1956 American Feature
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Carroll Baker, Jane Withers, Chill Wills, Mercedes McCambridge, Dennis Hopper, Sal Mineo, Rodney Taylor and Earl Holliman
Director: George Stevens
Writers: Fred Guiol and Ivan Moffat, based on the novel by Edna Ferber
Synopsis:
Texas cattleman Bick Benedict, his willful wife Leslie and his rival, ranch hand-turned-oil tycoon Jett Rink, are at the center of this sprawling saga that traces the rise and fall of the fortunes of two generations of Texans.
Links:
Ratings:
- Internet Movie Database: 7.7/10
- Rotten Tomatoes - Critics: 97% / Audience: 87%
- OMG rating: 7/10
Buy/Rent:
Trailer:
Awards:
- Academy Award for Best Director; also nominated for Best Picture, Actor (Dean, Hudson), Supporting Actress (McCambridge), Adapted Screenplay, Color Art Direction, Color Costume Design, Original Score - Dramatic or Comedy Picture and Film Editing.
- David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Production.
- Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures.
- Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Picture - Drama and Director.
- Writers Guild of America Award nomination for Best Written American Drama.
Notes/Trivia:
- Edna Ferber's novel Giant was first published in 1952.
- Casting Call: Montgomery Clift, Clark Gable, Sterling Hayden, Audrey Hepburn, William Holden, Grace Kelly, Alan Ladd, Robert Mitchum, Forrest Tucker and John Wayne.
- James Dean, Sal Mineo and Dennis Hopper previously co-starred in Rebel Without a Cause.
- Film debut of actress Barbara Barrie.
- James Dean's final film. Like East of Eden the year before, he was posthumously nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award. Nick Adams, who co-starred with Dean in Rebel Without a Cause, re-recorded some of Dean's dialogue in post-production following Dean's untimely death.
- The highest grossing film in Warner Bros. history until the release of Superman in 1978.
- In 1998, Giant was ranked #82 on the American Film Institute's "100 Years, 100 Movies" list.
- In 2005, Giant was inducted into the National Film Registry.
- A stage musical adaptation of Edna Ferber's Giant, with music and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa and book by Sybille Pearson, was first produced in Virginia in 2009. It premiered Off-Broadway in 2012; the cast included Kate Baldwin, Brian d'Arcy James and Michele Pawk.
Related Movies:
- The filming of Giant in Marfa, Texas in 1955 is central to the plot of Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.
- Featured in the documentaries Rock Hudson: Dark and Handsome Stranger and Rock Hudson's Home Movies.
Related OMG Posts:
OMG Movie #493
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