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| Title: | Movie Reviews and Discussion |
| Notice: | Please do DIR/TITLE before starting a new topic on a movie! |
| Moderator: | VAXCPU::michaud o.dec.com::tamara::eppes |
|
| Created: | Thu Jan 28 1993 |
| Last Modified: | Thu Jun 05 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 1249 |
| Total number of notes: | 16012 |
89.0. "Giant" by DSSDEV::RUST () Mon Mar 22 1993 20:49
And another !(round-tuit) classic: "Giant" might have gone down in
history as the first made-for-TV mini-series, except it was a movie.
A whacking _long_ movie, too. With a really horrible sound track,
though I couldn't tell if it was from a bad print or a careless sound
person at channel whatever-it-was. In any case, half of the dialogue
was so muddy and muffled I could barely make it out, and of the rest,
James Dean's dialogue was also muffled and muddy - but then he always
talks/talked like that, didn't he? ;-)
Oh, OK, it was fun. Liz Taylor looked gorgeous (which was her main
job), even with the alleged "age makeup". Rock Hudson looked fairly
gorgeous, too, which was probably _his_ job, as he never quite cut it
as a rough, tough rancher with a half-million-acre spread. And Mr.
Dean... well! What a performance - from weird-acting, drunk and
dissolute no 'count youth to weirder-acting, drunker and even more
dissolute (in a Howard-Hughes-ish sort of way) mega-tycoon, he ran the
gamut of emotion from A to B, as somebody (Dottie Parker, I think)
said, - though not, I suspect, of him.
Not that it was any fault of Dean's, mind you. The script, as far as I
could tell, didn't make much demand of anybody - except maybe the
sobbing toddlers in the immortal "turkey" scene (the high point of the
film, for me).
I'll admit I was charmed by an exceedingly youthful Dennis Hopper in
the (highly unexpected) role of the shy and sensitive son. I'd never
have guessed that he _ever_ possessed a countenance so open, nor eyes
so vulnerable... He didn't have much more to do than Dean did, of
course. But I can't help thinking I'd have liked the movie better if
the two of 'em had switched roles. ;-)
Now that I think of it, maybe the turkey scene was the second-high
point. [Spoiler warning, for purists:]
I _did_ like the climactic scene in which a supposedly aged Rock Hudson
goes after a supposedly middle-aged James Dean in the booze-cellar,
and, to show his disgust for the depths to which Dean's character has
sunk, rather than striking him, knocks down a rack of whisky, which
topples into another rack, then another, domino-fashion, thereby
bringing most of Dean's high-proof wealth to ruin... Anyway, I was
definitely not expecting *that*, and found it quite amusing.
But, on the whole, I don't see what all the fuss was about.
-b
| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 89.1 | | TLE::JBISHOP | | Tue Mar 23 1993 12:59 | 3 |
| "Runs the gamut of emotion from A to B..." was said of Katharine
Hepburn.
-John Bishop
|
| 89.2 | | 28992::WSA038::SATTERFIELD | Close enough for jazz. | Tue Mar 23 1993 14:19 | 24 |
|
I've always liked the score for this film, but then I've always been a sucker
for Dmitri Tiomkin's film scores. Almost all of them have benefited the films
they graced, imho.
The art direction/production design on this film is outstanding. Consider the
effect of the "house" in the middle of a flat, empty plain. Or the way the
giant oil painting in one of the rooms (living room, den, great room?)
dominates the people in the room.
I agree that this film was sort of a precursor to todays mini-series. And it
would certainly have benefited from the mini-series format. That would have
allowed more time for such a large story. As long as the film is, it's still
too short for the amount of material. At times it seems jerky, characters and
situations aren't fully developed. There were several plot lines that were
just dropped or ended up on the cutting room floor that I would have liked to
have seen continued.
Given the material, George Stevens did a good job with the film. Not one of
his very best but still an enjoyable three hours.
Randy
|
| 89.3 | | 28994::WSA038::SATTERFIELD | Close enough for jazz. | Wed Mar 24 1993 11:40 | 8 |
|
re .1
What does Katherine Hepburn have to do with _Giant_?
Randy
|
| 89.4 | | ESGWST::RDAVIS | Let us now kiss the carpet | Wed Mar 24 1993 12:35 | 12 |
| Every time I've tried to watch this movie, it's been as awful as it was
all the other times. Boredom big as Texas! If only they'd given it to
Douglas Sirk to film... now there was a director who knew what to do
with Technicolor, and Cinemascope, and overblown melodrama about rich
folks gone to seed, and Rock Hudson.
> What does Katherine Hepburn have to do with _Giant_?
Didn't Katherine Hepburn play "The 30 Foot Bride of Bachelor's Gulch"
opposite Lou Costello?
Ray
|
| 89.5 | | TLE::JBISHOP | | Wed Mar 24 1993 15:44 | 5 |
| re .3
.1 was giving a reference to a quote in .0
-John Bishop
|
| 89.6 | | 28994::WSA038::SATTERFIELD | Close enough for jazz. | Thu Mar 25 1993 12:53 | 9 |
|
re .4
You're right about Douglas Sirk. But I don't think Stevens did all that bad
a job with the film considering the screenplay he had to work with.
Randy
|
| 89.7 | | 17576::COLLINS | Searchin' for Jesse | Mon Jun 14 1993 00:48 | 14 |
|
And for all you triviabuffs...
let us not forget that James Dean Porsched out before the film
was finished. His final, drunken speech to an empty ballroom
was dubbed by -
His good buddy, Nick Adams (Johnny Yuma was a rebel...).
The scenes of Dean walking on his land, walking off his
boundaries, sitting on top of his windmill, driving across
Rock's front lawn; that's what I watch the movie for.
|
| 89.8 | It was good when I saw it in 1958 -age 13 | 42443::BUXTONR | | Thu Aug 26 1993 18:16 | 3 |
| Seven nominations and one Academy Award for the director Geoge Stevens
Bucko...
|
| 89.9 | Even better | QUARRY::reeves | Jon Reeves, ULTRIX compiler group | Thu Aug 26 1993 19:04 | 12 |
| Actually, 9 nominations plus 1 award:
Picture
Actor (James Dean, Rock Hudson)
Supporting Actress (Mercedes McCambridge)
Adapted Screenplay
Color Art Direction/Set Decoration
Color Costume Design
Film Editing
Dramatic Score
plus the award for Direction.
|