Giant

Movie: Giant (1956)
AFI List #82 on 1998 list, was removed from the 2007 list
My List #29
Starring: Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean and a very young Dennis Hopper
My rating: ˜˜˜˜

This movie is about a couple that meets, marries, has three kids, tries to run a multi-million dollar Texas ranch, carries on a personal war against an old ranch hand and deals with racism and sexism. The movie spans about 25 years... in 3 hours and 35 minutes.

Rock Hudson plays the wealthy Bick Benedict who runs his family ranch, Reata. He goes to Maryland to buy a stud horse and meets Leslie (Elizabeth Taylor) and ends up taking her back too. James Dean plays the brooding, jealous ranch hand Jett, who strikes it rich on neighboring land and tries to ruin Bick's life. Bick has a hard time when his son doesn't want to take over the family ranch, like it was expected of him him, but instead wants to become a doctor and marries a Mexican-American. This movie also portrays how the oil industry transformed Texas ranchers into super rich Texas ranchers.

This movie had two strong sub plots. When the movie starts, Bick is racist towards the Mexicans who work on their ranch, which upsets Leslie. By the end of the movie, though, Bick realizes the wrongs of racism and defends his daughter-in-law and grandson. Also, Leslie likes to be involved in the running of the ranch and talking with the men, but Bick won't allow her to do anything that is outside of the "women folk" work.

Long movie but never boring. George Stevens was the director and he directed two other movies on my AFI list that I've already watched, Swing Time with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and A Place in the Sun, also with Elizabeth Taylor. James Dean was killed 3 days after filming wrapped and was awarded a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. I loved Elizabeth Taylor character. She was a compassionate, warm hearted, sarcastic, iron willed, independent woman. This was also Warner Bros. highest grossing film until Superman. Good movie. I found this quote, and it's very appropriate, "Great epics have the ability to capture both sweeping panoramas and the intimate interactions between human beings with equal beauty. Lawrence of Arabia does this, so does The Godfather Part II. Giant belongs in that elite class."