shot to the traveling lay preacher in here, but that's nothing new in films. All in all, not one of my favorites. I guess I would rather see Jones and Peck play "good guys."

Really, really bad movie, but kinda fun to watch as pure, original camp that started it all for the epic westerns like Giant and The Big Country that came later which copied the strong patriarch ranch owner role that Lionel Barrymore chewed to little tiny pieces in this one. What a total hambone he was here! Lillian Gish as the mother was by far the best thing in the film and she was nearly the only one who played it straight, along with her son Joe Cotton in another good guy role. Her other son Greg Peck as a bad guy, sensual Jennifer Jones as his sexpot half-breed lover, and Walter Huston in a small role as a preacher/sheriff, all played it as ultra-soap opera as they could get away with, with writer/director David O. Selznick(records say King Vidor was the director but this film has the Selznick stamp all over it; much falsification in those days about who did what) probably clapping and urging them on to greater depths and shamelessness. His other and much more successful soaper Gone With The Wind was the original that he tried to almost copy here with its gigantic scope and overbearing and melodramatic scoring backing every single scene with overblown operatic passion. In contrast, the restored Technicolor was truly great, and looked as modern as today(or even better. Technicolor was and is the best). Really beautiful color and the very best thing(the only great thing)in the entire film. The story was so trivial and ridiculous in its view of love and barely cloaked sex, and was also an hour too long and nearly as moronic as could be at the end, as the "I love you, I hate you, I shot you, oh no, I shot you and then you shot me" excuse for dialog made me laugh out loud and wonder what they were smoking when the actors said it and the bosses approved it. Most viewers laughed at it and panned it too when it premiered, but due to its gigantic scope for the era it did help lead Hollywood into the huge epic western films of the '50s. So, it did do something right, albeit indirectly and unintentionally. The obvious man-made, totally fake howl of a coyote near the end summed it all up for me... fake coyote howl, fake Southern California and Arizona locations standing in for Texas, fake sunsets and rain clouds painted in, fake horseback riding.....all typical effects for that day, yes, but they appeared really cheesy in a super expensive film that proved that Selznick/Vidor could not see these detractions for what they were and could not make a realistic film to save his life, no matter how much he spent. Thus, Selznick made a cartoon dud starring his truly gorgeous "girlfriend"(he was married), the beautiful Ms. Jones.

Well, it's no Gone With The Wind. Selznick, again, features his wife, Jennifer Jones, in a different role than the usual wholesome roles she was expected to do. Portrait Of Jennie, Since You Went Away and Song of Bernadette. Jones has a bad habit of over-acting if allowed to do so. Example is Tender Is The Night, Man In A Grey Flannel Suit, Ruby Gentry and Love Letters. It takes a strong director to tone her down. King Vidor lost control of her in this or Selznick had too much control. Her performance consisted of a low gutteral voice and a sashaying walk. Not much else. On the other hand, excellent supporting roles were played by Lionel Barrymore and Lilian Gish. They stole the picture in this viewer's opinion. Gregory Peck and Joseph Cotton went through the paces of what they were asked to do as rivalry brothers. But you kind of knew their hearts weren't in it. Then there was the presence of Butterfly McQueen in her usual Gone With The Wind type performance. Charles Bickford in an undistinguished role was wasted as was Herbert Marshall and Sidney Blackner [all good actors]. An impressive cast when the titles came on, but what followed was not what you wanted to see. I got tired of seeing Jennifer Jones strutting about making faces of some indian half-breed. Boring. Oh, I liked the horse [the pinto] that she rode. He was terrific. Best to see this on video. Doesn't come off that bad. But it is a cornball western farce.

This melodramatic film should have been a silent! The sexually excessive acting of Jennifer Jones became very tedious, and her movements should belong in the silent era.Ms Jones was not the only one who was stereotyped in this film, the old man McCanles is a representation of the old attitudes of the pioneers, and is explicitly racist.The landscape shots came straight out of 'Gone With the Wind'( how could Selznick top it?) The film followed obvious Western conventions, including the representation of what it means to be an Indian. This threat however, comes from other Western texts, yet in the opening sequence, Pearl's dancer mother represents the erotic 'other' based on that presumtion, and we know that Pearl will follow suit, when we see her dancing outside the saloon to some children. Above all,the excessive spectacle moments,the over-erotizising of Pearl, and far too many red sunsets had me rolling in the isles!