Duel is a 1971 television movie directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Richard Matheson, starring Dennis Weaver and a Peterbilt 351 logging truck. Duel was Spielberg's feature-length directing debut, following a well-received turn directing a segment of the anthology horror film Night Gallery. Initially shown on television, it proved so popular that it was eventually released to cinemas in Europe.

Description

Duel is a thriller about a traveling salesman called David Mann, who is played by Dennis Weaver. Mann is driving home on the back roads of the California desert. For no apparent reason, he is terrorized by a large truck, which repeatedly chases and attempts to run him off the road. The film consists of a cat and mouse struggle between the truck and Weaver's character. Throughout the film, the driver of the truck remains anonymous and unseen throughout the film, with the exception of one shot where his arm beckons Weaver to pass him, and another shot where Weaver observes the driver's snakeskin boots. His motives for targeting Weaver's character are never revealed. In reality, the truck driver was played by the late stuntman and character actor Carey Loftin .

Despite its simple plot, a low budget (only $375,000) and very short filming deadlines (originally 10 days), the movie maintains a high level of suspense due to Spielberg's taut direction and the script's refusal to resolve the central mystery of the driver. The film's success put the young Spielberg on the map in Hollywood, and enabled him to move beyond directing for television.

There is debate among fans of the film over whether the truck is driven by a lunatic, or whether it is actually a 'ghost truck' controlled by nobody.

The truck, a Peterbilt 351, [1] [2] was chosen for its "face". For each shot, several people had the task to make it uglier, adding some "truck make-up". And you can see several car license plates hanged on the front of the truck, signifying that it's not his first chase. The car was also carefully chosen, an orange Plymouth Valiant with an unreliable and underpowered engine to signify the weakness of the David Mann character.

The script is adapted by Richard Matheson from his own short story. It may have been inspired by a 1947 episode of the old-time radio series Lights Out entitled "What the Devil", which had a similar plot but different resolution.

See also

• Maximum Overdrive
• Trucks

External links