GIANT
(director: George Stevens; screenwriters: novel by Edna Ferber, Ivan Moffat, Fred Guiot; cinematographer: William C. Mellor; editors: William Hornbeck, Robert Lawrenc 2nde; music: Dmitri Tompkin; cast: Rock Hudson (Bick Benedict), Carroll Baker (Luz Benedict 2nd), Chill Wills (Uncle Bawley), James Dean (Jeff Rink), Mercedes McCambridge (Luz), Elizabeth Taylor (Leslie Lynnton), Sal Mineo (Angel Obregon 2nd), Dennis Hopper (Jordan Benedict 3rd), Rod Taylor (Sir David Karfrey), Earl Holliman (Bob Dace), Jane Withers (Vashti Snythe). Paul Fix (Dr. Lynnton), Judith Evelyn (Mrs. Lynnton), Robert Nichols (Pinky Snythe), Alexander Scourby (Old Polo), Mickey Simpson (Sarge), Fran Bennett (Judy), Charles Watts (Whiteside), Elsa Cardenas (Juana), Maurice Jara (Dr. Guerra); Runtime: 201; MPAA Rating: G; producers: Henry Ginsberg, George Stevens; Warner Bros.; 1956)
“The only thing giant about it is its length of over 200 minutes.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
George Stevens (“The Diary of Anne Frank”/”The Greatest Story Ever Told”) directs this sprawling epic film on an old school Texas rancher facing the changing times. It’s written by Ivan Moffat and Fred Guiot, that’s based on the novel by Edna Ferber.
It’s a plodding and tedious family saga that tells the life of a Texas rancher through two generations, as it attacks materialism for altering the family’s old values.
The strait-laced wealthy Reata Ranch rancher Bick Benedict (Rock Hudson) marries Leslie Lynnton (Elizabeth Taylor), the beautiful and refined daughter of an East Coast doctor (Paul Fix) and socialite (Judith Evelyn), and they reside on his vast Texas spread.
Bick’s sister (Luz Mercedes McCambridge), a bitter old maid, resents she’s no longer the head lady at the ranch; a young cowhand named Rink (James Dean, in his third and final film) has a crush on the boss’s wife, and Leslie works to improve the lives of the poor locals and Mexicans.
Rink, when middle-aged, strikes oil on the piece of land Luz gave him and becomes the rancher’s vulgar rival.
Years later the rancher’s kids (Dennis Hopper, Carroll Baker, and Fran Bennett) have grown up determined to lead their own lives and not follow in their parents’ footsteps. When Hopper falls in love with a Mexican-American girl (Elsa Cardenas), dad goes racist on him.
The only thing giant about it is its length of over 200 minutes.
REVIEWED ON 9/1/2024 GRADE: C
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