Review of Duel

In any setting, the vast southern California desert alone could pass as a malevolent force. Placed into the hands of an up-and-coming young director named Steven Spielberg, that force morphs into an aging fuel tanker driven by a man Spielberg described as "...a dirty, rotten, no-good son of a bitch! The movie itself, based on a short story, was the product of a network mandate to churn out weekly movies that basically served as time filler during the broadcasted sport off-seasons and handed over to Spielberg almost as a practice exercise for what excellence would come from him in the future. Dennis Weaver, a seasoned everyman actor, made the exercise all that much easier. Quaint and somewhat dated after 50 years (Santa Clarita has basically grown out into the northernmost portions of LA's San Fernando Valley), it's still a great little watch.