Duel in the Sun: Roadshow Edition (UK)

6 / 10
3 votes cast
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Inline Image

Now fully restored to its original glory
Certificate: PG
Running Time: 138 mins
Retail Price: £17.99
Release Date:

Synopsis:
Only David O. Selznick, the producer of `Gone With the Wind`, could have conceived a film so massive in scope and sweep as this epic Western which received several Academy Award nominations (including Best Actress for Jennifer Jones), and made Variety`s All-Time Box Office list.

With an all-star cast headed by Gregory Peck, Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotton, `Duel in the Sun` is a Western, a love story and a family saga rolled into one and features some of the most breathtaking photography ever seen on film.

When a vivacious half-breed Indian girl named Pearl (Jennifer Jones) is sent to live with Texan land baron Senator McCanles (Lionel Barrymore), conflict abruptly arises. Hot-blooded Pearl captures the attention of the Senator`s sons: upright Jesse (Joseph Cotton) and fiery Lewt (Gregory Peck). Soon both the brothers are vying for her affections, leading to betrayal, wild desert shoot-outs and a lustful but destructive love-hate relationship between Pearl and Lewt.

Special Features:
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Original Trailers
Teasers
Tags
Cast & Crew Biographies
Comments From Martin Scorcese and Gregory Peck

Video Tracks:
Standard 1.33:1

Audio Tracks:
Dolby Digital Mono English

Directed By:
Josef von Sternberg
King Vidor
David O. Selznick
William Cameron Menzies
Sidney Franklin
William Dieterle
Otto Brower

Written By:




Starring:
Walter Huston
Lillian Gish
Herbert Marshall
Lionel Barrymore
Gregory Peck
Joseph Cotten
Jennifer Jones

Soundtrack By:
Dimitri Tiomkin

Director of Photography:
Harold Rosson
Ray Rennahan
Lee Garmes

Editor:
Hal C. Kern

Costume Designer:
Walter Plunkett

Production Designer:
J. McMillan Johnson

Producer:
David O. Selznick

Distributor:
Fremantlemedia

Your Opinions and Comments

8 / 10
Duel in the Sun
PT Video
Region 2 (UK), PAL
Colour
Average bitrate: 6.49 mb/s
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Chapters: 19
Audio: 2.0 mono
Subs: None
Extras: 5 trailers and announcements, comments from Martin Scorsese and G. Peck, mini bios for some of the cast
Cert: PG
Cover Design: Nothing special but fitting, though again the producers of the disc have avoided the poster
138 minutes (Without PAL 4% speedup: 144 minutes)

The Film: Though slightly uneven the film is pretty to look at and tends to grow on you.
8

Image: The image is beautifully rendered with deep blacks, but slightly oversaturated colours that tend to make the picture soft. Contrast is slightly dark but doesn't hurt much. There are no artefacts to speak of and especially for a film it's age it will surely please. The 1.33:1 ratio fills the screen completely but suffers slightly from overscan that could have been avoided by means of windowboxing.
8

Audio: The mono soundtrack is loud and slightly distorted but, like the image, it's good for it's age.
6

Extras: A bunch of trailers and mini bios and then some comments from Greg Peck and Martin Scorsese. Note that these are not commentaries, but only a couple of pages of text. It`s adequate for such a release but one can`t help but want a little more to know about the production. This is a special roadshow edition with entr`acte, overture and exit music that is quite unnecesairy but shows us that this is a fairly complete version of the film.
5
posted by DVDfinnur on 2/7/2004 02:06
7 / 10
It`s beautiful and Masochistic Western, presented here, imperfectly
posted by Richard73 on 25/3/2005 10:38