The James Dean Story (1957)

Directors:

Robert Altman
George W. George

Writer:

Stewart Stern (written by)

Release Date:

30 December 1957 (Sweden)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography

Plot:

This documentary, which was undertaken soon after James Dean's death, looks at Dean's life through the use of still photographs with narration...

Plot Keywords:

Narration | Part Animation | Actor | Character Name In Title

Cast

Martin Gabel	...	Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
James Dean	...	Himself ('East of Eden' screen test footage) (archive footage)

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Fairmount, Indiana, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

James Dean's father refused to contribute to the film.

Movie Connections:

References Giant (1956)

Soundtrack:

Let me be loved

It's a documentary about us; Dean was Altman's opportunity to make it.

I watched the movie because Robert Altman directed it, but I'd assumed it was going to be a straight forward documentary of Dean's life. Then about half way through it something didn't feel right. The people being interviewed spoke like they were on automatic pilot and the childhood photographs chosen for the movie had the quality of a spoof. I watched it a second time and realized it was Altman's documentary of the American Celebrity Cult, not James Dean. Our devotion to movie actors was reaching a new zenith in the 1950's and the life and death of Dean was a timely example of it. It's a movie about us in the same way Nashville is, or A Wedding, or Short Cuts.