A sort of forerunner to Hollywood's Boogie Nights (1997), this Danish melodrama is set in the world of strip clubs. A medical student (Frits Helmuth) earns money for tuition working in a burlesque joint. He falls for one of the girls (Malene Schwarz), but she is also involved with a movie director (John Price). The director and Helmuth get into a philosophical debate about love and Darwinism, and the film ends with a duel (the film's title). Duellen was met with mostly incomprehension when it premiered and is no more lucid when viewed today. The striptease scene featuring full-frontal nudity is tame by modern standards.
Frits Helmuth , John Price , Axel Strøbye , Hans Kurt , Buster Larsen , Vera Gebuhr , Elith Pio , Poul Müller , Karl Stegger , Aage Winther-Jørgensen
Nordisk Film Denmark