CASE OF MELODRAMATIC INDIGESTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26916, 30 October 1948, Page 8

CASE OF MELODRAMATIC INDIGESTION

Cinema

It is unlikely that any film has ever provoked a noisier clamour of critical condemnation than “ Duel in the Sun, which commenced its Dunedin season with a preview at which representatives of the staffs of various offices and industrial concerns were the guests of the management 1 . It is some time since thig sultry saga set forth from Hollywood, and in the meantime some five dozen censorial “cuts” have been imposed. Even so, more than enough remains to justify a weary agreement with most of the well-publicised criticisms which have already been made. “ Duel in the Sun ” constitutes something over two hours of battering assault on the eyes and the ears, with violence of colour, of story, and of action combining to produce a melodrama as raw as the early days or Texas in which the film is set. The final scene is undoubtedly worthy of nomination for the distinction of being the most distasteful ever set on celluloid. It is a pity that so many fine performers and so much magnificent—if garishly-tinted—scenery have been wasted on this ostentatious triviality. The things which are worth while m the film are submerged under the lurid, lingeringly salacious entity. “ Duel in the Sun ” is one of the most flagrant examples of the low regard in which, by inference, too many producers hold their audience’s critical, moral, and mental faculties.