Duel in the Sun

I spoke yesterday about the Hays Code and what it meant for 1940s films that sought to address certain issues. One of the most abhorrent aspects of the Code would have to be the anti-miscegenation rules, which meant that interracial relationships were banned from the screen. This rule was both for behind the scenes and in terms of textual content, meaning that characters shown breaking this rule had to receive suitable punishment for their actions on screen, and actors playing two characters in an interracial relationship paradoxically had to be of the same race. This was especially problematic in films that wished to depict mixed-race individuals... how do you justify in-context punishment for someone who was born of mixed race when they had no actual control over the circumstances of their birth? The result was that few films addressed such issues, as it was just too tricky to get around. Duel in the Sun is a rare exception to this rule, a mythic western that tells a twisted story of love and murder - a film that brands itself as a tragedy right from the outset; the only real way a film with these themes could be played out in the Hays Code era.

Pearl (Jennifer Jones) is the carefree daughter of a white man and a native american woman who finds herself orphaned after the sins of her parents catch up with them. She is sent to live with her father's relatives, a ranching family where her uncle, Senator McCanles (Lionel Barrymore), harbours corrosively racist attitudes. Pearl is stuck between two worlds, believing (and told) that she has to rise above her racial background to try and live as white a life as possible. The only problem with this is that there are very few white people willing to accept her on those terms, and she soons finds herself inextricably pulled towards her no-good cousin Lewt (Gregory Peck), a destructive love affair that spells doom for all involved.

This film is a rare product, a text that was controversial at the time of its release due to its content and remains controversial today due to the way its executed. As miscegenation had to be punished on screen it means that the film actually passes sentence on Pearl's parents in the opening reel - her father kills her mother, and then commits suicide by giving himself up to the law. We're shown an image of penance as the father makes peace for his sins (specifically, mixing blood with a native american) while the shadow of a noose is shown through a window. It's a dicey way of balancing the themes... under the Hays Code suicide was forbidden as well, so it means that events are contrived to this point where the father obliquely engineers a situation where he's put to death, but doesn't actually do the deed himself. The film wants to depict Pearl's father in as good a light as possible, so he's shown to be aware of how wrong his racial open-mindedness was.

Pearl herself is a naive girl looking to find her place in the world... she wants to be a lady but due to her mixed-race background she's depicted with a wild streak. She's the heroine of this odd western, but the film isn't allowed to give her a happy ending under the Hays Code, so there's always this point where her decision-making ability seems to be missing a little something. It's as if the native american part of her means that she lacks good judgment, so even when she knows that giving in to Lewt's sexual advances means damnation she still isn't completely able to fight him off. She tries hard to be a 'lady' but she can't resist the 'trash' side she inherits from her mother. This racist subtext can make the film seem a little unpalatable to modern viewers.


The good news is, it's an absolute cracker of a Western. As we know these racist undertones are enforced by the rules of the era there's some room for leeway in the way a modern viewer might like to interpret it. Unlike most other Westerns it's very much a female-focused story, with Pearl taking centrestage at all times. There's a subplot about the 'free' West being shackled by a government-sanctioned train line, something that the Senator is violently against. And even though the mechanics behind Pearl's character ensure that she's unable to present a positive image of a mixed-race character, most of the audience's scorn is reserved for the Senator, a despicable authority figure who receives due punishment despite his anti-miscegenation views. There's a scene where the Senator discusses Pearl with his son, Lewt, making it clear that legitimate mixing of the races is forbidden but that this doesn't mean Lewt can't have some 'fun' sowing his 'wild oats'. The pair of them laugh like the privileged men they are - horribly aware that the world is theirs to abuse.

Lewt takes this further; he's a real sexual predator... not only does he commit the 'sin' of miscegenation, there are also overtones of rape and incest to his relationship with Pearl. Gregory Peck missed his calling as a villain, he's so casually menacing in the role as he approaches Pearl from behind, shutting the door behind him as he stands over her. When she gives in to him we're never really sure if she's crying because he raped her or because she's ashamed. She becomes 'half-caste trash' because her own nature and everyone's expectations of her are too hard to fight. She uses sex because Lewt responds to it, and although Lewt later compares her to branded cattle (implying ownership), there's a sense that he too can't seperate his rotten nature from actual feelings of love.

Jennifer Jones is terrific in as Pearl. The film makes frequent allusions to her native american side, implying that she's kin to wild animals, and the white characters respond to her as an individual in need of taming (exemplified by her bushy hair). She even drinks from a pond alongside a horse at one point, but these base allusions are a lot more complex than a simple and racist condemnation of miscegenation. Whatever Pearl and Lewt do to each other they can't help but be drawn back by their attraction. Jones looks badarse in the film's climax, sneering as she aims her rifle - upset by what she's doing but resolute to do it anyway. The film leans on a heavy palette of orange and red colours, casting the West as a kind of hell-blasted purgatory - an image easy to accept when Lewt and Pearl blow each other apart piece by piece before falling into each other's arms, the very picture of doomed love.

DIRECTOR: King Vidor
WRITER/SOURCE: Screenplay by Oliver H. P. Garrett, David O. Selznick and Ben Hecht. Based on a novel by Niven Busch.
KEY ACTORS: Jennifer Jones, Gregory Peck, Joseph Cotten, Lionel Barrymore, Herbert Marshall, Lillian Gish, Walter Huston, Charles Bickford, Harry Carey

RELATED TEXTS:
- Duel in the Sun, the novel by Niven Busch.
- David O. Selznick produced and guided the film as an epic to rival Gone With the Wind. Its controversial themes and Selznick's offscreen relationship with Jennifer Jones ensured that it didn't gain the same critical acclaim.
- Other Code-era films about miscenegation: Pinky, Sayonara, Love is a Many-Splendoured Thing (also starring Jennifer Jones), A Patch of Blue and Imitation of Life.
- Some Westerns that focus on Native Americans: Broken Arrow, Hombre, Dances With Wolves, Apache, Little Big Man, Cheyenne Autumn and A Man Called Horse.

AWARDS
Academy Awards - nominated for Best Actress (Jennifer Jones) and Best Supporting Actress (Lillian Gish).