Movie Moments: #108

 

Duel (1971)

Comment:

Still a classic film and one that marked Steven Speilberg’s film directorial debut (he had previously directed an episode of Rod Serling’s TV show Night Gallery). Duel was also made for TV, not theatre release, although it did have a theatre release in Oz.  I know, because I remember going to see it when I was at uni.   How good is it, how simple yet complex.  A motorist is terrorised by a truck on the highway in the California desert.  We never see the driver and the truck develops a personality of its own, an evil, malevolent monster. 

Synopsis:

See above.

Quote:

David Mann: There you are, right back in the jungle again.

Link:

Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MtAMc4i8OA

Trivia:

·       The script was adapted by Richard Matheson (who wrote quite a number of Twilight one scripts) from his own short story, originally published in Playboy magazine. It was inspired by a real-life experience, in which Matheson was tailgated by a trucker on his way home from a golfing match on the same day as the Kennedy assassination.

·       During the chase, a parked service car for a pest exterminator named Grebleips is seen. Grebleips is "Spielberg" in reverse. This has since been used in many similar movies as a tribute to Duel.

·       While filming the shot where the truck drives off the cliff, a piece of machinery designed to keep the truck traveling in a straight line without a driver failed. So, instead of calling a halt, the driver stayed in the driving seat and jumped out at the very last second before the truck went off. That is why the door was open during the fall. The shot also had to be done in one take.