George Stevens’s epic drama, “Giant”, is famous for being the last film of James Dean’s career. The role gave him a posthumous best actor Oscar nomination and helped ingrain him as a Hollywood legend.
He plays a rags to riches character and easily the most interesting person in the film. His characterization revolves around a slow uneducated man whose slow almost dimwitted appearance allows him to be constantly underestimated. Dean does a fabulous job with the role with his striking good looks and lurching, almost hunchback like gait. The movie makes for worthwhile viewing if for nothing else, for James’s interesting performance.
Coming in at almost three and half hours, Stevens uses this time frame to span a period of 20 to 25 years, in the life of his characters. The story is set at the start of the 1920s and follows the rich Texas land and cattle baron family of Bick Benedict (Rock Hudson). At the start of the film he is in Eastern Main trying to purchase a special horse from a Doctor and falls in love with the doctor’s educated head strong and beautiful daughter Leslie (Elizabeth Taylor). They fall in love and get married immediately. Bick takes Leslie back to his 500,000 acre ranch in the hot desert of Texas. The movie’s scenes of her arrival perfectly captures the hostile environment of the Texas climate and southern culture that permeated there. The outdoor photography here is bright and sweeping, rivaling the work of Ford in his epic, “The Searchers”.
Taylor was a wonderful actress and gives a fine performance here as she slowly takes in the awareness that she has entered into a foreign world. Bick’s sister Luz, unmarried and homely, fears the new arrival and tries to minimize her importance. Leslie however is a smart and strong woman who realizes all that is occurring taking charge and cementing her place as the Lady of the house.
One of the workers in the estate is Jet Rink (the unforgettable James Dean). There is a direct inference as to his, maybe, not so innocent relationship with Luz, who protects him from being fired by Bick. Luz’s sudden death results in Jet inheriting a small part of land on the estate. His refusal to sell it at above market value to Bick, hints at the animal intelligence that exists within his slow moving soul. It was during the 20’s and from the beginning of the last century that oil was being discovered on Texas soil and the land inherited to Rink had an old broken down oil drill from a past and unsuccessful exploratory drill. Rink fixes the drill on his own and works for up to five years drilling the land until he hits the mother lode of oil. We are also shown hints at Rink’s true feelings toward Leslie.
The movie follows the characters through 20 years, with Bick and Leslie bringing up three children and Rink becoming one of the most powerful men in Texas.
The movie has an excellent cast that includes a young Dennis Hopper. The landscape scenery and the poignant performances succeed in pulling the audience into caring for the people we are watching
There are a lot of pertinent social issues emphasized here that include prevalent prejudices that existed during the period. There are social economic prejudices and a chauvinistic culture that are all criticized in the movie. One of these issues that takes an important role in the plot development is the discriminatory social segregation against Mexican Americans. This discrimination was an accepted social lifestyle and it is the kind and humanistic Leslie that serves as a catalyst against this racism. Unfortunately none of the Mexican American characters are given any depth and are shown as mild timid cardboard characters. All the depth of feelings and characterizations are saved for the white Americans. It would have been more effective if Rink was Mexican instead of white. But then we would not have had this iconic James Dean performance.
The film is also about 45 minutes too long and its efforts at adding small details, while commendable at the beginning drag on as the film rumbles to its conclusion. Still, James Dean makes it all worthwhile and this is a rewarding film about America’s pioneering past.
1001 Movies before you die 