Giant

GIANT (PG)

D: George Stevens

Warner Bros. (George Stevens & Henry Ginsberg)

USA 🇺🇸 1956

201 mins

Drama/Western

W: Fred Guiol & Ivan Moffat [based on the novel by Edna Ferber]

DP: William Mellor

Ed: William Hornbeck, Fred Bonahan & Philip W. Anderson

Mus: Dimitri Tiomkin

PD: Boris Leven

Cos: Marjorie Best & Moss Mabry

Elizabeth Taylor (Leslie Benedict), Rock Hudson (Bick Benedict), James Dean (Jett Rink), Carroll Baker (Luz Benedict II), Jane Withers (Vashti Snythe), Chill Wills (Uncle Bawley), Mercedez McCambridge (Luz Benedict), Sal Mineo (Angel Obregon II), Dennis Hopper (Jordan Benedict II)

Edna Ferber's family saga about three generations on a cattle ranch gets the sprawling epic treatment, akin to Gone With The Wind.

Directed on a grand scale, with some very good performances, but far too long.

It has the distinction of being James Dean's final movie before his premature death, and in that respect, it's a fine swansong.

8/10