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 was eventually released to cinemas in Europe. This is a DVD cover. ... This is a DVD cover. ... See also: 1970 in film 1971 1972 in film 1970s in film years in film film Events February 8 - Bob Dylans hour long documentary film, Eat the Document, premieres at New Yorks Academy of Music. ... A television movie (also TV movie, TV-movie, made-for-TV movie, telefilm, etc. ... Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg KBE (born on December 18, 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio but raised in the suburbs of Haddonfield, New Jersey and Scottsdale, Arizona), is an American film director and producer whose films range from science fiction to historical drama to horror. ... Richard Matheson (born February 20, 1926) is an American author and screenwriter, typically of fantasy, horror or science fiction. ... Dennis Weaver (b. ... Peterbilt Motors is one of the primary producers of heavy duty class 8 trucks. ... DVD cover showing horror characters as depicted by Universal Studios. ... Night Gallery was Rod Serlings follow-up to The Twilight Zone which aired on NBC from 1970 to 1973. ...

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, with the exception of two separate shots 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 (though others, including Spielberg himself, drove the truck at times). The thriller is a genre of fiction in which tough, resourceful, but essentially ordinary heroes are pitted against villains determined to destroy them, their country, or the stability of the free world. ... Dennis Weaver (b. ... State nickname: The Golden State Other U.S. States Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) Official languages English Area 410,000 km² (3rd)  - Land 404,298 km²  - Water 20,047 km² (4. ... The driver of a car transporter truck prepares to offload Skoda Octavia cars in Cardiff, Wales For further uses of the word truck, see Truck (disambiguation). ... Carey Loftin (b: January 31, 1914 Blountstown, Florida d: March 4, 1997 Huntington Beach, California) was an American actor/stuntman whose most famous role - not that he was visible - was as the driver of the truck in Steven Spielbergs Duel. ...

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. ...

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 hung 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. Peterbilt Motors is one of the primary producers of heavy duty class 8 trucks. ... The Plymouth Valiant was an automobile manufactured by the Plymouth division of Chrysler Corporation in the United States from 1960 to 1976. ...

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. Richard Matheson (born February 20, 1926) is an American author and screenwriter, typically of fantasy, horror or science fiction. ... This article is in need of attention. ... 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Old-Time Radio (OTR) and the Golden Age of Radio are phrases used to refer to radio programs mainly broadcast during the 1920s through the late 1950s. ... Lights Out was an American old-time radio program featuring tales of the supernatural and the supernormal. ...

Trivia

Spielberg has said in the past that he watches this film every time he is about to start a new project so that he never unlearns the lessons he taught himself in making it.

Spielberg lobbied to have Dennis Weaver in the starring role because he admired Weaver's work in Orson Welles' Touch of Evil. (source: DVD bonus material) Orson Welles, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1937 George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) is generally considered one of Hollywoods greatest directors, as well as a fine actor, broadcaster and screenwriter. ... Touch of Evil (1958), was one of the last and one of the greatest examples of film noir ever made. ...

Shooting was completed in 13 days (3 longer than the scheduled 10 days), leaving 10 days for editing prior to broadcast as the ABC "Movie of the Week" (source: DVD bonus material) The ABC Circle logo, designed by Paul Rand in 1962. ...

See also

• Maximum Overdrive
• Trucks

Maximum Overdrive is a 1986 film directed by Stephen King. ... Trucks is a story by Stephen King in which trucks are possessed by demons and threaten to kill everyone in sight. ...

External links

• Duel at the Internet Movie Database