Jaws and Duel: Bonded By Blood, Sweat And Gears
One was a TV movie that ended up getting a theatrical release in Europe and the other was the first film to pass the $100 million mark at the US box office. Both are taut thrillers, that still showcase some of the finest thrills Steven Spielberg has ever delivered as director.
Although he was worried about the similar themes, both have become intrinsically weaved, with Duel acting as a proto-Jaws, a sublime dress rehearsal for Quint, Hooper and Brady’s battle against a great white shark.
Initially, Spielberg was worried that the beast (metal truck and monster shark) against man similarities of Duel and Jaws would see him labelled as ‘that shark-and-truck director. He needn’t have worried.
With hindsight, it is easy to see how Spielberg initially saw Jaws as a throwback to ground he had already covered in the well-received Duel.
Both films dealt with the every man rising to the occasion in the hour of need. In Duel it is mild-mannered family man, David Mann (played by Dennis Weaver), and in Jaws, again it is working class family man, Martin Brody. As was so prevalent in 70s cinema, both had to run the gauntlet of paranoia and anxiety. Something which we all experienced in buckets of sweat, whilst viewing.
For me, growing up, Weaver was most familiar from Gentle Ben, where he played a ranger, with a definite air of Chief Brody about him. Uniforms almost cut from the same cloth.
It was during promotion of Duel in the South of France, in the summer of 1973, that Jaws producers, Richard Zanuck and David Brown, along with its author, Peter Benchley, all met to discuss haw to turn Jaws from book to film.
Both characters joust with their deadly enemies, facing off where only one will remain victor. One alone in the desert, one alone on a deserted ocean.
Earlier in Duel we also see a familiar and much-beloved shot from Jaws utilised, the reverse zoom and simultaneous dolly shot that tracks Brody when Alex Kintner is attacked AKA the Jaws shot. It was of course used by Hitchcock in Vertigo, but since 1975 the oft imitated shot has been synonymous with Jaws. It’s great to see Spielberg using it prior to that though, again with great effect.
The death cry of the shark sinking to the depths, after being destroyed by Chief Brody (Roy Scheider), is the same as that of the monster truck that goes over the edge of the cliff in the finale of Duel. And that sound effect was taken from the death gargles of The Creature From The Black Lagoon, which is a heavy influence on the opening attack of Chrissie Watkins (Susan Backlinie).
In 1973 Duel was awarded top prize by the Festival International du Film Fantastique, one of those on its committee was Christopher Lee. Lee held the film in high regard and would go onto appear in Spielberg’s 1941, part of a scene that sees him on a Japanese sub that surfaces in American waters, on top of Susan Backlinie, in scenes aping the opening attack in Jaws. The film would also feature Amity Island residents, Lorraine Gary and Murray Hamilton.
Duel was based on a short story by Richard Matheson, he would go onto be one of the named screenwriters of Jaws 3D - before Carl Gottlieb was called on board for a third time. That film was also the only directorial outing for Jaws production designer, Joe Alves.
By Dean Newman
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In reflecting on the kingdom he created, Walt Disney once said, 'It all started with a mouse.' For filmmaker Steven Spielberg, it all started with a truck. That is the premise that drives Steven Spielberg and Duel: The Making of a Film Career by Steven Awalt. Awalt's thoroughly researched yet accessible book chronicles Spielberg's formative years and production of the film, and it contains archival treats such as storyboard drawings and a reproduction of the script. (Chicago Tribune)