Duel
Short description
Duel follows David Mann, a traveling salesman driving through the California desert, who passes a slow-moving tanker truck and provokes its unseen driver. The truck then begins pursuing his car, turning an ordinary business trip into a sustained chase. David tries various tactics to escape, but the truck keeps returning, and the confrontation becomes a personal test of endurance on the open highway.
The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, made for television, and based on a screenplay by Richard Matheson. It was produced by George Eckstein for Universal Television and ABC, and runs just 74 minutes. Dennis Weaver plays David Mann, with Jacqueline Scott as Mrs. Mann and small roles filled by Eddie Firestone, Gene Dynarski, Lucille Benson and Tim Herbert. It was Spielberg's second film as director, following Night Gallery and preceding Something Evil.
Duel received strong notices, with critics rating it 8.1 out of 10 across 48 reviews. Audiences are also positive: it holds a 7.6 rating on IMDb from around 86,000 votes and a 7.4 on TMDB from roughly 2,100 votes. Those figures indicate a widely seen television film whose reputation has held up well over time.
What's left behind the scenes
- You can see 17 tally marks on the truck.
- Mann's car is a 1970 Plymouth Valiant.
- The number Mann calls his wife on was a real, working phone number at the time the film was made.
- No sets were built for the film.
- According to the filmmakers, the license plates on the truck were taken from cars that it destroyed. According to Spielberg, the truck driver wanted to destroy one car in each state.
- The film is partially based on a true story that happened to Richard Matheson.
- Originally, it was a 74-minute television film made for ABC. But after its tremendous success on television, producers decided to expand the film and release it theatrically.
- After the television broadcast, Spielberg shot several additional scenes for the theatrical release of the film.
- The film was shot in 13 days (excluding additional scenes for the theatrical release).
- After filming wrapped, Spielberg had just over three weeks for post-production.
- During the filming of the scene where the truck falls off a cliff, the special equipment controlling the driverless car malfunctioned. To avoid losing time on repairs, a stuntman got behind the wheel of the truck and jumped out just a moment before the vehicle plunged into the abyss.
- The scene at the railroad crossing, where the truck attempts to push Mann’s car under a train, was specifically shot for the theatrical release.
- At the 56th minute, when the main character enters the phone booth, the film crew is clearly visible in the reflection.
- On the car that the character played by Dennis Weaver mistakenly believes is a police vehicle, one can notice the inscription “Grebleips” – Spielberg’s surname written backwards.
- Lucille Benson (the woman at the gas station) played a similar role in another Spielberg film – "1941". The elderly couple in the car stopped by Mann also appears in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".
- Footage from the film was used in one episode of the series "The Incredible Hulk" (1978). After learning about this, Steven Spielberg insisted that a mandatory clause be included in the contracts for his future projects, prohibiting studios from using footage from his films without his consent.
- When Cary Loftin, who played the truck driver, asked Spielberg why his character was so persistently pursuing David Mann, Steven said: “Simply, you’re the most repulsive and filthy son of a bitch to ever walk the earth.” To which Cary replied: “Well, then I’m exactly what you need.”
- Dennis Weaver's acting in "The Evil" convinced Spielberg that a better candidate for the role of the victim could not be found.
- The truck driver's face is not shown, nor is his name mentioned. In Richard Matheson's story of the same name, the driver is named Keller, which sounds quite similar to the word "killer".
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
