Duel began life as a short story written by Richard Matheson, one of Hollywood’s most seasoned writers. Previous work of Matheson’s included episodic writing for such TV series as Have Gun – Will Travel, Combat!, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, and Star Trek, and movies like The Omega Man, The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Raven. He was perhaps best known though for having written 16 episodes of Rod Serling’s classic show, The Twilight Zone.
Matheson penned the story of Duel after being dangerously tailgated by a trucker while driving on a California highway on November 22, 1963, the same day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Duel was ultimately published in the March, 1971 issue of Playboy magazine.
Duel author and teleplay writer, Richard Matheson. (Photo courtesy of Manor Vellum.)
The story was brought to the attention of fledgling director Spielberg by his secretary, who told him that she was aware Universal and ABC had optioned the property for a Movie of the Week and were looking for a director.
Spielberg read the short and was compelled enough by the strength of it to apply for the job. He met with producer George Ekstein and beat out a host of other directors based on an episode of Colombo Spielberg had directed and showed the producer. Matheson was meanwhile hired to adapt his story into a teleplay.
Director Steven Spielberg on the set of Duel. (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures.)
During the casting process, Spielberg fought hard to have Dennis Weaver star in the project based on the director’s admiration for the actor’s performance as the hotel manager in Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil, opposite Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, and Welles himself.
Spielberg, and Weaver, eventually won out. Additional cast members included Jacqueline Scott, Eddie Firestone, Lou Frizzell, and Lucille Benson, all in minor roles.
Dennis Weaver as the main protagonist, motorist David Mann. (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures.)
Principal photography was completed in just 13 days, mostly on rural California stretches such as the Agua Dulce Canyon Road, Soledad Canyon Road, Angeles Forest Road, and the Sierra Highway. Equally astonishing is the fact that the film was edited in a mere 10 days by Frank Morriss.
Duel originally aired as the ABC Movie of the Week on November 13, 1971, and received rave reviews by critics and viewers alike. Spielberg, in particular, was lauded by film critics from Variety and The Hollywood Reporter for his directorial flourishes on the movie.
The movie opens with a montage of shots taken from the bumper of Mann’s car as it travels from Los Angeles to the high desert. (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures.)
So universally positive were the reactions to Duel that it was theatrically released in 1972-’73 in an extended 90 minute version (14 minutes longer than the television cut) with additional scenes shot by Spielberg.
Duel’s plot is simple. David Mann (Weaver) is a Los Angeles salesman who has an appointment with a client upstate. During the course of his drive he encounters a worse-for-wear big rig truck emblazoned with “Flammable” warnings all over its exterior.
Mann’s original sin: passing the big rig. (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures.)
The truck is going slowly up a grade, so Mann passes it in a responsible fashion using his turn signals, and is soon underway at a speed he figures will get him to his appointment on time.
Just a few moments later, the truck abruptly roars past him, cuts him off, and then slows down to its original speed in front of Mann. Perturbed, and now breathing the truck’s diesel exhaust, Mann passes the tanker again and is treated to a blast from its air horns.
Mann and his tormentor at the gas station. (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures.)
Later in the day, Mann pulls into a gas station, and a few minutes later the tanker parks next to him at an adjacent pump. The truck’s driver gets out of the beast on the side opposite Mann’s field of view, but the salesman is able to see the man’s cowboy boots.
After a phone call to his quarrelsome wife in which she quips about his lack of manhood the night before when his co-worker was making advances towards her, Mann is told by the gas station attendant that he needs a new radiator hose. He declines the repair and is on his way.
Back on the road, Mann is once again menaced by the tanker truck, which rudely passes him and then swerves all over the road to prevent Mann from repassing. Mann finally gets past the truck, whereupon the big rig tailgates him, forcing Mann to go faster and faster. Doing in excess of 100 mph, Mann loses control of his vehicle and spins out across from a diner.
Mann spies his adversary outside the diner. (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures.)
Shaken, he goes into the diner’s lavatory. When he comes out, he sees the offending truck parked outside, and assumes the driver is in the diner with him. He studies the diner’s patrons, and confronts one wearing similar cowboy boots to the truck’s driver.
The patron does not take well to Mann’s accusations and punches him several times. The man then leaves, gets into a pickup truck, and drives away, indicating to Mann that he had picked out the wrong man.
Out on the highway, the dangerous game of cat and mouse continues, with the tanker truck’s attacks becoming more potentially lethal.
The big rig tries to kill Mann by pushing his car into a freight train. (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures.)
As the two vehicles begin to ascend a mountain road, Mann is able to put space between himself and the much slower truck. Mann starts to relax, but just as he does, his radiator hose bursts, causing his car to overheat thus making the ascent to the top of the mountain unlikely.
With the big rig now hot on his tail, Mann must take matters into his own hands to ensure his very survival.
A blown radiator hose derails Mann’s getaway. (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures.)
In spite of Duel’s unsophisticated plot, the movie actually makes quite a few thematic comments on life-and-death, contemporary society, and masculinity. The fact that we never see the driver of the big-rig also imparts a supernatural feel to the proceedings, as if this is perhaps a fever dream in Mann’s head, or, if real, that the driver of the truck is in fact a demon or the devil himself.
This quasi-satanic angle is so well conceived in the movie that it was directly lifted for the less well-crafted but nonetheless entertaining 1977 film, The Car, starring James Brolin.
Glimpses of Spielberg’s future cinematic aesthetic are visible throughout the film. (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures.)
Quick glimpses of Spielberg filmmaking hallmarks are littered throughout Duel. His use of wide angle lenses on close-up subjects to infuse a sense of shock or panic are present, as is his exceptional framing and use of the camera to convey information.
For a 25 year-old, Spielberg’s mastery of the mise-en-scene is absolutely extraordinary here, and it makes for an exciting romp despite the straightforward plot. It stands to reason that in the hands of a lesser director, Duel could have easily been a bore and a misfire.
Spielberg’s use of framing, lens choice, and depth make even mundane sequences feel artistic. Examples include this shot of Mann’s car driving through the desert, and Mann’s phone call to his wife, framed inside the door of a washing machine. (Photos courtesy of Universal Pictures.)
The use of sound and the lack thereof at times is also beautifully handled in the film, often injecting a menacing tone of impending doom. Relatively little dialogue is spoken in the movie, as per Spielberg’s desire to let the terror of the situation and the vehicles do the talking. The majority of dialogue in the film is heard as a narration of Mann’s inner thoughts.
The cinematography by Jack A. Marta, the aforementioned editing by Frank Morriss, and Billy Goldenberg’s exciting score should also be given a nod for their peerless efficacy.
Mann’s ride: a 1970 Plymouth Valiant. (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures.)
Even Spielberg’s selection of vehicles is well thought through. Mann’s car, a 1970 Plymouth Valiant, is a compact with a limited powertrain. It was chosen to echo Mann’s meek personality and his wife’s suggestion to the effect that he was no Prince Valliant the night before. The car’s blinding Tor-Red exterior paint, on the other hand, was chosen by the director solely because it would stand out against the desert locales that they filmed in.
As an aside for those concerned with production minutiae, four Valiants were used during production. A 1970 and ’71 model equipped with Chrysler’s 225 cubic-inch slant six were used for beauty shots, while an older 1969 model with the manufacturer’s 318 cubic-inch V8, was dressed up to look like the 1970 model and used primarily as the stunt car.
For the extra scenes shot for the theatrical release of the movie, a 1972 Valiant with the 225 cubic-inch six was used. To Spielberg’s dismay, this car would later be used in an episode of the Universal television series, The Incredible Hulk.
Spielberg settled on a 1957 Peterbuilt 281 for the truck as he felt it had a menacing “face.” (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures.)
Spielberg looked at a number of big rigs before deciding on the 1957 Peterbuilt 281 used in the film. Its older cab styling, consisting of a long hood, round headlights, and split windshield, looked like a menacing face to the director, and its decrepit condition helped to convey the dark specter motif that he was after. The addition of multiple license plates on the truck’s bumper was Spielberg’s idea, to suggest that the driver is a serial killer who has done this before to other drivers across the southwest.
The truck was powered by a 280 horsepower CAT 1673 turbocharged diesel engine with a 13-speed transmission and had a Rockwell TK-570 axle behind it. The top speed of such a setup was roughly 65 mph, so the impression of greater speed was accomplished by wise selections of camera lenses and low angles.
Spielberg’s chose of lenses and angles were able to make the tanker look like it was going faster than it was. (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures.)
For the additional scenes filmed for the 1972-’73 theatrical release, a 1962 Peterbuilt 351 with a CAT 1673B engine was used.
The vehicular action in Duel is truly top-notch, as one would expect since legendary Hollywood stuntman Carey Loftin was the stunt coordinator and driver of the big rig. Loftin’s previous credits included standouts like Viva Las Vegas, Bullitt (he was the on-screen driver of the bad guys’ Dodge Charger in that film), Grand Prix, Bonnie and Clyde, Vanishing Point, and The French Connection, amongst countless others.
His vehicle control behind the wheel of that big, ungainly Peterbuilt is remarkable and must be seen to be appreciated.
Maybe Mr. Mann should have walked instead of driven. (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures.)
In all, Duel is a very finely crafted, and thoroughly enjoyable movie. Had I been a film critic at the time of the movie’s release, I would have had no trouble singling out Steven Spielberg as a future grand auteur of the medium. His directorial stamp can be felt over every frame of the film, and his choices here are always dead on.
Spielberg turned a potentially run-of-the-mill Movie of the Week into a project worthy of theatrical distribution at a time when I believe only a handful of other directors could have done so. I highly recommend that you see Duel if you never have, and I give it 8 out of 10 pistons.
