Duel

I am not a big Spielberg fan per say but to Duel is the best psychological film ever made. The car and truck, man against man works very well. We know that the truck driver is after Dennis Weaver and what we don't know or see is the driver of the truck. Though rumors circulated he was in one scene in the diner. The ending is great and to think this was a made for TV movie.

The Written Story data:

The teleplay by genre luminary Richard Matheson is based on his short story published in the April 1971 issue of Playboy. The idea for "Duel" came to Matheson in 1963 (on the already tense weekend when President Kennedy was assassinated) when a trucker dangerously cut him off on a California freeway. By Matheson using this personal experience, he tapped into an auto-obsessed society's fear of death on the roads at the hands of a mad motorist (a phenomenon that would later be so widespread as to earn the trendy catch phrase "road rage.")

Steven Spielberg was given the issue of Playboy by his secretary, who thought the short story would interest her boss. He pitched his bid to helm the picture as a theatrical feature to producer George Eckstein, who hired him on (having seen "Amblin'" and Spielberg's early TV work). Unable to secure a name actor for the lead role, the film was relegated to release as a TV movie-of-the-week (ironically, due to the film's high production values, it would be released theatrically in Europe in 1973, and later still due to the director's growing marquee value, "Duel" had a theatrical run in the U.S. in 1983 as well).

Universal Pictures originally planned 'Duel' to be a major motion picture. The studio wanted Gregory Peck to star in the film, but he passed up the role Universal then decided to make 'Duel' a TV Movie. Steven Spielberg was sneaking around the Universal Pictures mail room when he came across the script for 'Duel.' He loved the story so much that he begged management to let him direct the film. Universal complied with his request.

'Duel' originally aired on the CBS network in 1971 as a Saturday Night Movie. The original film was only 74 minutes long. 'Duel' was rated extremely high by critics. Many beleive 'Duel' was responsible for making suspense films so popular in the 1970's. Soon after 'Duel', The Airport films, Spielberg's Jaws, and many more suspense films were released.

Following 'Duel's successful TV airing, Universal released 'Duel' overseas in 1973. Since the movie's 74 minutes was not long enough for moviegoers, Universal had Spielberg spend 2 days filming several new scenes. These new scenes turned 'Duel' into a 90 minute film. The new scenes were the railroad crossing, school bus, and David Mann's telephone conversation with his wife. Profainity was also dubbed in to make the film look like a major motion picture

TV star Dennis Weaver was cast as Mann, a henpecked, businessman caught in the inexplicable events of the film when he is cut off on a California desert road by a rusty hulking truck. From this early point on, the entire thrust of the film is man vs. beast in a struggle for survival as the plot of the film is simply the story of a trucker progressively stepping up Mann's paranoia and fear, through toying to outright attempts at murder. Such a sparse, tight narrative serves the film well, and Spielberg plays the basic story to the hilt for thrills plain and simple.

With only a sixteen day shooting schedule, the guerilla pace of the production really lends to the film itself. Many claim Spielberg's speed while lensing a picture comes from his years of training in television, but I would argue that the young director brought this skill to the table from innate ability and years of making amateur and student films. To help keep his focus on the picture as a whole during the quick shoot, Spielberg had a giant storyboard (and map of the desert road they shot on) hung around his hotel room walls during production. Each day they shot, he would tick completed shots off the storyboards, helping him keep track of the work he had ahead of him, and helping him visualize the film throughout the short, grueling shooting schedule.

The film has an extreme feeling of claustrophobia about it (much as the third act of "Jaws" would), but it is a paradoxical effect. Despite being on the wide-open road, a symbol of American freedom and mobility, Mann finds himself (and we as the viewer) trapped inside his car, within the mass of traffic in the city, and in the canyons surrounding stretches of the desert road. Visual setups that Spielberg employs further cramp the viewer, from the early longshot of Mann's car on the highway, separated from us by a length of rusty barbed wire (a foreshadowing of being trapped by the rusty truck) to the odd setup as we view Mann on the telephone cut-off from us by the open door of a drying machine in the laundromat (added for the theatrical release). Throughout the film, Spielberg's choice of focal depths and lens cause yet more claustrophobic combinations, as we see extreme closeups of Mann in the car shot with a wide angle lens (causing mild distortion) or more terrifying still, the truck barreling toward Mann as shot through his rear window--the proximity of the vehicle seems unreal and all the more frightening in it's closeness as it fills Mann's rear view.

For such an early effort, in hindsight, it is wonderful to see in "Duel" a number of very important themes that would carry through Spielberg's filmography: an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances, man (out of his element) vs. a force larger than himself, and to a lesser extent, the story of a man struggling to find his identity as the solid head of a family that is coming apart at the seams (in the added theatrical scenes).

The TV film was given the honor of having a run of print ads and a press screening (something rare for the likes of a TV product back then). When the film aired on November 13, 1971, the viewing audience wasn't stellar but the reviews were. Spielberg had a handful of firm directing offers after the TV premiere of "Duel," and the film itself was nominated for two Emmys (it won one for best sound editing), and was also nominated for best TV film of 1971 by the Golden Globes. It has since went on to be a well-respected piece of work in the director's amazing filmography.

"Duel" was later released theatrically in Europe in 1972 (to much critical acclaim for the young director). To make the film of a length to be shown in theatres, a longer title sequence was added, as well as a scene of Mann calling his wife in a Laundromat at a gas station, and a scene of Mann's car being pushed by the truck toward an oncoming train (many complain the additions detracted from the original taut pacing of the TV version).

"Duel" also had a belated, very limited U.S. theatrical release on April 22, 1983, at which time the MPAA issued a PG rating.

Universal Picture
An ABC Movie of the Weekend

Released November 13, 1971
Running time:
TV Airing 1.13
Theatrical Release 1.30
MPAA Rating: NR/PG
Aspect Ratio 1.33:1

BUDGET:
$750,000

BOX-OFFICE:
International: $8 million

AWARDS:
Nominations:
Emmy Award, Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography for Entertainment Programming (for a Special or
Feature Length Program Made for Television)

Wins:
Emmy Award, Outstanding Achievement in Film Sound Editing
Golden Globe, Best Movie Made for TV

Collector's Edition
Full Frame (OAR) (1.33:1), English (Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), French and Spanish subtitles, English Captions.

Running Time: 90 minutes, COLOR.

Extra Features: "A Conversation with Director Steven Spielberg," "Steven Spielberg and the Small Screen," "Richard Matheson: The Writing of "Duel," Photograph and Poster Gallery, Trailer, Cast and Filmmakers

GENERAL INFO
"Duel" is a title in Steven Spielberg's filmography that fans shoud cherish as much as early classics like "Jaws" or "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." Truly the film "that started it all", "Duel" put Steven Spielberg on the map, and as he points out in one of the extra features on this DVD, led him to "Jaws," which of course made Spielberg a household name.

One of the last holdouts for a Spielberg title on DVD, "Duel" has had a long, frustrating road onto digital video. Originally announced in a Universal press release back in 1998 as an upcoming title, "Duel" didn't get an official street date until May 2002. Specs were released, artwork revealed, and then at the last moment, Universal pulled "Duel" from their May 2002 roster without explanation to consumers.

On to details about the DVD itself. "Duel" is presented in a "Collector's Edition" in the film's original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with the film's original mono soundtrack and newly created 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks. The film is broken up into Universal's magic number of 20 chapter stops and features three documentaries (totaling over fifty minutes of video), plus a trailer and a few text and still based extras.

PICTURE
The image on this DVD is a real blessing to fans of the film who have lived through years of TV repeats and VHS tapes. Sporting a nice, clean image with vibrant colors (the film's many brown tones, the red of Mann's bright, shiny car and the crisp ever-present blue skies all stand out nicely) that shows the care that went into the transfer. Grain can occasionally vary in the picture and not every shot is consistent, however. Note the sequence in the diner--the earlier part of which was shot handheld with presumably existing light--inevitably this sequence doesn't appear as slick as other surrounding sequences. This isn't to say this is distracting really, and when one considers the film was made for television in 1971, the overall picture should be all the more appreciated. Fans honestly couldn't want for more.

SOUND
Universal has included newly mixed 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS tracks, along with (mercifully for purists, unlike the "Jaws" DVD) the original mono soundtrack. For those interested in just how the surround tracks play, fear not, as the new mixes are intelligently reproduced. Surrounds are used to kick a bit more of that aggressive, growling semi truck bass around your room to great effect. Dialogue, for the most part, is very clear and well defined throughout, if not dynamic (understandably).

The soundtrack defaults to 5.1 Dolby Digital and unfortunately, cannot be changed on the fly (i.e.--you must go back to the setup menus to reset the soundtrack).

EXTRA FEATURES
"A Conversation with Director Steven Spielberg" (35.41)
Hands down one of Laurent Bouzereau's finest documentaries, as this video (which is over a third of the feature's running time) is wall-to-wall Steven Spielberg talking in vivid detail about the conception, production and aftermath of working on "Duel."

The documentary opens with another one of Bouzereau's wonderfully edited, exciting montages of clips and sounds from the film and leads on to Spielberg talking enthusiastically about the brash, daring young filmmaker he was who shot the amazing "Duel" in a mere 13 days. What follows is more detail than even the most jaded, die-hard Spielberg fan has surely heard about the production, and right from the man himself to boot.

I don't want to give too much away about what Spielberg talks about in this doc, as everyone should discover it for themselves, but I guarantee you'll be surprised by some of the tiny details about the film/production Spielberg regales viewers with: from cameos that span across some of his early films, to an appearance in the film from the young director I have never read of anywhere else. This is truly one of the best documentaries you're apt to find on a Spielberg film that blows away newer slick (yet less informative) docs like those for "Minority Report" and "Catch Me If You Can." Spielberg's enthusiasm is palpable and the level of information fans can glean from him is phenomenal.

"Steven Spielberg and the Small Screen" (9.27)
The documentary starts with another one of Laurent Bouzereau's wonderful montages of Spielberg's films, this time with rare clips from "Murder By the Book," "Eyes," "The Daredevil Gesture," L.A. 2017," and "Duel". The image quality on some of the unreleased films will make fans drool for future unlikely DVD releases of Spielberg's early television rarities.

Spielberg discusses his work in the television field (he of course wanted to work in features and not television). As in another documentary on the disc, the incorrect myth that Spielberg started in television when he was 20 is repeated (by Spielberg himself) when in truth he didn't receive his contract until he was 21 (which still is nothing to sneeze at).

The documentary, which is illustrated with scores of wonderful rare photos of Spielberg from the late 1960s/early 1970s, is filled with recollections from Spielberg on the rigors of television production and how he butted up against trouble due to his youth, yet was able to artistically make his mark due to imbuing his shows with a more theatrical visual flair (notably he talks about how he used more wideshots than the normal closeup obsessed television director did at the time).

Best of all, the piece includes rare footage from "L.A. 2017" and "The Daredevil Gesture" which will give many fans their first glimpses of these ultra-rare Spielberg films. On the negative side, the documentary sadly isn't as thorough as it could be, as it totally ignores post-"Duel" Spielberg TV efforts like "Something Evil" and "Savage" or early series episodes like "Make Me Laugh," "Par for the Course," "The Private World of Martin Dalton" (although Spielberg does mention "The Psychiatrist" series) and "Eulogy for a Wide Receiver."

Ultimately, the documentary may not be as thorough as the obsessive fan could hope for, but its still great to have video of Spielberg talking about his early work in general.

"Richard Matheson: The Writing of 'Duel'" (9.23)
Legendary author and screenwriter Richard Matheson discusses the inception of his simple, yet now classic story for "Duel" nearly a decade before the story's publication or film adaptation. Matheson had tried pushing the story for a television show before deciding to write it as a novella that was published in the April 1971 issue of Playboy (a mere seven months before Spielberg's film premiered on television).

Matheson discusses the ease of translating his own work to a teleplay ("I am a visual writer") and all the work he put into the great detail of the story/script (Matheson actually drove through the desert with a tape recorder noting details he would use for the story).

Matheson also talks about the production, Spielberg's work on the film, the choice of Dennis Weaver for the role of Mann, the significance of the title "Duel," Billy Goldenberg's unique score and much more.

Photograph and Poster Gallery
14 stills (oddly in painfully wrong aspect ratios, as some are stretched and some are compressed), along with seven posters from around the world, including some that are truly rare.

Trailer (.59)
A full frame 2.0 Dolby Digital trailer from the film's international theatrical release in 1972. Nicely edited, as the images come at you like a blunt instrument, showing the stark terror of the film and nothing more. Dig that crazy zooming "Duel" title that repetitively jumps out at you accompanied by the bleat of the truck's horn.

Cast & Filmmakers
Cast bios on Dennis Weaver, Jacqueline Scott, Eddie Firestone and Lou Frizzell, as well as crew bios on Steven Spielberg and Richard Matheson. All but Weaver and Spielberg's bios are merely perfunctory.

Production Notes
Four pages of production notes. Interestingly, the notes say "Duel" is "aka "Duel" of Death," though I have never seen the film referred to as such in any other venue, including foreign releases. The press notes say Spielberg was 23 when he shot the film, but he was actually 24 for those keeping score.