Duel is a 1971 American horror action-thriller television film directed by Steven Spielberg. It centers on a business commuter, played by Dennis Weaver, driving his car through California to meet a client. However, he finds himself chased and terrorized by the mostly unseen driver of a semi-truck. The screenplay by Richard Matheson adapts his own short story of the same name, published in the April 1971 issue of Playboy,and based on a November 22, 1963 encounter, when a trucker dangerously cut him off on a California freeway. Produced by Universal Television, Duel originally aired as a part of the ABC Movie of the Week series on November 13, 1971. It later received an international theatrical release in an extended version featuring scenes shot after the film's original TV broadcast. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with Spielberg's direction being singled out for praise. It has since been recognized as an influential cult classic and one of the greatest films ever made for television.
Plot[]
David Mann, a middle-aged salesman driving on a business trip in a Plymouth Valiant sedan, encounters a dilapidated old tanker truckdriving slowly in the Mojave Desert. Mann passes the truck but it speeds up, roars past him, then resumes driving slowly. When Mann overtakes and passes it again, the truck blasts its horn. Mann pulls into a gas station and the truck parks next to him. Mann phones his wife, who is upset with him after an argument the previous night. The station attendant tells Mann he needs a new radiator hose, but Mann scoffs, believing that the attendant is trying to sell him an unnecessary replacement part. The Peterbilt 281 tanker truck Mann being chased by the truck Back on the road, the truck catches up and passes Mann, then blocks his path each time he attempts to pass it. After taunting Mann this way for a while, the driver waves him past, causing Mann to nearly collide head-on with an oncoming car. Mann finally passes the truck using an unpaved turnout next to the highway, then glances at his rear window and waves. The truck briefly slows, but then begins tailgating Mann's car at increasingly high speed. The underpowered Plymouth is barely able to stay ahead of the truck. Mann swerves his car off the road, loses control, and slams sideways into a fence across from a rural diner as the truck continues down the road. Mann enters the restaurant to compose himself. Upon returning from the restroom, he sees the truck parked outside. He studies the patrons, identifies one who is wearing boots similar to the truck driver, and confronts him. The confused and offended patron attacks Mann and leaves in a different truck. The tanker truck leaves moments later, indicating that its driver never entered the diner. After resuming his drive, Mann is flagged down by the driver of a school bus whose engine has overheated. In the process of pushing the bus with his car, the front bumper gets caught underneath the bus's rear bumper. The truck appears in a tunnel down the road, causing Mann to panic. He and the bus driver free his car, and Mann flees as the truck arrives and helps push the school bus full of children onto the road. Mann stops at a railroad crossing and waits for a Southern Pacific freight train to pass through. The truck appears from behind and pushes Mann's car towards the oncoming train. Mann stands on the brake and shifts into reverse. As soon as the train passes, Mann floors the gas, crosses the tracks and runs off the road. The truck continues down the road, and Mann slowly follows. In an attempt to create more distance between himself and the truck, Mann drives at a very leisurely pace, as other motorists pass him. Once again, he encounters the truck, which has pulled off to the side of the road, waiting for him. The truck pulls out in front of him and starts antagonizing him again. Mann, who was behind the slow-driving truck, stops at "Sally's Snakerama" gas station, a roadside animal attraction consisting primarily of rattlesnakes. The truck continues a short distance down the road, then pulls over. Mann calls the police from a pay telephone outside the station. During the call, however, the truck returns and crashes into the telephone booth, destroying it. Mann narrowly escapes, and is chased around the animal attraction by the truck which has knocked over several cages containing rattlesnakes, tarantulas and an Iguana. Mann is able to get into his car and speed away. Around a corner, he pulls off the road, hiding behind an embankment near railroad tracks as the truck drives past. Once again, Mann tries to put distance between him and the truck, deciding to wait at least an hour before resuming his drive. Sitting in his car, he falls asleep but is startled by the horn of a passing freight train which he initially believes is the trucker's horn. He laughs and heads off again, but the truck is waiting for him some miles down the road. Mann slams on his brakes and stops to survey the truck. His car is nearly struck by a passing station wagon which swerves to miss him, then passes by the truck without incident. Mann then attempts to speed past the truck, but it moves across the road, blocking his way. Mann gets out of his car and approaches the truck but it moves a short distance further away and then stops again. Mann seeks help from an elderly couple who have driven upon the scene, but they quickly depart when the truck backs up towards them at high speed. The truck backs up to just inches of Mann's car, remains there a moment, then drives off. Determined to fight back, Mann returns to his car and speeds past the truck, which once again begins pursuing him. He believes he can outrun the truck and he floors the accelerator. Mann swerves towards what appears to be a police car, only to realize that the vehicle belongs to a pest control company. He continues up a mountain road, aware that the truck will be unable to match his speed on a grade. Suddenly, the radiator hose on Mann's car breaks, causing the strained engine to overheat and begin to fail. Losing speed with the truck getting closer, he just manages to reach the summit. He then coasts downhill in neutral, with the truck following. At the bottom of the hill, Mann spins out and slams sideways into a cliff wall. He is able to restart his car and barely escape being crushed by the truck. Mann drives up a dirt road to the edge of a canyon with the truck in pursuit. He turns his car to face the oncoming truck; jamming the accelerator down with his briefcase, Mann steers his car toward the oncoming truck, jumping free at the last moment. The truck hits the car, which bursts into flames, obscuring the truck driver's view. Pushing the burning car over the cliff, the truck crashes into the canyon. Mann rejoices in his victory. Blood is seen dripping inside the truck's cab. Exhausted from his ordeal, Mann then sits down at the cliff's edge. He tosses pebbles down on the wreckage as the sun sets.
Cast[]
- Dennis Weaver as David Mann
- Dale Van Sickel served as Weaver's stunt driver.
- Jacqueline Scott as Mrs. Mann†
- Carey Loftin as Truck Driver
- Eddie Firestone as Café Owner
- Lou Frizzell as Bus Driver†
- Eugene Dynarski as Man in Café
- Lucille Benson as Lady at Snakerama
- Tim Herbert as Gas Station Attendant
Charles Seel as Old Man
- Shirley O'Hara as Waitress
- Amy Douglass as Old Woman in Car
- Alexander Lockwood as Old Man in Car
- Sweet Dick Whittington as Radio Interviewer