Giant (1956)

Giant (1956)

This glorious epic saga of Texas and the Benedict family features a deep cast and an Academy Award nominated screenplay adaptation (from Fred Guiol and Ivan Moffat) of Edna Ferber’s sprawling novel. It was directed by George Stevens (A Place in the Sun (1951)) who co-produced it with Henry Ginsberg and won his second Best Director Oscar. It stars Elizabeth Taylor whose excellent performance failed to earn her a Best Actress nomination in a strong year Rock Hudson who earned his only nomination for Best Actor and James Dean who earned his second Best Actor nomination for only his third (and last) credited role. Ironically Carroll Baker who plays Taylor’s daughter in this one earned her only Best Actress Oscar nomination that same year for her title role in Baby Doll (1956). Nominated for Best Picture in a year that featured two other 3+ hour epics the film also received Oscar nominations for Dimitri Tiomkin’s Score its Editing Color Art Direction-Set Decoration and Costume Design and for Mercedes McCambridge’s brief role as Hudson’s tough ornery manly sister. Added to the National Film Registry in 2005 it’s #82 on AFI’s 100 Greatest Movies list.

The story actually opens in Maryland where Jordan ‘Bick’ Benedict Jr. (Hudson) has traveled to buy a black stallion from Dr. Horace Lynnton (Paul Fix) but becomes enthralled and captivated by Lynnton’s headstrong daughter Leslie (Taylor) whom he marries and takes back to his 595000 acre (90% of the size of Rhode Island; the same area as a 30 mile-sided square) in Texas. At first the ranch appears idyllic to Leslie but she soon learns – by talking with the poor uneducated ranch hand Jett Rink (Dean) who barely stifles his lifelong envy and resentment of the Benedicts and Bick in particular and by observation – of her husband’s racism and chauvinism which when combined with her feminism makes for a fiery combination. But the very first conflict is actually a power struggle for the role of female head of the household between Leslie and the incumbent Bick’s sister Luz (McCambridge) who loses the battle and her life thrown from the stallion while trying to take out her frustration on it. Against Bick’s wishes Leslie becomes determined to help the migrant Mexicans who work the ranch but live in the squalor of a ramshackle village on the property. She sees that they get proper medical attention; the first child she saves grows up to become a proud soldier (Sal Mineo) that fights (and loses his life) in World War II. Because of Luz’s generosity Jett inherits a small plot of Benedict’s Reata ranch. After declining Bick’s cash offer – double its value – he takes up residence dubbing it Little Reata. The decision turns out to be a fateful one when Jett strikes oil; he eventually becomes a rich (perhaps the wealthiest of all) oil baron(s).

Meanwhile Leslie and Bick have had and raised three children: fraternal twins Judy (Fran Bennett) – who marries Bob Dace (Earl Holliman) a hand on the Benedict ranch that Bick respects – and Jordan ‘Jordy’ Benedict III (Dennis Hopper) who’s not the man his father wants him to be (indeed he wants to be a doctor) and Luz II (Baker) the wild child. But since neither his son nor his son-in-law wants to take over Reata’s ranching responsibilities for the next generation Bick decides to finally acquiesce to Jett’s overtures to convert the vast acreage into oil fields. In fact much of the movie is about Bick’s Leslie-inspired transformation his gradual tolerance growing acceptance and finally even vigilance against racism. What begins as recognition of his own inbred attitude in an argument with his son whose ‘wetback’ wife Juana (Elsa Cárdenas) had been insulted – at a gala airport and hotel opening – by Jett culminates in a violent confrontation in a roadside diner with its proprietor Sarge played by Mickey Simpson. Another subplot that runs throughout is Jett’s envy of Bick from coveting his wealth to his wife and later even Luz II; an obsessive trait that leads to the beginning of his downfall. In the end Leslie and Bick observe their two grandchildren one of mixed race the other not and can only imagine the coming changes in their futures.

Other recognizable cast members include Jane Withers and Chill Wills whose Uncle Bawley character helps to bridge the gap between civilization and the Texans for Leslie Rod Taylor Charles Watts and Ray Whitley. The best quote in the movie is spoken by Wills who says "Bick you shoulda shot that fella a long time ago. Now he’s too rich to kill." after Jett arrives to rub Benedict’s nose in the fact that he’s just struck oil on Little Reata.

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