Duel in the Sun

After a tragic bout of jealousy costs the lives of both her parents, the “half-breed” Pearl Chavez is taken in by a distant relative, the wife of a Texas rancher, Senator Jackson McCanles. There she meets the couple’s two sons. The elder brother, Jesse, treats her with respect, while younger brother Lewt makes aggressive sexual overtures to Pearl that culminate in rape. From that moment on, the two are locked into a fiery hate-love relationship that inexorably advances towards the final scene, which gives the film its title … David O. Selznick may have set his sights on topping the success of Gone with the Wind (1939) with this outsized melodrama. Half a dozen directors and cinematographers were involved in the production, alongside a host of period advisors for, among other things, weapons, dances, and ranch life in the 19th century. In 1954, Vidor wrote, “the picture started out to be a moderate-sized western. When we had finished, it was just about the most super-duper-Technicolor ever made”. Although he left the production before the shoot was over, after a fight with the omnipotent producer, Duel in the Sun is still the film most closely associated with King Vidor’s name.