Steven Spielberg and Duel (2014)

Bloomsbury, 2014

Since the early 1970s, Steven Spielberg has directed more than two dozen films, many of which have achieved classic status. In addition to critical and commercial successes that include E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, and Lincoln, Spielberg’s name has become synonymous with such thrilling adventure films as Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, and Minority Report. Before he became a world-renowned filmmaker, however, Spielberg established himself on television, helming episodes of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery; Marcus Welby, M.D.; and Columbo. But it was the small-screen version of a Richard Matheson short story that brought the young director’s work to the attention of critics and viewers alike.

In Steven Spielberg and Duel: The Making of a Film Career, Steven Awalt provides an exhaustive study commemorating the film that decisively launched the career of a major film artist. Through in-depth research and interviews with the film’s creative and technical crew, the author tracks the film from genesis through production to release. Awalt conducted lengthy one-on-one interviews with Spielberg, Matheson, assistant director James Fargo, editor Frank Morriss, composer Billy Goldenberg, former MCA/Universal president Sidney J. Sheinberg, and writer-producer Steven Bochco, among others.

Spielberg provided access to many rare documents from his archives, including multiple drafts of Duel’s teleplay, the shooting schedule, shooting logistics breakdowns, and production correspondence. The first book-length examination of this important production in the director’s early career, Steven Spielberg and Duel also includes the original teleplay by Matheson, four additional scenes created for the international theatrical release of the film, photos, and storyboards of the film’s final sequence. A fascinating look behind the scenes of an acclaimed work, this book will interest not only scholars and film historians but anyone interested in the work of Richard Matheson and Steven Spielberg.

Available in hardcover, paperback and eBook formats from Bloomsbury (formerly Rowman & Littlefield).

Reviews

"To reconstruct the story of “Duel,” Awalt interviewed both Spielberg and the screenwriter Richard Matheson (also the author of the original magazine story), along with others associated with the shoot, and accumulated a large amount of documentary material, including a draft of Matheson’s teleplay. No doubt Spielberg completists and film scholars of the future will find a use for this highly detailed account."

"The destruction of the truck...was just a beginning,' film historian Awalt writes in his in-depth look at famed director Steven Spielberg's first major film, 1971's Duel, a television thriller starring Dennis Weaver and a menacing 18-wheeler based off of a short story by Richard Matheson. Duel is legendary among film buffs and is regarded as both a relic from the 1970s and a cult classic. It was instantly well received and Spielberg, only 25-years-old at the time, was highly praised. Awalt is eager to share every possible piece of information on the film, including a full copy of the movie's teleplay, storyboards of one sequence, and scene-by-scene analysis. Interviews with Weaver, Matheson, the film's producers, and Spielberg himself grant unparalleled access to the process of making the film. This book will surely be beloved by film students for that very reason."

"Like The Sugarland Express, Steven Spielberg’s first theatrical film, Duel (1971) is a Spielberg movie a lot of people have heard about but never seen. It was a TV movie, with a screenplay by Richard Matheson (who wrote the short story on which the film was based), starring Dennis Weaver as an unassuming traveler harassed by the faceless driver of a big rig. Doesn’t sound like much, but in Spielberg’s hands, as film historian Awalt notes in this very engaging and perceptive 'making of' book, the film delivers fear and nail-biting tension. This is really two making-of books in one: the story of the production of Duel, and the story of Spielberg himself, the kid who dreamed of making movies, who was directing episodic television when he was barely old enough to drink and who leveraged a brilliant TV movie into a brilliant film career. This well-presented look at a legendary director's beginning contains, as an added bonus, the complete Duel screenplay, itself a small masterpiece."

"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."

"Using unseen memorabilia from the director’s archive plus a brand-new interview with him, renowned Spielbergologist Steven Awalt tells the tale from its origins as a Playboy short story, to its instant-masterpiece status as a movie of the week, to its canonisation on the big screens of Europe. Like the film itself, it’s an economical, intelligent, unpretentious read, and brings the film alive. ... Through evocative writing and reminiscences from all the key players, Awalt does a great job of putting you in the desert on the shoot or on the recording stage laying down Billy Goldenberg’s score. . . [T]he book is at its best in its close textual analysis, be it of Matheson’s short story or Spielberg’s M.O. Elsewhere it bombards the reader with cool trivia , peppers the story with sidebars that enrich the tale, and offers a reprint of Matheson’s taut teleplay. Awalt makes the astute point that Duel is, at once, classic and overlooked. The book’s Peterbilt passion confirms the former and, hopefully, rectifies the latter."

ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS

“Swim, Charlie, swim!”: A Dissection of the Dock Scene from Jaws

June 9, 2025 No Comments

The famous “dock scene” in Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws,” which arrives just before the film’s 25-minute mark, is a scene that plays out as a pivot point from the tension-building pattern established in the previous shark attack scenes in the film but also presages aspects of what’s to come in the third act of the film.

Into the “Monster House”

September 27, 2021 No Comments

On the occasion of the animated feature film “Monster House” marking its 15th anniversary, Amblin had the pleasure of reminiscing at length with director Gil Kenan about the film’s production and what it’s meant to him and his career.

Friend-Maker, Fear-Maker

October 28, 2020 No Comments

Filmmaker Jacob Chase came to the attention of Amblin Partners through his short film, “Larry,” the inspiration for “Come Play,” which he wrote and directed for Amblin and Focus Features. Chase talks about the creation of his first studio film with “Come Play,” his close work with his creative crew, and his inspirations as a filmmaker going back to key genre titles of the 1980s.

Along Came a Director…Frank Marshall on the Making of Arachnophobia

July 17, 2020 No Comments

Frank Marshall, who along with Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg formed Amblin Entertainment in 1981, has produced some of the most memorable and celebrated movies in cinema history.

The Evolution of Lex

January 1, 2020 No Comments

Ariana Richards is known as a principal cast member in one of the most successful feature films in all of cinema history, “Jurassic Park” (1993). The opportunity of a lifetime to act in a Steven Spielberg film helped shape Richards’ early career as an actress, and continues to hold a special place in her life and memories.