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Giant (1956 film)

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Giant is a 1956 American epic drama film directed by George Stevens, from a screenplay adapted by Fred Guiol and Ivan Moffat from Edna Ferber's 1952 novel.<ref name="WaPo2006">Template:Cite news</ref> The film stars Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean and features Carroll Baker, Jane Withers, Chill Wills, Mercedes McCambridge, Dennis Hopper, Sal Mineo, Rod Taylor, Elsa Cárdenas and Earl Holliman.

Giant was the last of Dean's three films as a leading actor, and earned him his second and last Academy Award nomination – he was killed in a car crash before the film was released. His friend Nick Adams was called in to do some voice dubbing for Dean's role.<ref name="Gilbert1999">Template:Cite book</ref>

In 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".<ref name="filmregistry">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Plot

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File:Giant (1956) - trailer.webm
Trailer for Giant

In the mid-1920s, wealthy Texas rancher Jordan "Bick" Benedict Jr. travels to Maryland to purchase a horse and meets socialite Leslie Lynnton. The two marry and return to the Benedict family's expansive cattle ranch, Reata, in Texas. Upon arrival, Leslie clashes with Bick’s strong-willed sister, Luz, who resents her presence and maintains control over the household. Leslie gradually discovers the deeply rooted patriarchal norms and racial hierarchies in Texas society, particularly the systemic discrimination against the region’s Hispanic population. During a tour of the ranch with Jett Rink, a ranch hand infatuated with Leslie, she observes the harsh living conditions of the Hispanic workers and urges Bick to improve their circumstances. Her efforts include arranging medical care for Angel Obregón Jr., the infant son of one of the workers, though Bick is initially reluctant to allow their family doctor to treat non-white patients.

Luz is killed after being thrown from Leslie’s horse, War Winds. In her will, she bequeaths a small parcel of land to Jett, angering Bick. Jett declines Bick’s offer to purchase the property and names it "Little Reata."

Leslie and Bick have twins, Jordan III ("Jordy") and Judy, followed by a daughter, Luz II. Marital tensions lead Leslie to take the children to her parents in Maryland for an extended stay. Bick follows, and the couple reconciles and returns to Texas.

Meanwhile, Jett works his land and eventually strikes oil. With his newfound wealth, he attempts to persuade Bick to permit oil drilling on Reata, but Bick refuses, determined to preserve the ranch’s cattle legacy.

By 1941, the Benedict children have grown, and new tensions emerge. Bick expects Jordy to take over the ranch, but Jordy wishes to become a doctor. Leslie wants Judy to attend finishing school in Switzerland, though Judy aspires to study animal husbandry at Texas Tech. Each child successfully convinces one parent to support their goals.

At the family’s Christmas gathering shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Bick offers Judy’s husband, Bob Dace, a postwar position on the ranch, which he declines in favor of building an independent life with Judy. Realizing his children are unlikely to continue the family ranching tradition, Bick finally agrees to allow oil drilling on Reata. The family grows wealthier, but Angel Obregón Jr. is killed in the war. Jordy later marries Juana, the daughter of the Hispanic doctor who had treated Angel as a child.

Jett, now a powerful oilman, hosts a lavish event at his Austin hotel and invites the Benedicts. A flirtation between Jett and Luz II ends after she rejects his awkward marriage proposal. Jett becomes intoxicated and orders that Hispanics not be served at his hotel, resulting in Juana being ignored at the beauty salon. When Jordy confronts Jett, he is assaulted and removed from the premises. Bick challenges Jett but, recognizing his inebriated state, refrains from physical retaliation. Jett later collapses during an attempt to deliver a speech at the event. Luz II overhears his lament over his long-unrequited love for Leslie and departs, visibly affected.

The next day, while driving home, the Benedicts stop at a diner where the owner, Sarge, insults Juana and her and Jordy’s young son. When Sarge attempts to eject a Hispanic family, Bick intervenes and engages in a fight, ultimately being knocked unconscious. Back at Reata, he reflects on his perceived failure to uphold the family legacy. Leslie reassures him, stating that his actions at the diner made him her hero and that their legacy is embodied in their two grandsons—one white and one Hispanic.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>

Cast

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Template:Cast listing

Production

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Writing

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The character of Jordan Benedict II and the depiction of the Reata Ranch in Giant were inspired by Robert "Bob" J. Kleberg Jr. (1896–1974) and the King Ranch, located in Kingsville, Texas. Similar to the fictional Reata—which spans over half a million acres—the King Ranch encompasses approximately 825,000 acres (3,340 km²; 1,289 sq mi) and extends across six Texas counties, including the majority of Kleberg County and a significant portion of Kenedy County. Historically, the King Ranch operated primarily as a livestock enterprise before the discovery of oil on the property.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

The character of Jett Rink was partially based on Glenn McCarthy (1907–1988), a flamboyant Texas wildcatter whose rags-to-riches rise to wealth and notoriety helped shape the character. Author Edna Ferber met McCarthy while staying at his Shamrock Hotel in Houston, Texas, an encounter that contributed to the creation of the fictional Emperador Hotel featured in both the novel and its film adaptation.<ref name=":0" />

Casting

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Australian actor Rod Taylor was cast in one of his early Hollywood film roles after being noticed in an episode of Studio 57 titled "The Black Sheep's Daughter".<ref>Stephen Vagg, Rod Taylor: An Australian in Hollywood, Bear Manor Media, 2010 p49</ref>

Director George Stevens offered Rock Hudson a choice between Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly for the role of Leslie; Hudson selected Taylor.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Stevens, known for his meticulous approach to filmmaking, spent an entire year editing the film.<ref>Perry, p. 200.</ref> Following the death of James Dean late in production, actor Nick Adams was brought in to overdub several of Dean’s lines as Jett Rink, which were deemed nearly inaudible during post-production.<ref>Perry, p. 201.</ref>

Filming

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File:GiantSet.jpg
Cast members and crew at work on the Reata mansion set. The Second-empire Victorian mansion facade designed by Boris Leven became an iconic image for the film.

The film begins with Jordan "Bick" Benedict, played by Hudson, arriving at Ardmore, Maryland, to purchase a stallion from the Lynnton family. The first part of the picture was actually shot in Albemarle County, Virginia, and used the Keswick, Virginia, railroad station as the Ardmore railway depot.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Much of the subsequent film, depicting "Reata", the Benedict ranch, was shot in and around the town of Marfa, Texas, and the remote, dry plains found nearby, with interiors filmed at the Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, California.<ref name="Moss2015">Template:Cite book</ref> The "Jett Rink Day" parade and airport festivities were filmed at the Burbank Airport.

Music

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The Oscar-nominated musical score was by Russian-born composer and conductor Dimitri Tiomkin, who conducted the Warner Brothers Studio Orchestra.

Themes

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The movie is an epic portrayal of a powerful Texas ranching family challenged by changing times and the coming of big oil.<ref name=McMurtry>Template:Cite news</ref> A major subplot concerns the racism of many Anglo-European Americans in Texas during the mid-twentieth century, and the discriminatory social segregation enforced against Mexican Americans.<ref name="Stacy2002">Template:Cite book</ref> In the first third of the film, Bick and Luz treat the Mexicans who work on their ranch condescendingly, which upsets the more socially conscious Leslie. Bick eventually comes to realize his moral shortcomings – in a climactic scene at a roadside diner he loses a fistfight to the racist owner, but earns Leslie's respect for defending the human rights of his brown-skinned daughter-in-law and grandson. Another subplot involves Leslie's own striving for women's equal rights as she defies the patriarchal social order, asserting herself and expressing her own opinions when the men talk. She protests being expected to suppress her beliefs in deference to Bick's; this conflict leads to their temporary separation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Giant is Edna Ferber's third novel dealing with racism; the first was Show Boat (1926), which was adapted into the legendary Broadway musical Show Boat (1927); her second was Cimarron (1929), which was adapted to film twice, in 1931 and 1960.<ref>"Best Movie About Texas: Creating a True 'Giant', Mod X, http://modxman.com/2017/07/28/creating-a-giant/ Template:Webarchive.</ref><ref name="McGraw2014">Template:Cite book</ref> Ferber's Giant was a blockbuster, selling 52 million books by 1956.<ref>Chris Gray, "Everything you've always wanted to know about ‘Giant’" Houston Chronicle, April 12, 2018.</ref>

Release

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Giant premiered in New York City on October 10, 1956,<ref name=Perry>Template:Cite book</ref> with the local DuMont station, WABD, televising the arrival of cast and crew, as well as other celebrities and studio chief Jack L. Warner.Template:Citation needed The picture was released to nationwide distribution on November 24, 1956.<ref name=Perry/>

Capitol Records, which had issued some of Dimitri Tiomkin's music from the soundtrack (with the composer conducting the Warner Brothers studio orchestra) on an LP, later digitally remastered the tracks and issued them on CD, including two tracks conducted by Ray Heindorf. Both versions used a monaural blend of the multi-channel soundtrack recording.Template:Citation needed

Home media

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The film was released on DVD on June 10, 2003.<ref name="Hive"/> The DVD includes more than three hours of documentaries.<ref name="Hive">Template:Cite web</ref> The out of print Blu-ray was released on November 5, 2013, as part of the James Dean Ultimate Collector's Edition set, and as an individual DigiBook release followed by a non-DigiBook Blu-ray on March 11, 2014. Those releases contained three discs including two DVDs with all the extras from the 2004 release. The full length George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey documentary is also included on one of the DVD discs. The manufacture-on-demand 4K Ultra HD release of the film released on June 21, 2022, through Studio Distribution Services.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Reception

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File:George Stevens with Oscar for Giant.jpg
George Stevens with the Academy Award he received for directing Giant

Template:As of, Giant holds an 86% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 51 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The critical consensus reads, "Giant earns its imposing name with a towering narrative supported by striking cinematography, big ideas, and powerful work from a trio of legendary Hollywood leads."<ref>Template:Cite Rotten Tomatoes</ref> Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 84 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>Template:Cite Metacritic</ref>

Giant won praise from both critics and the public, and according to the Texan author Larry McMurtry, was especially popular with Texans, even though it was sharply critical of Texan society.<ref name=McMurtry /> Bosley Crowther of the New York Times wrote that "George Stevens takes three hours and seventeen minutes to put his story across. That's a heap of time to go on about Texas, but Mr. Stevens has made a heap of film." He continued to write that "Giant, for all its complexity, is a strong contender for the year's top-film award."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Variety claimed that Giant was "for the most part, an excellent film which registers strongly on all levels, whether it's in its breathtaking panoramic shots of the dusty Texas plains; the personal, dramatic impact of the story itself, or the resounding message it has to impart."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In the 21st century, TV Guide gave the film four stars out of five, writing of James Dean's performance: "This was the last role in Dean's all-too-brief career – he was dead when the film was released – and his presence ran away with the film. He performs his role in the overwrought method manner of the era, and the rest of the cast seems to be split between awe of his talent and disgust over his indulgence."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Less complimentary was director and critic Francois Truffaut, who, in an early review,Template:When called Giant a "silly, solemn, sly, paternalistic, demagogic movie without any boldness, rich in all sorts of concessions, pettiness, and contemptible actions."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Box office

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Giant was a huge box-office success. The film earned $35 million in ticket sales during its original studio release in 1956, a record for a Warner Brothers film until that time. This record was not surpassed until the Warner film Superman in the late 1970s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web.</ref>

The movie earned $12 million in rentals in the United States and Canada during its initial release.<ref>"All Time Domestic Champs", Variety, January 6, 1960, p. 34</ref> It did not perform as well in other markets where it made around half as much,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> but it was one of the biggest hits of the year in France, with admissions of 3,723,209.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Accolades

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Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
Academy Awards Best Motion Picture George Stevens and Henry Ginsberg Template:Nom <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
<ref name="NY Times">Template:Cite web</ref>
Best Director George Stevens Template:Won
Best Actor James DeanTemplate:Efn Template:Nom
Rock Hudson Template:Nom
Best Supporting Actress Mercedes McCambridge Template:Nom
Best Screenplay – Adapted Ivan Moffat and Fred Guiol Template:Nom
Best Art Direction – Color Art Direction: Boris Leven;
Set Decoration: Ralph S. Hurst
Template:Nom
Best Costume Design – Color Moss Mabry and Marjorie Best Template:Nom
Best Film Editing William Hornbeck, Philip W. Anderson, and Fred Bohanan Template:Nom
Best Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Dimitri Tiomkin Template:Nom
David di Donatello Awards Best Foreign Producer Template:WonTemplate:Efn <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Directors Guild of America Awards Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures George Stevens Template:Won <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture – Drama Template:Nom <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Best Director – Motion Picture George Stevens Template:Nom
Most Promising Newcomer – Female Carroll Baker Template:Small Template:Won
National Film Preservation Board National Film Registry Template:Won <ref name="filmregistry"/>
New York Film Critics Circle Awards Best Film Template:Nom
Best Screenplay Ivan Moffat and Fred Guiol Template:Nom
Online Film & Television Association Awards Film Hall of Fame: Productions Template:Won <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Photoplay Awards Gold Medal Template:Won
Saturn Awards Best DVD or Blu-ray Collection Giant Template:Small Template:Nom
Writers Guild of America Awards Best Written American Drama Ivan Moffat and Fred Guiol Template:Nom <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Other honors

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American Film Institute recognition

Legacy

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Giant is considered to be the inspiration for the hit 1980s television drama Dallas. Both productions focus on the struggle between wealthy oilmen and cattlemen in Texas in the mid to late 20th century. In addition, both productions have an antagonist with the initials J.R.<ref>Gary M. Cramer, "'Giant': A giant book about a giant film," Philadelphia Inquirer, May 3, 2018.</ref>

In 1978, Martin Scorsese wrote about the movie as a guilty pleasure:Template:Blockquote

The making of Giant was the background to the play and movie Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.

In 1981, in a Levi Strauss ad campaign and television commercial that launched the 501 Jeans for women, an actress says: "Travis, you're years too late", evoking a scene from the movie with James Dean.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="10.36019/9780813564371-005">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="978-0-8135-7280-2">Template:Cite book</ref>

In April 2015, LGBTQ magazine The Advocate stated that the film "gets some kind of an award for the most gay and bisexual actors ever in one film," noting that James Dean, Rock Hudson, Sal Mineo, and Earl Holliman where all either bisexual or homosexual.<ref name=giantlgbrepresentation>Template:Cite web</ref> The Advocate also noted that Mercedes McCambridge's character Luz hinted she was a homosexual through at least her name, also noting how despite never personally coming out, McCambridge "played the most fiercely dykey roles on-screen to perfection."<ref name=giantlgbrepresentation />

The February 2020 issue of New York Magazine lists Giant as among "The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

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Notes

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References

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Further reading

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