Drama

Western

Giant

Warner Bros. Pictures

George Stevens Jr. Productions

United States of America

English

Español

Elizabeth Taylor

Rock Hudson

James Dean

Carroll Baker

Jane Withers

Chill Wills

Mercedes McCambridge

Dennis Hopper

Sal Mineo

Rod Taylor

Judith Evelyn

Earl Holliman

Robert Nichols

Paul Fix

Alexander Scourby

Charles Watts

Elsa Cárdenas

Carolyn Craig

Monte Hale

Sheb Wooley

Mary Ann Edwards

Victor Millan

Mickey Simpson

Pilar Del Rey

Maurice Jara

Noreen Nash

Ray Whitley

Napoleon Whiting

Fran Bennett

Elsa Aguirre

Barbara Barrie

Bert Stevens

Bess Flowers

Harold Miller

Claudia Bryar

Marion Gray

Dana Dillaway

Highland Dale

Tom Ferrandini

Charles Fogel

Rudy Germane

Dick Gordon

Herschel Graham

Sam Harris

George Stevens

Edna Ferber

Fred Guiol

Ivan Moffat

Henry Ginsberg

William C. Mellor

William Hornbeck

Boris Leven

Ralph S. Hurst

Marjorie Best

Earl Crain Sr.

Paul Baxley

Paul Stader

Bill Hale

Pete Dunn

Robert Hinkle

Ron Burke

Slim Talbot

Eli Bo Jack Blackfeather

Ted White

Guy Teague

Charles Willcox

Ralph Webb

Jack Cosgrove

Dick Moder

Joseph E. Rickards

Gordon Bau

Hoyt Bowers

Moss Mabry

Sam Freedle

Dimitri Tiomkin

Whitey Hughes

Troy Melton

Richard L. Wilson

CinemaSerf

This is essentially three stories that George Stevens has rolled into one, long, family melodrama. It all starts when "Bick" (Rock Hudson) travels from his massive Texas ranch to buy an horse from "Dr. Lynnton" (Paul Fix). The first thing he sees though is not the beautiful black stallion, but the man's daughter "Lesley" (Elizabeth Taylor) riding it. After a sticky start, she is on her way to his home, as his wife, where she must settle into a life where women like her are expected to provide children and live otherwise fairly ornamental lives. Needless to say, she isn't really up for that and the next portion of the film follows her efforts to find a purpose. "Jett Rink" (James Dean) is a general factotum on their place. Disliked by "Bick" but protected to an extent by his sister "Luz" (Mercedes McCambridge). Tragedy strikes and "Jett" finds himself the beneficiary of that to the tune of a small plot of land where he quickly discovers oil. That changes the dynamic of the relationships and with the onset of WWII, the traditional lives of all concerned are shaken to the core. The final third, if you like, has probably the strongest message: those who fought together during the war regardless of race or creed are now (largely) back home, victorious, but are expected to fit back into their social demographic - and Stevens uses a swathe of new characters, including their son (Dennis Hopper) and the briefest of appearances from Sal Mineo to illustrate the hypocrisy and double standards that entailed. This third is, in my view, also the weakest section of the story. Perhaps because a degree of ennui was setting in after two hours already, but the flawed characterisation of Dean is a bit too superficial and Miss Taylor - who really does dominate this film - takes too much of a back seat as the familial discord and the effects of the bottle start to dominate the plot. Though Hudson is maybe not the strongest of character actors, here he does provide a degree of accruing decency to his character and at times there is a spark of chemistry between the two leads who, despite themselves, do actually love each other. It's certainly a grand piece of cinema with some spectacular photography. The make-up artistes make a decent stab at facilitating the ageing process as the film progresses and Dimitri Tiomkin manages to adapt his score from the initial Western style genre to a modern modern one creatively. It really does need a big screen and a comfortable seat to get the best out of the performances, but it is definitely worth it.

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Giant

Cast & Crew

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Cast

Elizabeth Taylor

Rock Hudson

James Dean

Carroll Baker

Jane Withers

Chill Wills

Mercedes McCambridge

Dennis Hopper

Sal Mineo

Rod Taylor

Box office

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