Even though he only starred in three films, James Dean was nominated for two Academy Awards, for his performances in "East of Eden" and "Giant." He was a widely admired screen personality, a personification of the restless American youth of the mid-50's, and an embodiment of the title of one of his film "Rebel Without A Cause."
 Drawn from the last few pages of John
Steinbeck's mammoth novel, East of Eden is
powerful, intense family drama, about rivalry between
two sons for the love
of their father. What makes director Elia Kazan's film
so remarkable is the casting of virtual unknowns in the
leading roles. As Abra, the girl who comes between the
brothers, Julie Harris portrays a woman torn between
the two; as the stern patriarch Adam Trask, Raymond Massey
couldn't be bettered. Richard Davalos, as the 'sensitive'
brother Aron also gave a fine performance. 'It's the
actor
who plays Cal who really bears watching,' critics raved...
 Just under a month
before Rebel Without A Cause premiered
in New York, James Dean had been killed in a tragic auto
accident at the age of 24. It's impossible to watch Rebel
without a deep sense of regret, of loss. His performance
as Jim Stark - "the bad boy from a good family" - as the ads described it - is a masterful achievement, fulfilling the promise shown in his previous film, East
of Eden. Dean plays the angst-ridden
son of henpecked Jim Backus (Frank Stark) and Ann Doran.
He forms a substitute 'family' with girlfriend Natalie
Wood (Judy) and timid Sal Mineo (Plato) after a tragic
incident - an automobile test-of-nerves dare known as
the "chickie run" -
has brought them together. Rebel is more than a monument
to its star, it's a movie for all time.
 Jimmy had been signed
by Warner Brothers to play the role of Jett Rink in Giant,
based on Edna Ferber's best-selling Texas saga. The script
described Jett Rink as 'a violent young ranch hand, half
juvenile delinquent, half genius, who wants to make a
million (He makes a hundred million)...Tough, always
angry, restless, bewildered and reckless with animal
charm and a tycoon's magnetism." The script required
him to age from 19 to 46. Directed by George Stevens,
the cast featured Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson as
Leslie and Bick Benedict; and included Dennis Hopper
and Sal Mineo, who also appeared in Rebel Without
A Cause.
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His name is James Dean, and he's from the New York stage and television. In Has
Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952), he described
an ice cream malt to Rock Hudson (his future adversary,
Bick Benedict, in Giant), but
nothing has prepared moviegoers for his work here. Every
movement, every expression, sweeps
you into the troubled mind of Steinbeck's adolescent. It's
a performance to reckon with. And indeed it was.
| TITLE |
YEAR |
| Fixed Bayonets |
1951 |
| Sailor Beware |
1952 |
| Has Anybody Seen My Gal? |
1952 |
| TITLE |
YEAR |
The James Dean Story
|
1957 |
James Dean: The First American Teenager
|
1976 |
September 30, 1955
|
1977 |
Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean,
Jimmy
Dean
|
1982
|
| James Dean: Live Fast, Die Young |
1997 |
| James Dean: Race With Destiny |
1998 |
| James Dean |
2001 |
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