Duel in the Sun

• Directed by: King Vidor
• Produced by: David O. Selznick
• Starring: Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Gregory Peck, and Lionel Barrymore
• Music by: Dimitri Tiomkin
• Release date(s): December 31, 1946 (U.S. release)
• Running time: 138 min.

Duel in the Sun is a 1946 Western film, produced by David O. Selznick, which tells the story of a half-American Indian girl who goes to live with her Anglo relatives, becoming involved in prejudice and forbidden love.

Production

The film was adapted by Oliver H.P. Garrett, Ben Hecht (uncredited) and David O. Selznick from the novel by Niven Busch. It was directed by King Vidor, Otto Brower (uncredited), William Dieterle (uncredited), Sidney Franklin (uncredited), William Cameron Menzies (uncredited), David O. Selznick (uncredited) and Josef von Sternberg (uncredited).

It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Jennifer Jones) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Lillian Gish).

The film received the nickname "Lust in the Dust", which eventually became the name of a real movie. A scene in which Jones does a seductive dance for Gregory Peck was cut from the film before it was released. The film as shot could not make it past the Hays Code censors or religious review boards, and so was heavily edited and rearranged. This reportedly included the changing of rape scenes to love scenes and downplaying the original story's more overt sexuality.

David O. Selznick had high hopes for Duel in the Sun and hoped that it would surpass his success with Gone with the Wind. The film received poor reviews, however, and was highly controversial. Despite the bad press, it was a goldmine for Selznick. It earned $11,300,000 in rentals during its initial release, and much more overseas and in the 1954 re-release. But, because of the film's huge production costs (rumored to be over $6,000,000), its $2,000,000 advertising campaign (unheard of at the time), and costly distribution tactics, the film really only broke even.

Cast

• 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
• Charles Dingle - Sheriff Hardy
• Sidney Blackmer - The Lover
• Butterfly McQueen - Vashti
• Otto Kruger - Mr. Langford
• Orson Welles - the narrator (uncredited)

The film was one of the first to be honored by a record album, featuring selections from Dimitri Tiomkin's musical score. Rather than use excerpts from the soundtrack, RCA Victor recorded some of the music with the Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by Arthur Fiedler. The music was split into approximately three-minute sections and released on 10-inch 78-rpm discs in 1946.

The film was first shown on television during a special ABC Sunday evening showing. It has since been featured on classic movie channels. It was released on DVD in 2004.

Although its critical reputation is mixed at best, Martin Scorsese has stated that this was the first film he ever saw and holds it in high regard and even mentioned it in his documentary of American movies.