11/9/25

Duel in the Sun

Directed by King Vidor (1946)

Introduced by Kevin Schaeffer, Director of Restoration and Library Management at the Walt Disney Studios

Producer David O. Selznick – who also shares a screenwriting credit – aimed to replicate the success of Gone With the Wind with this adaptation of Niven Bush’s 1944 novel, starring Selznick’s then lover Jennifer Jones. In King Vidor’s sprawling Western spectacle — what The Museum of Modern Art’s Dave Kehr memorably called a “screaming Freudian fantasy, full of the dark sexuality characteristic of Vidor” and notorious censor Lloyd Binford called “sadism as its deepest level” — Jennifer Jones’s Pearl Chavez arrives at her Aunt Laura Belle’s (Lillian Gish) Texas ranch and becomes the center of a volatile love triangle. Gregory Peck, in one of his rare villainous roles, plays Lewt, the magnetic but destructive brother, while Joseph Cotten’s Jesse serves as his moral counterpoint. A noir Western in flaming Technicolor, with a great score by Dimitri Tiomkin,  Duel in the Sun is the first film Martin Scorsese recalls seeing as a child and would become a profound influence on his visual style. The target of censors and religious review boards, the films had a tormented production history (several uncredited directors were brought in during production). It became the biggest grossing film of the year. 

Restored by Walt Disney Studios in association with The Film Foundation with the participation of the George Eastman Museum and The Museum of Modern Art. Special thanks to Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. It was restored by TFF in collaboration with Walt Disney Studios, from the original 3-strip Technicolor negatives.

Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios