DUEL IN THE SUN (1946)

* * *
PG C-129m and 144m (roadshow version). USA
D: David O. Selznick
Jennifer Jones, Gregory Peck, Joseph Cotten, Lionel Barrymore, Lillian Gish, Butterfly McQueen, Walter Huston, Charles Bickford

Tagline: Emotions... As Violent As The Wind-Swept Prairie!

At the time of its release, Duel in the Sun was nicknamed "Lust in the Dust". It could have been called "Twin Peaks", given the attention to the leading lady’s constant heaving bosom! This 1946 David O. Selznick picture is a western soap about how ill-fated passion consumes a beautiful 'half-breed' and a brutish outlaw. That pretty much sums up the plot. It's campy fun for classic movie fans, but also sets itself up for ridicule. The dialogue is ripe with howlers. The standouts are deathbed scene (when the dying character actually crawls out of bed to comfort another) and the final shootout.

This belongs with the best of the 'so-bad-it's-good' movies. Far from boring, it's bigger than life, albeit silly and pretentious. In the right frame of mind, you can have a good time with this. If this film had been made today – heaven forbid – the results would be less than bearable. Try to imagine, instead of Gregory Peck and Jennifer Jones, we had George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez, reunited after Sodenbergh’s Out of Sight (1998). Better yet, imagine George Clooney groping Jennifer Love Hewitt playing a Mexican for a thoroughly faithful remake. The star power gives Duel in the Sun a boost. These are terrific actors (with the exception of the lovely but dramatically-challenged Jennifer Jones) trapped in a bad movie.

Jennifer Jones plays Pearl Chavez, a fiery young girl of sweet sixteen who is orphaned after her aristocratic father is hung for the murder of her Cherokee mother and her gambler lover. Pearl is sent to live as the ward of her father’s old love, Laura Belle (Lillian Gish, giving her usual long-suffering performance), who is now married to bigoted senator Jackson McCanles (Lionel Barrymore). Their two grown sons are good guy Jesse (Joseph Cotten) and bad boy Lewt (Gregory Peck).

The girl harbours a girlish crush on gentle Jesse but Lewt decides he wants her. In fact, all men sniff around the poor girl, even her own father Look at the way he strokes her hair before playing hangman. He comes so close to whispering, “You smell like your mother!”

After catching Pearl lying about swimming with Lewt, Laura Belle summons a traveling preacher dubbed ‘The Sin Killer’ to cure her wild ward. Cripes. The woman is so condescending that it's ridiculous that she was supposed to be one of the 'good' characters! I hated her guts, especially in her scenes with Butterfly McQueen.

Pearl is dragged from her bed wearing nothing but a blanket to be exorcised. The ‘blessing’ is as follows:

Sin Killer: Pearl? You can be a woman of sin or a woman of God. Which is it to be?

Pearl: I want to be a good girl.

Sin Killer: And remember that the devil is always aimin' to hog-tie ya. Sometimes he comes ghostin' over the plains in the shape of a sneakin' rustler. And sometimes, beggin' your pardon Laura Belle, he stakes out the homes of the worthy and the god-fearin'. Pearl, you're curved in the flesh of temptation. Resistance is gonna be a darn sight harder for you than for females protected by the shape of sows. Yes siree, bob. You gotta sweeten yourself with prayer. Pray till you sweat, and you'll save yourself from eternal hell-fire. You understand me girl?

Pearl: Yes sir.

He gives her a medallion that promises to keep her ‘sweet and clean as the first milk’. When confronting her at the swimming hole the next day, Lewt throws it into the weeds, sneering, “I don’t want no milkmaid!”

Poor Pearl. Not only does she suffer racial slurs and sexual harassment, but she is patronized by everyone except the one person who could have given her the happiest of endings - a way out. Every time she reaches happiness and respectability (read: not Lewt's ho), something knocks her down and keeps her there. She's destined to be her mother's daughter right to the end. But Lewt is going to Hell and taking Pearl with him.

Selznick had obviously hoped to re-create the success of his 1939 classic, Gone with the Wind. The scenery, especially certain shots of the house will remind viewers of Tara. The character of good brother Jesse is just another reincarnation of Ashley. Pearl even throws a hissy fit and runs from the house. Just like Scarlett did after she finds out that Ashley Wilkes is engaged to Melanie. He even casts GWTW alumni Butterfly McQueen to play her usual dumber-than-a-bag-of-hair post-war slave - er...servant girl. This is a white man's 1880’s Texas, after all.

Oh, Davy! You just couldn't let go and make something new, could you? Sounds like someone you know, eh... Mr. Lucas?

This was anything but romantic to me. Lewt is handsome but spoiled, with a dangerous sense of entitlement. In his mind, everything on the land belongs to him, including Pearl. In the tradition of buttholes everywhere, he dismisses the idea of marrying a 'bobtail half-breed' because he fears for his reputation and the wrath of his racist father. Still, that doesn’t mean that she shouldn’t save herself for booty calls. At one point, he tells her menacingly, "Anyone who was my girl is still my girl." He must keep them all in a basement somewhere.

Despite the fact that she carries a torch for the noble (read: stuffy) Jesse, she is fatally attracted to a man who shares her lustful appetites. She knows he’s no good, but... She Just Can’t Help Herself! With insulting glibness, the movie hints and hammers that Pearl's ‘half-breed’ nature is to blame for her raging libido. Like mother, like daughter. Oh my. How deep.

One of the locals warns other men away from her, and declares, "No one marries Pearl Chavez until Lewt McCanles decides to give away the bride." How is that romantic? And when a woman in the movies has to choose between two men, why is the boring guy always the good one and the sexy one always a dangerous bully?

Part of the problem is miscasting Jennifer Jones, who was the lover and future wife of David O. Selznick at the time, so the casting couch can be blamed for this one. She constantly mugs for the camera. The most annoying mannerism of all was the way she averted her eyes. She never looks anyone in the eye. Ever! Her eyes are so pale against the dark face paint that she looks possessed. She reminds me of that creepy poster for The Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) (http://www.impawards.com/1978/eyes_of_laura_mars.html).
All that face and arm paint doesn’t hold up well under sweat. Near the end, after climbing sharp rocks and fighting for her life, she looks positively orange. In fact, you can have a drinking game and take a slug every time she a) tosses her hair, b) flashes her teeth, or c) sobs, rolling orgasmically on her bed.

The film has no nudity, but there's no doubt what goes on behind closed doors. See, that's what thunder and lightning are for! Or fireworks! I'm actually surprised Selznick didn't add a porthole or train tunnel shot somewhere. His work here is about as subtle as a combover.

Don't get me wrong. I love Gregory Peck, but his best performances were in quiet, heroic roles, such as Atticus Finch in 1962's To Kill a Mockingbird and Captain James McKay in 1958's The Big Country. He just isn't believable as the bad boy. He looks the part, and is especially yummy in spurs - I have a weakness for cowboys - as well as gladiators and pirates. Pardon me while I go fan myself. Ahem. He looks great until he opens his mouth and words come out.

Peck is woefully miscast as a southerner here, but he got it right in 'Mockingbird'. He has charisma and presence, but there's something off. It's like watching Atticus Finch try to play Stanley Kawalski. I admit I did burst out laughing when he started singing, “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” after causing a train wreck. Ghoulish, but funny.

Don't worry about how long the movie is because much of the feature is padded out by an introductory overture and an intermission. Without those two interruptions, the film is a few minutes over two hours. Just hit 'fast-forward' during these parts and you'll be fine. After twelve minutes of the overture – yep, twelve long, agonizing minutes of listening to an overblown orchestra while staring at the profile of Squaw’s Head Rock against a blazing sunset, our narrator Orson Welles finally tells us the story of the doomed lovers.

When we watched the DVD, my movie aficionado brother – a tyrannical purist who would rather challenge than comfort those around him - insisted that we experience the movie "properly", despite the fact that Mom and I begged for mercy. Nothing doing. With only three more minutes to go, we came to an understanding when I threatened to make him watch The Lost Boys with his eyes forced open - ala Clockwork Orange. But never fear – he will pay... (twirls imaginary mustache) Yes, imaginary!

One unintentionally humourous moment to note is when Laura Belle looks at a photo of her sons as children. A crude arrow is scrawled under one kid, with "Lewt" printed underneath it. The filmmakers did that was for our benefit - wasn't that kind? Or maybe the woman can't tell which kid is which without her notes.

These actors have done much better work in their lifetimes - be sure and seek them out. They give it their all, but even these Hollywood giants can’t elevate this train wreck. Lionel Barrymore, in particular, has wicked fun doing a hammy impression of his Mr. Potter from It’s a Wonderful Life, again with a wheelchair. I used to wonder if he could walk in real life. It's pure camp, and certainly not the epic it promises to be.

I recently bought the DVD without seeing the movie first, which wasn't a losing hand but not much of a jackpot. Luckily, Mom loves old westerns too, so it found a good home.