Line #16 Film/DuelInTheSun


1	[[quoteright:315:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/duel_in_the_sun_1946.jpg]]
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3	''Duel in the Sun'' is a 1946 Technicolor {{Western}} film directed by Creator/KingVidor and produced and written by David O. Selznick, [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on a novel of the same name]] by Niven Busch.
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5	Pearl Chavez (Creator/JenniferJones) is a ''Mestiza'' (half-white, half-Native American) girl who is orphaned after her father kills her mother after he caught her with a lover. Before he is executed as a punishment, he arranges for his daughter Pearl to live with his second cousin and old sweetheart, Laura Belle (Creator/LillianGish).
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7	When she arrives, the gentle and gracious Laura Belle is happy to welcome her to their home, but not so her husband, the wheelchair-bound Senator Jackson [=McCanles=] (Creator/LionelBarrymore), who calls her a "half-breed" and jealously despises Pearl's father. Pearl also meets their sons, the [=McCanles=] brothers: Jesse (Creator/JosephCotten) and Lewt (Creator/GregoryPeck), the latter being a ladies man with a personality quite unlike that of his gentlemanly brother Jesse. He expresses his interest in Pearl in direct terms and she takes a strong dislike to him, and when she eventually submits to Lewt's aggressive advances one night, Pearl is angry with him and ashamed of her own behavior; however, she also cannot help but be flattered by his lust and attentions. This starts a downward spiral that draws them both.
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9	This was Selznick's attempt to outdo ''Film/GoneWithTheWind'', and he was personally crushed when it ended up being a critical and commercial disappointment. The film's sensual nature managed to pass the notoriously prudish standards of UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode but some religious groups, notably the Catholic Legion of Decency condemned the film, and any attempts to boycott the film [[StreisandEffect only encouraged audiences to see it]] and may have played a part in the movie breaking even at the box office.
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11	Creator/PaulBartel's ''Film/LustInTheDust'' (1984) took its name from the nickname ''Duel'' earned, and shared some of its plot, albeit aimed towards a comedy spoof direction.
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14	!!This film contains examples of:
15	* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Pearl spends most of the movie chasing after bad boy Lewt.
16	* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: The cold Senator [=McCanles=] admits his love for his wife Laura Belle [[spoiler: before she dies]].
17	* AxCrazy: Lewt is established from the start to be violent, but once he [[spoiler: guns down Sam Pierce and becomes a wanted man]], it becomes clear that he's an imminent threat to others.
18	* BadassPreacher: Jubal Crabbe (Creator/WalterHuston), a gun-toting preacher nicknamed the "Sinkiller", that Laura Belle calls in to counsel Pearl on how to avoid the evils of temptation.
19	* BetrayalByOffspring: The Senator considers Jesse to have done this when he supports the railroad in a land dispute.
20	* BettyAndVeronica: The gentlemanly Jesse and bad boy Lewt are the Betty and Veronica respectively to Pearl's Archie.
21	* {{Brownface}}: Jennifer Jones wears a brown tan ([[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/63/26/9a/63269a82941652c991edaa6f98da2ab1.jpg pretty obvious at some points]]) to play the Mestiza Pearl.
22	* CainAndAbel: Lewt and Jesse eventually end up in a showdown. [[spoiler: Lewt ends up shooting Jesse, but it isn't fatal.]]
23	* DarkShepherd: Jubal Crabbe. When you're a preacher and your idea of discouraging bad behavior is to carry a gun (to the point you're nicknamed "Sinkiller"), you're this.
24	* DeathByAdaptation: In the film, [[spoiler: Pearl dies]] at the end as opposed to the book where the character [[spoiler: survives and marries Jesse]].
25	* HalfBreedDiscrimination: Senator [=McCanles=] coldly shows contempt to Pearl due to being half-Native American, calling her a "half-breed."
26	* HotBlooded: Lewt gets riled up pretty easily.
27	* HairTriggerTemper: Lewt flies into a rage at the slightest provocation.
28	* IHaveNoSon: Jesse's backing of the railroad in a land dispute results in his disownment and banishment from the family home by the Senator.
29	* MurderTheHypotenuse: [[spoiler: Lewt ends up gunning down Sam, the man who proposes to Pearl. He also shoots his own brother Jesse, but he isn't killed.]]
30	* RomanticFalseLead: Sam Pierce, a neighboring rancher who is smitten with Pearl. She does not love him but says yes to his proposal. [[spoiler: Before they can be married, however, Lewt picks a fight with Pierce in a saloon and guns him down.]]
31	* SiblingTriangle: Brothers Jesse and Lewt compete for the affections of Pearl.
32	* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil: At the beginning of the movie, Lewt is loutish but not without charm. By the film's end, however, he has crossed the line into full-blown villainy.
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Context Film / DuelInTheSun