阳光下的决斗

Hollywood mogul David O. Selznick’s artistic follow-up ofGONE WITH THE WIND, DUEL IN THE SUN is a lush western drama with King Vidor ostensibly at the helm, alas, in the wake of the creative difference between him and Selznick, the latter had to hire no less than six directors (himself included) to finish the shooting when the former reneged, so it is accountable that the final product is somewhat a curate’s egg.

After herher Caucasian father Scott Chavez (Marshall) is hung for killing her“trash” two-timing Indian mother (Losch), abeleaguered mestiza Pearl Chavez (Jones) enters the foster family of Laura Belle (Gish), Scott’s second cousin and quondam squeeze, who has been married to Senator Jackson McCanles (Barrymore), the landowner of a vast cattle ranch called Spanish Bit, and borne him two sons, the genteel, open-minded Jesse (Cotten) and the younger, louche Lewt (Peck).

Beyond any shadow of a doubt, a brotherly rivalry is fomented when there is such a nymphet in the household, to Pearl, although the two candidates' Manichaean disparity is clear as day, it is her own conflict between a tamed good girl (being educated like a lady by Jesse) and a wild bad girl (the trash like her mother, pining for Lewt’s obsessive libido) that afflicts her profoundly, like her mixed parentage, these two congenital forces are constantly at loggerheads, and are not helped by Jesse’s overtly lofty moral compass and Lewt’s toxic masculinity and megalomania (who reckons her as his exclusive property, but cannot marry her due to her dark skin), she seesaws between them, to a point it is too bathetic and abject for one’s palate, but when the crunches comes, under that broiling sun against the rugged man-face mountain, she knows the price to pay for being enamored with a hardened rascal, here is the most torrid and sensual love/hate self-destruction that takes two to tango, credits must be given to its morally incorrect dare that circumvents the Hays Code censors of its time.

To today’s eyes, DUEL IN THE SUN is roundly tarnished by its culturally insensitive casting, the unmasked racism (Barrymore’s Senator is too intractable and bombastic to merit a feel-good reconciliation), and some wide inconsistency in the narrative (e.g. a gratuitous train wrecking scene has no import or whatsoever in the context other than to create some action and noise), but as for its visual grandeur and horseback bravado, the film is for shizzle a gas for oater-philes, not to mention a young Peck is furnished with a rare opportunity to play up his villainous side, laced with his drop dead gorgeousness and a mischievous self-consciousness, completely outstrips Joseph Cotten’s meek benevolence; Jennifer Jones, under her ethnicity-altering warpaint, emulatesa feral posturing to a slightly hokey impression but totally earns her stripes in the coda when all her emotions well up affectingly, mixed with dirt, tears and blood.

Among its bankable supporting players, a delicately amiable Lillian Gish is vouchsafed with her one and only Oscar nomination through her extraordinary career; Lionel Barrymore has an overbearing presence too big to ignore but it isHerbert Marshall who bowls audience over with his brief but poignant appearance in the beginning, ire and contrition is alternately checked inside or oozing outside; lastly, Butterfly McQueen evokes sharp compassion as a barmy maid who can never finish her sentence more because her status doesn’t deserve no one’s time than her apparent prolixity. In toto, this far-off Hollywood epic is passé in its configuration and ideology, but effuses a sizable magnitude of spectacular whether to accommodate one’s eyes or stir one’s sentiments.

referential films: King Vidor’s STELLA DALLAS (1937, 7.2/10); Victor Fleming’s GONE WITH THE WIND (1939, 8.4/10)

珍妮弗琼斯40年代背靠传奇制片人大卫O塞尔兹尼克，拍了不少大女主玛丽苏戏！这部就是这一时期的一个产物！ 刻意美黑故意夸张表演的珍妮弗琼斯，站在伟大的优雅的表演润物细无声、肤如凝脂的莉莲吉许身边，幼稚得像个刚会走路的孩子！

这片曾被老马的我的美国电影之旅重点介绍过！女性主义我是没看出来，但是虐恋、种族歧视我是看出来了！ 代表着文明的白人血统和野性的印第安血统让女主人格撕裂，一方面其实大表哥更适合她，她也更喜欢她；但是，深受父亲白人至上种族歧视观念的二表哥看不起女主（难能可贵的是，格里高利派克终于演了一个渣男，还演得挺好，这跟演员角色带来的新鲜感也有关系），只是跟女主玩玩，但女主却因为和二表哥睡了一觉，选择留在二表哥身边，最后这种文明与野性撕裂着她，她选择与二表哥同归于尽，现在看来就十分莫名其妙！但是片中的自然风光真是太美好了！

最感人的反而是莉莲吉许与莱昂纳尔在病榻前的那场对手戏，两个相爱的人终于表露真心，不再互相折磨，莉莲吉许扮演的角色生命也来到了终点，最后她支撑最后一点力气，来到爱人身边，那一头如瀑的头发（我好羡慕这个发量啊），盖在莉莲吉许身上，她扮演的角色离开了，但是这一幕永远印在我的脑海里，莉莲吉许仿佛不会老，对于表演，永远像年轻时那样热忱、全力以赴！那一刻，死亡变得柔美，角色和莉莲吉许得到永生！ 这不比珍妮弗琼斯最后在沙石地跟格里高利派克拖时间狗带强太多了！