Return to Giant (2003)
*** (out of 4)
Don Henley (Narrator), Don Graham (University of Texas), Earl Holliman, Bryan Woolley (Dallas Morning News), Carroll Baker, George Stevens, Jr., Dennis Hopper, Fran Bennett and Monte Hale are all featured in new or archival interviews about the mammoth making of GIANT. This is one of two documentaries that have been produced about the making of George Stevens classic and there's no question that this one is the better of the two. Not only do we get the basic Hollywood story of the cast coming together, the script coming together and the director putting it all together but what's most fascinating is getting the story from the locals who had this major motion picture coming to their town. The most interesting interviews come from locals who recall the making of the movie as they saw it. It's made very clear that Stevens enjoyed the locals coming by to watch the filming and apparently he would even invite them into the local theater where he would watch the dailies. One example is Clay Evans whose property was used for the set of the house. We also hear from the Mayor of Marfa, Texas who discusses the state of the city and what it meant for them to have Hollywood come there. Even better than the stories is that we're taken to where much of the film was shot and to my surprise there were several places where the old sets are still standing even though they're in very bad shape today. As with any document on GIANT, there's also talk of the people getting the news that James Dean had been killed. There's also some talk about how most Texans hated the book but they all fell in love with the movie. Fans of the film should really enjoy this documentary because of getting to view it through the eyes of the small people who never appear on the screen.
