Movie poster for Duel in the Sun The movie was adapted by Oliver H.P. Garrett, Ben Hecht (uncredited) and David O. Selznick from the novel by Niven Busch. It was directed by King Vidor, Otto Brower (uncredited), William Dieterle (uncredited), Sidney Franklin (uncredited), William Cameron Menzies (uncredited), David O. Selznick (uncredited) and Josef von Sternberg (uncredited).
It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Jennifer Jones) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Lillian Gish).
The film received the nickname "Lust in the Dust", which eventually became the name of a real John Waters movie.
David O. Selznick had high hopes for Duel in the Sun and hoped that it would surpass his success with Gone With the Wind. The film received poor reviews, however, and was highly controversial. A scene in which Jones does a seductive dance for Gregory Peck was cut from the film before it was released. Despite the bad press, it was a goldmine for Selznick. It earned $11,300,000 in rentals during its initial release, and much more overseas and in the 1954 re-release. But, because of the film's huge production costs (rumored to be over $6,000,000), its $2,000,000 advertising campaign (unheard of at the time), and costly distribuion tactics, the film really only broke even.
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