Duel in the Sun (1946)

Nominated for 2 Academy Awards:

Best Actress: Jennifer Jones

Best Supporting Actress: Lillian Gish

 

Duel in the Sun is a bad, bad film, but also kind of fun to watch. Jennifer Jones is in brownface, yet her skin has different nuances throughout the film, especially getting whiter when interacting with a love interest 😉 It’s all quite silly. Not to mention how poorly written this character is, the so-called lead, who in the end has nothing to say about anything. She just is. A plot device. A woman to be thrown around. Therefore, we can explain this nomination as based only on her husband’s campaigning.

The other actors do better. Not Gregory Peck, he’s just fine, I don’t remember ever seeing him play a villain before. It’s the supporting duo of veterans Lionel Barrymore and especially Lillian Gish, nominated for this, that carry the film in a way, regardless of their screentime. They both commit to the roles, have a backstory and they enrich the film when they’re present. Lillian would’ve won, I think, had it not been for Anne Baxter’s heartbreaking performance in The Razor’s Edge. The screenplay is bad, the direction is too cheesy, the score is horrendously overused. Surprised the beautiful cinematography didn’t get nominated.

 

I give it: 6/10

IMDB LINK