The 1970s was a golden age for made-for-TV horror movies, often broadcast as network "Movies of the Week" (such as the ABC Movie of the Week). Because broadcast television had strict censorship rules regarding graphic gore, these films relied heavily on psychological terror, claustrophobic atmosphere, and ordinary settings turned sinister.
While all three broadcast networks dabbled in the genre, it was mostly CBS and ABC that produced the lion’s share of these ninety –minute films. Some of the most well-known films still resonate today, surprisingly after nearly 50 years after they aired.
1971’s Duel (based on a legendary writer Richard Matheson short story, which he adapted here) starred Dennis Weaver as David Mann, a mild-mannered electronics salesman, who is driving cross-country on a two-lane highway where he encounters an old oil tanker driven by an unseen driver who seems to enjoy annoying him with dangerous antics on the road. Unable to escape the demonic big rig, David finds himself in a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the monstrous truck. When the pursuit escalates to deadly levels, David must summon his inner warrior and turn the tables on his tormentor.
What is unique about this TV movie was that it was 25 year-old Steven Spielberg’s second feature-length film (he made a 1971 episode of NBC series The Name of the Game called L.A. 2017 first). Already on Universal Studios radar after helming an acclaimed segment of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery (at the age of 21) that starred the iconic actress Joan Crawford and having seen a rough cut of the premiere episode of Columbo, Murder by the Book, to air in September of 1971, this film showed them that he was worth the extra three days of filming that was needed to complete it. While Unit Production Manager Wallace Worsley felt filming the entire production outside and on location on what was then a normal 10-day shooting schedule for TV movies of the week, was impossible (which turned out he was right), the studio had enough confidence with their young director. (and as a compromise, Worsley allowed Spielberg to start the filming on location for the first three days to see if it really could be done on an efficient level. To help with plotting, he made an overhead map to help plot out the camera shots).
Duel was initially shown on television as an installment of the ABC Movie of the Week. It was the 18th highest-rated television movie of the year, with a Nielsen rating of 20.9, and an audience share of 33%. After the successful broadcast, Universal decided to release the film theatrically over seas (with a limited release here in the US). At 74 minutes, however, it was not long enough for this purpose, so Universal had Spielberg spend two days filming several new scenes to expand it to 90 minutes. A longer opening sequence was added with the car backing out of a garage and driving through Los Angeles traffic, and out into the desert. Additional scenes shot to lengthen the movie included Mann's telephone conversation with his wife in the laundromat, the encounter with the broken-down school bus, and the confrontation at the railroad crossing. Some voice over dialogue from the television version was re-written and re-recorded, changing the "tone" of some scenes, and some alternate takes were used as well. Mild expletives were also added to the script, to make the film sound less like a television production.
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