1946 Review Blog
Duel in the Sun
Grade: B 07/28/2014
7 years after 'Gone With the Wind', producer David O. Selznick wanted lightning to strike twice with this big, politically incorrect, Western Soap Opera, directed by King Vidor, among several others. Lightning struck at the box office, but not nearly as much as GWTW, and the critics were thrown by its intense (for those days) onscreen passion. The story is basically a heated romantic triangle between half-Caucasian, half-Indian tempress (Jennifer Jones) and the two brothers who love her, good boy (Joseph Cotten) & bad boy (Gregory Peck). Simply put, this melodramatic epic is entertaining in how overblown it is. Picture 'Gone with the Wind' (Technicolor cinematography, vast landscapes, great sets, sweeping music, hell ... Butterfly McQueen is also in this as a maid) set in the old West, but with everyone acting in bold, exclamatory dialogues & flamboyant gestures. And picture Jennifer Jones in the Scarlett O'Hara-like role, but as if she were raised in a den of iniquity. The film isn't that great, but there's a carnal energy to it that kept me glued throughout.
Grade: B 07/28/2014
7 years after 'Gone With the Wind', producer David O. Selznick wanted lightning to strike twice with this big, politically incorrect, Western Soap Opera, directed by King Vidor, among several others. Lightning struck at the box office, but not nearly as much as GWTW, and the critics were thrown by its intense (for those days) onscreen passion. The story is basically a heated romantic triangle between half-Caucasian, half-Indian tempress (Jennifer Jones) and the two brothers who love her, good boy (Joseph Cotten) & bad boy (Gregory Peck). Simply put, this melodramatic epic is entertaining in how overblown it is. Picture 'Gone with the Wind' (Technicolor cinematography, vast landscapes, great sets, sweeping music, hell ... Butterfly McQueen is also in this as a maid) set in the old West, but with everyone acting in bold, exclamatory dialogues & flamboyant gestures. And picture Jennifer Jones in the Scarlett O'Hara-like role, but as if she were raised in a den of iniquity. The film isn't that great, but there's a carnal energy to it that kept me glued throughout.