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| Three attractive super-stars top a blistering landscape on this poster for George Stevens' Giant |
We meet a marriage in Texas between a woman and a man who owns a quarter of a million acres of land there. An unloving marriage, which also turns problematic when employee Jett inherits land with oil.
Giant is written by Fred Guiol (The Nitwits (1935)) and Ivan Moffat (Bhowani Junction (1956)), adapting the same-titled 1952 bestseller by Edna Ferber (Saratoga Trunk (1941)), and directed by Californian master filmmaker George Stevens (The All-American (1932)), whose 23rd feature it was.
Elizabeth Taylor (Malice in Wonderland (1985, TV movie)) and James Dean (Studio One in Hollywood (1952-53)) are incredibly beautiful in this huge epic, and they act well, but Giant is a film that drifts aimlessly and quietly forward, as decades pass in the story, and the actors get grey or bluish hair, and their aging process makes one wonder.
Giant is a bit about racism; a bit about alcoholism; a bit about marriage. - Potent topics that are nevertheless presented without great weight. The photography, by William C. Mellor (Back from Eternity (1956)) and the production are nevertheless breathtakingly gorgeous. Giant is not a bore. But it also is not particularly exciting.
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 5.4 mil. $
Box office: 35 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 6.48 times its cost)
[Giant premiered 10 October (New York) and runs 197 minutes. Ferber's novel was based on an actual Texas ranch and its owner, as well as an oil tycoon she had once met. Taylor was paid 175k $ for her performance; Hudson 100k $; Dean 21k $. Shooting took place in Texas, Virginia, Arizona and California, including Los Angeles, from May - October 1955. Dean passed away in a racing accident before the film was released. Different reports say that the film made 12 mil. $ in rentals in North America, and a 14 mil. $ domestic gross, while a third source lists its domestic gross at 32.6 mil. $. The 35 mil. $ total may be incorrect, but seems to back up that the film was largely an American crowd phenomenon, though it did generate 3.7 mil. admissions in France, where it was the 9th biggest seller of the year. It was nominated for 10 Oscars, winning one for Best Director. It lost Best Actor (Rock Hudson (All that Heaven Allows (1955)) and Dean, (his second posthumous nomination) to Yul Brynner in The King and I, Supporting Actress (Mercedes McCambridge (Medical Center (1970, TV-series)) to Dorothy Malone in Written on the Wind, Art/Set Direction - color to The King and I, Costume Design - color to The King and I, Editing to Around the World in 80 Days, Drama/Comedy Score (Dmitri Tiomkin) to Victor Young for Around the World in 80 Days, Picture to Around the World in 80 Days, and Adapted Screenplay to James Poe, John Farrow and S.J. Perelman for Around the World in 80 Days. It won 1/3 Golden Globe nominations and a David di Donatello award, among other honors. The film was distributor Warner Bros. highest-grossing until Superman (1978); and it inspired Dallas (1978-91). Stevens returned with The Diary of Anne Frank (1959). Taylor returned in Raintree County (1957); Hudson in Battle Hymn (1957); Dean in The Big Story (1953-57); Giant was his last theatrical performance. Giant is certified fresh at 95 % with a 7.76/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
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