Tuesday, March 06, 2018
Giant
- Commentary: It's not that I have a thing for James Dean. It's only been within the last year that I've owned any of his three movies, and then, not intentionally but as part of collections I've purchased. After watching East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause, (the former twice), I read a bit about James Dean, his truncated life and career, and decided to check this movie out of the library, having only a vague memory of having once watched it, likely when Mom was alive. Once I'd returned it, the three, together, began to haunt me and I decided to purchase this one. Do I think James Dean had the makings of a great actor? I'm not sure. His characterizations differed so little among the three roles that I think he was still in the stage of playing the same character over and over, which may have been a result of type-casting. After watching Giant it occurred to me that he might have evolved into the Julia Roberts of male actors; someone who was believable as himself and savvy at picking roles that required little in the way of character variance but were blockbusters (in part because of his name), nonetheless. Truthfully, his generation and the ones immediately previous and subsequent produced many of these actors, Rock Hudson (one of his costars in this movie) and John Wayne among them. It's probably unfair of me to peg these generations, in particular, for producing this type of actor because I think every generation has its Julia Roberts and James Dean actors. I have to add, Amazon Prime has some television episodes of performances by James Dean that I intend to check out, so, be forewarned, my opinion of his acting abilities and his prospects, had he lived, is likely evolving.
Giant, however, has other delectables. It is a "sprawling family saga" of the type my mother would have loved and probably did, as I can't imagine that she and I didn't watch this movie at some time on TCM. I just have no memory of it. It also has many of those classic character actor performances that often outshine the performances of the leads. Three that come to mind are Carroll Baker's Luz Benedict, Mercedes McCambridge's Luz Benedict, Sr. (so to speak) and Jane Wither's Vashti Hake Snythe (what a name!). As well, Dennis Hopper as Jordan Benedict III contributes one of the more promising performances of his decidedly spotty career. Watching him in this movie reminded me of noticing Jack Nicholson in On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, kind of an anti-climactic shock, reminding one that, yes, these actors had to earn their chops just like everyone else. The landscaping, as well, is fabulous and the story is certainly engaging.
So, now, I own the James Dean movie trilogy. I feel as though that's an accomplishment. And, yes, I'll watch all three again. And again.
Update 3/10/18: Okay, I watched the two television plays Amazon features in which James Dean appears: Harvest and A Long Time Before Dawn. The first piece offers Dean a role requiring fairly subdued acting and he performs admirably. The second casts Dean as a "hoodlum" who has just finished a stint in prison, killed a beloved shop owner while attempting to return to his wife and, once he returns home to his father, who is harboring his wife, dreams, allows his volatility to get the best of him in the wake of his murder of the shop owner, and is killed. As I watched it I wondered if this role was one that typecast him for the three feature length films he was in. I could see the buds of all three of those roles in his portrayal of the ex-convict in A Long Time Before Dawn. I noticed that between 1951 and his death, Dean played loads of television, not an insignificant number of small roles in other feature films, all uncredited, and was busy on stage, as well, both on and off Broadway. He was definitely career minded and was very busily paying his dues. I am satisfied with the three films and two television plays I've seen. I don't think I'll be seeking out any more of his work, though. I'm not really a fan, own two out of the three features films I have of his by accident and, well, although it might be interesting to see how much of a range he displayed before dying, to be blunt, I'm not interested. I should note, though, as I watched the two television plays, I was reminded of the curious career of the character Smith Jerrod in Sex and the City and wondered if James Dean stumbled upon a Samantha Jones who helped boost and burnish his career.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Elizabeth Taylor Leslie Lynnton Benedict Rock Hudson Jordan Benedict Jr. James Dean Jett Rink Jane Withers Vashti Hake Snythe Robert Nichols Mort Snythe Chill Wills Jordan's Uncle Mercedes McCambridge Luz Benedict Carroll Baker Luz Benedict II Dennis Hopper Jordan Benedict III Fran Bennett Judy Benedict Dace Earl Holliman Bob Dace Elsa Cárdenas Juana Villalobos Benedict Paul Fix Dr. Horace Lynnton Judith Evelyn Mrs. Nancy Lynnton Rod Taylor Sir David Karfrey Sal Mineo Ángel Obregón II
Release Date: 1956
Directed by George Stevens.
Labels: adventure1, carroll-baker, drama4, historical2, rock-hudson
