Giant

The George Stevens Production of Giant for Warners, which Stevens also directed, is a monumental drama as big and inspiring as the locale for which it is named, Texas. Giant in size, giant in ambition, giant in the human emotions that are generated by the massive forces of nature and human development that make up the peculiarly American sub-nation, Texas, this picture readily takes its place with the handful of screen epics. Even its running time is tremendous, three hours and a quarter with no planned intermission, and your reaction to that is likely to be highly personal. For this reviewer, after two hours without a break the law of diminishing returns begins to operate, the human mind and the human frame being capable of absorbing just so much without an opportunity for refreshment or relief, of mind as well as body. This is no special criticism of George Stevens, whose brand is on every frame of this great picture, including a fine performance from Elizabeth Taylor, great acting from Rock Hudson and a piercing portrayal from James Dean. Giant stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the great ones.

"Giant" is a sometimes forgotten masterpiece which is remembered for its massive budget (becoming the most expensive movie ever made at that time) and of course James Dean's death during the final stages of production. All the sub-stories during the making of this film overshadow the fact that this is easily one of the top ten movies ever made. Definitely in the class with epics like "Gone With the Wind" and "Lawrence of Arabia", "Giant" is a 200-minute symphony of a movie about the life of a Texas cattle rancher (Oscar-nominee Rock Hudson) and his wife from the East Coast (Elizabeth Taylor). Immediately following their marriage, Hudson's older sister (Mercedes McCambridge, Oscar-nominated) dies after falling off the same horse that Hudson had bought from Taylor's father. Disgusted with the fact that Hudson had married Taylor, McCambridge had decided to leave a small part of her land to quiet cow-hand James Dean (in his finest performance, garnering him his second consecutive posthumous Oscar nomination). Hudson is advised to buy the land from Dean, but Dean refuses to sell. Now Dean is trying to strike oil and is ultimately successful. He becomes a huge oil baron and one of the richest and most powerful men in Texas. Hudson continues to make money as well, but eventually has to swallow his pride and become a wild-catter himself. The hate and friction between Hudson and Dean is sure to lead to fireworks for all associated with the two volatile men. Secretly, Dean has always loved Taylor and even goes so far as to try and get with Taylor's youngest daughter (a brilliant turn by Carroll Baker). Dean is trying to substitute Baker for the lover he has always had for Taylor. By this time Dean is well in his 50s (due to heavy makeup), but he is trying to capture the failed dreams of his youth. Ultimately, Dean has everything except the one thing he really wanted. He lacks love in his life and he suffers miserably through as the film progresses. The older twin children of Hudson and Taylor's both grow up to go in very different directions. The daughter (Fran Bennett) marries and wants to run the ranch, to Hudson's approval and Taylor's dismay. However, the son (a very young Dennis Hopper) marries a Hispanic woman (very taboo back in those days) and wants to go north to become a doctor. Of course Hudson is outraged at this development and nearly disowns Hopper all together. Hudson then decides that Bennett's new husband (Earl Holliman) may be the best for the job. Holliman though is immediately drafted into World War II, along with Hispanic laborer Sal Mineo. Hudson worries about change after he passes away, but he eventually learns that most of the things he obsesses about are not as important as other matters. Equality for females and Hispanic Americans are major messages throughout here. Much like novelist Edna Ferber's equally excellent "Cimarron" (which dealt with sexism and racism toward Native- and African-Americans in Oklahoma), "Giant" paints a wonderfully complex picture of humanistic relationships from varying cinematic angles. Overall, "Giant" is a huge motion picture that is so smart, multi-layered and deep-thinking that it requires over three hours to tell the entire story. Everything here is so magnificent. The Oscar-winning direction by George Stevens, the screenplay, the art direction, the editing, the costume design, the makeup, the sound and the original musical score are all superb. Almost every actor does the best work of their respective careers as well. James Dean and Rock Hudson are the best. Mercedes McCambridge (albeit in a very small role) is super. Dennis Hopper and Carroll Baker (Baker even received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in 1956 for "Baby Doll") both show amazing range at their very young ages. Chill Wills (who plays Hudson's old wise uncle) and Elizabeth Taylor give stellar performances as always. Overlooked in 1956 (the unmemorable "Around the World in 80 Days" won the Best Picture Oscar), "Giant" is easily the best film from that weak year and is ranked as the best movie of that decade in my book. One of the most excellent productions of all time. 5 stars out of 5.

Based on a novel by Edna Ferber, Giant is an appropriately Texas-sized western/generational saga that parallels familial evolution with the changing socio-economic nature of the United States over an approximately 30-year period from the 1920s through the film's present, and by extension, a turn of the (20th) century mentality segueing into a more contemporary outlook. It is filled with excellent writing, fabulous direction and technical elements, outstanding performances, gorgeous photography, and plenty of depth via subtly implied philosophical ideas.

At its heart, Giant is the story of Jordan "Bick" Benedict (Rock Hudson), heir, along with his sister, Luz (Mercedes McCambridge) to a family cattle ranch that exceeds half a million acres. As the film opens, Bick has traveled to Maryland, ostensibly to purchase a horse from Dr. Horace Lynnton, who has a sizeable ranch of his own, but also perhaps to search for a wife. Whether the latter was his initial intention or not, he ends up finding a spouse in Dr. Lynnton's opinionated and somewhat irascible but beautiful daughter, Leslie (Elizabeth Taylor). Bick moves Leslie from the rolling green pastures that she calls home to the huge, dusty plains of Reata, his Texas ranch.

In the process, she ends up turning his world upside down. Luz sees Leslie as a threat to their routine, an interpretation that Leslie doesn't exactly try to deny. Leslie integrates herself into the daily workings of Reata and initiates changes in the way Bick and Luz behave towards their mostly Mexican staff, among other things. Bick and Leslie have children, but they're not exactly keen on following the family tradition. Other challenges and perhaps the strongest cultural change in the film comes via Jett Rink (James Dean), who goes through a gradual transformation from his early status in the film as a dirt-poor, uneducated ranch hand.

At a three and a half-hour running time, and covering decades in the lives of many different characters, Giant is nothing if not sprawling. But this is the kind of sprawl that works. Unlike most sprawling films, the cast of characters in Giant actually turns out to be relatively small, we always have a clear idea of who each character is, and every event leads to the next in a very tightly-written, logical manner.

In fact, one of the more unusual but laudable aspects of Fred Guiol and Ivan Moffat's script is the way that characters will mention something in an almost off-the-cuff manner before we immediately cut to the full realization of the previous comment. For example, Leslie and Bick are barely courting before we see them married. Other examples--Leslie goes from telling Bick that she's pregnant to having the baby in the next instant; Bick says that he's going to fly in a plane low over a particular hotel--just for dramatic effect with respect to a certain character--and in the next shot, this is just what he's doing. The first couple times this happens, it's almost a bit unnerving because of its uniqueness. We figure that the characters are in the middle of a dream sequence. But it quickly becomes apparent that the device is designed to enable large time span passages in an instant, and for the overall structure of the film, it works perfectly.

Given that structure, it was also unusual in this era to pick younger actors who would then have to be aged 30 years or so (the more standard procedure was to pick middle aged actors who could be made both younger and older through make-up and lighting). But Hudson, Taylor and Dean are perfect. Dean is especially impressive as he undergoes the most significant transformation. All three of his major films are almost heartbreaking to watch; he was an incredible talent but didn't have a chance to do much with it before he tragically passed away. But all three principal cast members are at the top of their game here; each is able to do a bit of scene stealing if they want. It creates a lot of energy throughout the film and enhances the occasional tensions in the script.

The smaller roles are perfectly filled as well. I was particularly amused with Dennis Hopper among the supporting cast. Hopper portrays Bick and Leslie's son, Jordan III. This was his first major role, and he meshes well, but at the same time, you can easily see the more infamous Hopper ala Easy Rider's (1969) Billy, Blue Velvet's (1986) Frank Booth, or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2's (1986) Lieutenant "Lefty" Enright.

The cinematography and production design are consistently beautiful. The stark Texas landscapes (filmed primarily in the town of Marfa) couldn't have more impact. The Benedict home is oddly Gothic and a bit eerie in its exterior (especially post-Psycho, 1960), and lushly gorgeous and Victorian inside. Later scenes give the interior a redecoration to match changing fashions.

Giant is extremely engaging in its soap-operatic family drama, but just as captivating for its subtle handling of important social themes. Leslie's respect for the Mexican ranch hands and servants parallels the slowly and occasionally painfully evolving public opinion about different ethnicities that is still developing. She also tries her best to usher in a bit of woman's liberation, open-mindedness in child rearing, and many other "progressive" attitudes. She's a symbol, in some ways, of Northeastern (U.S.) thinking filtering across the country in the early part of the 20th Century.

Giant is heavy on symbolism in many ways. Jett Rink's newfound fortune isn't just a personal transformation, but it symbolizes changing technology and the necessary adaptations to remain viable economically; it's a move away from a more agrarian existence. There is also pithy commentary on World War II--just look at who returns in one piece and who doesn't, and the different attitudes towards this.

It would probably take a book to just give an adequate analysis of this film. It goes without saying that you need to see Giant if you haven't already.

George Steven's epic western GIANT, based on Edna Ferber's roman-fleuve about a wealthy Texas rancher household that spans over decades, rightfully won him a second Oscar for BEST DIRECTOR, but this is the sole trophy out of the picture's 10 nominations (although Mercedes McCambridge's coattail nomination is a fluke in hindsight, she has nothing to wield but a frosty front), mostly lost out to Michael Anderson's less time-honored AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (1956), another taint forever besmirches the Academy's credibility.

The couple under the limelight is Jordan "Bick" Benedict Jr. (Hudson), the said rancher and his wife Leslie Lynnton (Taylor), a socialite from Maryland, who must adapt herself to the a completely different lifestyle but never flinches from her modern view of treating their Mexican employees (yes, they are referred as wetbacks) with equal respect, which collides with Bick's more entrenched racist frame of mind, and this "progressive East Coast vs. traditional Western Inland" leitmotif maintains as the pillar of the film and later evolves into Bick's epic defeat of his paternalistic arrangement in relation to their three children. Throughout, it is Bick's glacial change of his old-world attitude that flourishes during all the long years, Rock Hudson gives an endearingly no-nonsense impersonation that not unlike his first name, becomes a bedrock of the film, a pretense-free Texan learns to brave a new world that beyond his widest imagination and eventually transmutes into a better person, a titular "giant" in the end, even he is beaten up for standing up for the right cause, why it is so inspiring because it is a personal victory, and means the world to them, good deeds must be carried out no matter how formidable adversity looks, who can refute that?

Taylor, on the other hand, dazzles in Leslie's bluff honesty and impeccable integrity that makes us root for her right out of box, Leslie's life orbit is less tectonic, but incredibly, both she and Hudson acquit themselves convincingly under their senior makeup, to parent fresh-faces like Dennis Hopper and Carrol Baker, and a strong sense of affinity between the two never get attenuated, not even during their not-so-infrequent spats.

Of course, the biggest selling point is James Dean in his final picture, although for sentimental reasons, he received his second posthumous Oscar nomination in the leading actor category, but his indecipherable upstart Jett Rink is a substantial supporting character in the whole picture, and he would be a shoo-in to win if he could have competed in the category where his character truly belongs, however, his name had already become too big a legend to be relegated at that point. His portrayal of Jett, emphatically registers a false layer of insouciance that defies operatics, vaguely masks his touching vulnerability and troubling uneasiness towards the unattainable object of his desire, Leslie, whose footprint inadvertently strikes gold for him, but whose heart he can never conquer.

Thus, it is the black gold that sounds the death knell of the Western genre as we know it, Stevens and DP. William C. Mellor employ stunning imagery to exhibit the burgeoning modernization that invades the vastness where materialistic gain lies beneath and beckons, as an answer to the prior un-warped long shots which retain the Old West in its most august splendor, the cattle herd sequences, or the majestic take on Benedicts' singular mansion for instance, but at the end of the day, it is the story's sagacious message that transcends its racist, patriarchy milieu, and makes GIANT a culturally, historically and aesthetically significant American tome that takes us through an elemental learning-curve of open-mindedness and righteousness that flouts the specious "winner takes it all" precept, without forging its tangy nostalgia for a bygone era.

I am a sucker for long, sprawling epics about history or social issues. Ben-Hur, Lawrence of Arabia, and Doctor Zhivago are films I could watch on repeat. Now we can add 1956's Giant to the list. It's one of the only films to tell the story about Texas and how the state transitioned from the old-fashioned cattle/cowboy era to the modern oil industry. I adored every minute of this three-hour and twenty-one minute feature. Yes, it's long but it is a film that has big, ambitious ideas and characters you'll come to know and fall in love with.....just as I did.

The film is based off an Edna Ferber novel. If you are familiar with her work, you'll know that her books capture social injustice issues such as racism. In her book this movie was adapted from, she gave us big ideas to think about along the lines of racism and women's rights. From the 1920's to 1940's, the Mexican Americans on the ranches were treated with contempt and just a tad better than slaves. Also, the idea of a woman coming into an industry dominated by men and speaking her mind freely was something nearly unheard of. Like the book, the movie tackles these ideas and rather successfully. After all, the early-to-mid 1900's were changing times for the Lonestar State. I think the screenplay, written by Ivan Moffat and Henry Ginsberg, captured the tone and spirt of her vast epic.

The film was directed by George Stevens. If that name sounds familiar to you, maybe you have seen 1951's A Place in the Sun or the lovely 1936 film, Swing Time. Stevens handsomely directed the film and put together a very worthy cast. In his long career creating tons of good movies, it's hard to believe that he only won one Academy Award. That was for this movie and he deserved it. This is one of those movies that stand the test of time.

Giant tells the story than spans over two decades. It tells the story of poverty versus wealth, along with racial discrimination and deep feelings such as prejudice. All of this is centered around one Texas ranch- The Reata. The Reata is ran by his cattle baron Jordan Benedict (Rock Hudson) and his sister, Luz (Mercedes McCambridge). They run a tight ship and treat the Mexican Americans on their farm with disdain. When Benedict travels to Maryland to buy a beautiful stallion, he meets the even more beautiful Leslie (Elizabeth Taylor). The two get married and Leslie moves to the ranch where she makes it a life goal to institute social changes. Then there is the ranch hand, Jett Rink (James Dean) who is jealous of Jordan's success. When he strikes oil, he instantly becomes a billionaire. Not just these central characters, but how will the entire family take in all of these changes?

I loved the performances in the film. This film garnished Rock Hudson his only Academy Award nomination. He has always been an undervalued actor, but I loved his performance. There was a sequence towards the end, a fistfight at the cause of social injustice, and that shows his capability. Elizabeth Taylor previously worked with George Stevens in 1951's A Place in the Sun and showed how talented she was. Even though she was not Stevens's first choice for this picture, she once again rose to elite level. Then we have James Dean. Dean had his career cut extremely short due to his untimely death toward the end of this film's production. Stevens had another guy come in to dub the actor's lines which may have been why the film took more than a year in post-production. He captured the distrust of Jett Rink very well and easily showed that money cannot guarantee happiness. You may recognize other faces here. Dennis Hopper as Jordan's son, Carroll Baker as Jordan's daughter, and Rod Taylor as Sir David Karfrey.

The film is so beautiful to look at. Cinematographer William C. Mellor gave the deserts of Texas its own beauty. I felt so alive and even romantic gazing at the Texan landscape. I truly felt transported to another time and place. The music by Dmitri Tiomkin fits the epic format easily with recognizable themes.

Ultimately, I really enjoyed the vast movie that is Giant. It's one of the few early movies that gives it due to social causes like racism and women's rights. It harshly criticized the way of Texan life. I found it ironic that many Texans actually adored the movie when it came out. But based off an Edna Ferber novel, of course these themes will be prevalent. Beautiful landscapes, powerful acting from the lead trio, and great direction are just some of the reasons to see the movie. The movie tackles multiple generations, so be prepared to fall in love....or possibly hate some characters.

My Grade: A