DuelRichard Matheson versus Steven Spielberg

Resumen

Although in recent times Duel seems to have been given the tremendous importance it has in Steven Spielberg’s career, little attention has been paid to the fact that the script and the original short story that allowed the director to be present on the big screen worldwide had been written by the well-known teleplay and short story writer Richard Matheson. Matheson’s authorship appears among the main credits of the film and most times the film is mentioned, and the fact that the original short story was first published in the April issue of Playboy in 1971 is also quoted by many critics, including Spielberg himself, who always reminds us that it was her secretary who let him know about Matheson’s story. However, drawing on declarations taken from published interviews with both Steven Spielberg and Richard Matheson, this paper attempts to show how the choice of subject matter, of genre, and especially the selection of a story written by Richard Matheson may have been more than a happy coincidence, in contrast with what has been frequently said by Steven Spielberg.