After $1,500,000 worth of ballyhoo, the costliest (some $6,000,000) and longest (134 minutes) horse opera ever made was finally being shown to the public. In Los Angeles, David 0. Selznick's Technicolored Duel in the Sun was running simultaneously in two theaters. Local reviewers found the extravaganza a titillating blend of wild oats and tame, well-worn plot, in which virtue emerged triumphant, but low-bodiced vice seemed to have all the fun. Nevertheless, the furor was up to Selznick's expectations—if not quite the kind of furor he had paid his advertising money for.
Archbishop John J. Cantwell of Los Angeles warned Roman...
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