#82. Giant (1956)

With a running time of 3 and 1/2 hours, "Giant" was either entirely too long or entirely too short- depending on how you look at it.

On one hand, it is an awfully ambitious undertaking to try and tell a story that spans multiple generations, even with a long runtime. However, if you can manage to keep the audience's interest the whole time, then why not stretch the thing out? "Giant" might have either benefited from condensing the scope of it's story or doing it justice by extending it out into a miniseries in the same vein as "Roots" or "The Thorn Birds."

The film begins with wealthy cattle baron Jordan Bennedict (Rock Hudson) arriving in Maryland to purchase arriving in Maryland to buy War Winds, a prized stallion belonging to Leslie Lynnton (Elizabeth Taylor). Upon their first meeting, Leslie is lovestuck with Jordan and spends the whole evening reading up on the history of Texas just to give them something to talk about. When her parents and Jordan finalize the deal the next morning she makes the mistake of mentioning how badly the Mexicans were treated in the westward expansion. It is in this moment that we get the first inkling that Jordan may be less than "amigable" when it comes to our neighbors to the South.

In spite of their disagreement, the two wind up married in a whirlwind courtship. They arrive back in Texas on Jordan's 600,000 acre spread that he shares with his sister Luz, a small village of Mexican laborers and Jett Rink, a rebellious handyman played by James Dean- we'll get back to that in a little while...

From there it is kind of up in the air as to where the movie is going to go. Leslie begins to protest the laborers being forced to live in squalor on the far side of the ranch, causing not only a conflict with her and Jordan, but also her and his powerful and rich friends. Also, it is clear Luz hates Leslie, which may be the central conflict. But wait, it is clear that Jett resents Jordan and adores Leslie-so maybe there is going to be a love triangle. Not to mention it seems Leslie and Jordan have some very different ideas on how to raise a family... Not so fast, it turns out there is also oil on Jordan's ranch- there are a lot of plot possibilities there too!

As it turns out, it is a tiny bit of everything. Instead of a linear story, "Giant" becomes an epic, generational spanning tale following the lives of the Bennedict family- not unlike "Roots." Unfortunately, there are too many subplots to fit into one movie, thus the reason it needed to either be shorter or much, much longer.

To make a VERY long story short, Luz dies while attempting to ride War Winds. To make matters worse for Jordan, she left a small portion of the family spread to Jett. Jordan thinks he can be rid of Jett forever once he offers him a buyout, however Jett decides to stay, seemingly for no other reason than to spite Jordan. Leslie stirs up Texas high society as well as her relationship with Jordan by becoming a crusader for the rights and health of the migrant workers. Last but not least, Jett strikes oil on his little plot- enough to make him a billionaire.

"I'm a rich 'un. I'm a rich boy. Me, I'm gonna have more money than you ever THOUGHT you could have" (Jett Rink "Giant")

It is really a shame that the narrative suffers from not having enough attention paid to any particular aspect of it, because there are a lot of interesting things going on, primarily the conflict Jordan eventually experiences when his son (a VERY young Dennis Hopper) when he doesn't want to take over the family ranch. Also, there is a very important underlying theme of racial tolerance that progresses throughout. From Jordan's initial dislike of Hispanics, to his acceptance of them into his home, a begrudging tolerance when his son decides to marry one and finally, getting into a fistfight (albeit one so bad that it makes "Fists of Fury" look well-done)with the proprietor of a restaurant who refuses to serve a Mexican family. The evolution of Jordan's racial attitudes is a great example of the right way to depict change in a character. It is too hokey and unrealistic when it is all at once and in a short amount of time as we see in movies like "American History X."

I've always been a fan of older films, but I have always kind of thought the acting was corny. However, I realized with "Giant" that movie stars were MUCH more talented back then than they are now. Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson have an onscreen chemistry that is told more through glances and body language than it is in dialogue. Not to mention the fact that Elizabeth Taylor pulls off a fantastic northeastern accent knowing now that it is nothing like her actual speaking voice.

Now, we have to talk about the James Dean Problem...

I have yet to see "Rebel Without a Cause" (its coming later in the list) but based on "Giant" James Dean is one of the worst actors I have ever seen in my life. His mumbling and looking at the ground routine was despicable and only looked that much worse compared to the rest of the cast. There are scenes that would be extremely powerful and memorable had he pulled them off right, but instead he crashes and burns... wow, that was inappropriate ;) In particular, when he is supposed to give a speech to all the luminaries in Texas and ends up passed out drunk. Later he is shown in a spacious and empty ballroom babbling to himself drunkenly. The scene is shot in an ingenious fashion that shows, in spite of his wealth and the opulence that surrounds him, he is desperately alone and isolated.

Had James Dean practiced, or hell, even shown up drunk, instead of seemingly studying the W.C. Fields Comedic Drunk Method of Acting, he could have pulled off cinematic gold. What ensues is a complete farce that even ends with him falling over a table. I would say I have no idea how James Dean was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in this movie, but I know exactly how, the same way Heath Ledger won an Oscar. He died before the movie was complete.

Ya know, as soon as I get done with this entry I am going over to Urban Dictionary to create an entry for the term "Dark-Knighting-It." Definition: Getting far more acclaim than you deserve for something you did simply because you died. I can only hope that I wind up drowning in a toilet right before I am about to finish blogging the Top Ten movies on this list so that I will go down in history as the best amateur blogger of all time!