About the Movie
The Devil On Wheels
Documentary, Film,
The Devil On Wheels
Production
2016-2021 UK, USA
Time
77 minutes
Language
English, French
Country
UK, Spain
Company
The Devil On Wheels Productions, Wonder World Pictures

Los Angeles, October 1971. A small film, made for television, is being shot near LA under the direction of a young and unknown director. The movie tells the story of “a man, a truck and an open road”. It has attracted no attention at all. It's not based on a famous book. It has no film stars. It has a modest budget. It will be filmed in only 13 days. But film lovers all over the world will still show their admiration for it 50 years later.

The film is called DUEL.

Present day. Fans from all over the world regularly visit the film locations in the desert next to Los Angeles. They know every angle of the film. They go to visit the surviving truck of the movie. They can quote lines of dialogue from it. Steven Spielberg’s first known work has become a top cinematic reference. How come this tiny film, made cheaply and quickly for TV, has generated such a passionate, international and undying cult?

What makes DUEL so unique?

THE DEVIL ON WHEELS looks deeply into the DUEL phenomenon and, in doing so, it explores the power and fascination of films on people.

TDOW Trailer
THE FILMMAKERS
Writer / Director / Producer / Editor / Music Editor - Enric is a director of TV series and films. He was the Director-On-Set in the Emmy-nominated Amazon doc series All or Nothing: Manchester City and Alonso. Email contact: enric.folch@thedevilonwheelsmovie.com.Read More
Director of Photography.
Producer / Aerial Photography / Researcher - Producer / Aerial Photography / Researcher
Co-Producer. - Wonder World Pictures.
Producer / Cameraman / Editor / Postproduction Supervisor - Gabriele Stifani, an independent filmmaker, was a cameraman in the Emmy-nominated Amazon Doc series All or Nothing: Manchester City.Read More
Co-Producer.
Producer / Sound Recordist / Editor / Assistant Director - Luca Stifani, an independent filmmaker, was a sound recordist in the Emmy-nominated Amazon Prime series on All or Nothing: Manchester City.Read More
Production Manager.
THE TALENT

These are the Duel fans, experts, and filmmakers who took the ride with us (in order of appearance in the film).

Legendary Bass Player - Famous bass player who performed in such hits as Mission Impossible and La Bamba. She played in the Duel soundtrack.Read More
Author of “Empire of Dreams”, book about fantasy in Spielberg's films, University of Florida - Andrew is the author of Empire of Dreams: The Science Fiction and Fantasy Films of Steven Spielberg.Read More
Duel Location Hunter - Dan Zito watched Duel at the age of 10. Many years later, Dan was driving through Soledad Canyon Road when he recognized the Duel tunnel. He then started tracking down every Duel location.Read More
Spielberg’s First Agent - When Medavoy saw Spielberg’s short film Amblin, he signed him straight away. From then on, their relationship had its ups and downs.Read More
Second Owner of the Surviving Duel Truck - Losasso, from Burbank, CA., claims that, when he watched Duel as a kid, the film mesmerized him. Many years later, rumours reached him that one truck had survived the filming. Neil located the truck and became the second owner of the Surviving Duel Truck.Read More
Actual Owner of Chuck’s Cafe, Duel Location, now Le Chene, French Cuisine Restaurant - When Juan Alonso bought his restaurant in Sierra Highway, outside L.A., he didn’t know it was a film location, but he found out soon enough.Read More
Author of Steven Spielberg and Duel: The Making of a Film Career. DePaul University - His book is a thorough account of the making of Spielberg’s iconic movie. Steven is now in charge of the Amblin website.Read More
Owner of a Duel truck replica - Derek Drinkwater, from Surrey, England, found a Peterbilt for sale on eBay, very similar to the truck in the movie, and bought it. He then had to go to the US to pick it up, cross the country with it and put it in a ship to Europe.Read More
Duel’s Soundtrack Composer - 4 times Emmy winner, TV composer Billy Goldenberg was Spielberg’s TV musician of choice.Read More
Actual Owner of the Surviving Duel Truck - Brad Wike is a Duel fan and a truck collector. So it’s no surprise that the Surviving Duel truck ended up with him in North Carolina.Read More
VP and Executive Editor, Variety Magazine - Variety followed Spielberg’s career from the very beginning.Read More
Spielberg’s biographer. San Francisco State University - McBride, a very respected author of many film books -his works on Welles, Ford, Hawks and Capra are widely admired- , wrote a very thorough biography of Steven Spielberg.Read More
Canadian Duel Fan and model maker - As there are not much Duel memorabilia available to buy , Mario, a Canadian Duel fan, decided to make it himself. He has built a series of great dioramas based on scenes of his favourite film ever.Read More
Cult TV Series Producer and Director - Johnson created a string of successful TV series in the 70s. The link with Spielberg’s Duel has to do with one Hulk episode which reused material from Spielberg’s movie.Read More
Author of Shock Value & The New York Times columnist - Zinoman is the author of Shock Value, a first-class book about the evolution of horror films from the end of the 60s until the 70s.Read More
American TV Expert - After many years in Los Angeles working in the entertainment industry, Billy Ingram created a website, TVParty.com, about premier television history.Read More
Duel’s First Assistant Director - Fargo organised the shoot of Duel, which was made only in 13 days, a great achievement.Read More
Former Studio Chief Universal Pictures - Sheinberg met Spielberg when, at 21, he was just an aspiring filmmaker. Sid pushed his career forward: he was behind Spielberg making Duel, The Sugarland Express and Jaws.Read More
First Owner of the Surviving Duel Truck - A famous stuntman, George worked in Duel. He became the first owner of the surviving Duel truck.Read More
DUEL MOVIE INFO
DUEL PHENOMENON
Contact
The Devil On Wheels Productions Ltd. 243 Holcroft Court Clipstone Street London W1W 5DN
TDOW Filming

99 images from the filming in Surrey (England), Gatineau (Canada), New York, Chicago, North Carolina, Florida, California…

The six of us went to where we needed to go to find the right people for this project.

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A Documentary Crew, a Truck and an Open Road