Mark Hamilton Movies

George Stevens' sprawling adaptation of Edna Ferber's best-selling novel successfully walks a fine line between potboiler and serious drama for its 210-minute running time, making it one of the few epics of its era that continues to hold up as engrossing entertainment across the decades. Giant opens circa 1922 in Maryland, where Texas rancher Jordan "Bick" Benedict (Rock Hudson) has arrived to buy a stallion called War Winds from its owner, Dr. Horace Lynnton (Paul Fix). But much as Bick loves and knows horses, he finds himself even more transfixed by the doctor's daughter, Leslie Lynnton (Elizabeth Taylor), and after some awkward moments, she has to admit that she's equally drawn to the shy, laconic Texan. They get married and Leslie spends her honeymoon traveling with Jordan to his ranch, Reata, which covers nearly a million acres of Texas. Once there, however, she finds that she has to push her way into her rightful role as mistress of the house, past Bick's sister, Luz (Mercedes McCambridge), who can't accept her brother's marriage or the changes it means in the home they share. Also working around Reata is the laconic ranch hand Jett Rink (James Dean) -- from a family as rooted in Texas as the Benedicts but not nearly as lucky (or "foxy"), Jett is dirt-poor and barely educated at all, and he fairly oozes resentment at Bick for his arrogance, although Luz likes him and for that reason alone Bick is obliged to keep him on. One thing Jett does have in common with his employer is that he is in awe of Leslie's beauty; another is his nearly total contempt for the Mexican-Americans who work for them -- Jett and Bick may have contempt for each other, but either one is just as likely to dismiss the Mexican-Americans around them as a bunch of shiftless "wetbacks." Luz feels so threatened with a loss of power and control that she decides to assert herself with War Winds, yet another "prize" that Bick brought back from Maryland that resists her authority -- then decides to ride the stallion despite being warned that no one but Leslie is wholly safe on him, and spurs him brutally in an effort to break him, which ends up destroying them both in the battle of wills she starts.

After Luz's death, Jett learns that she left him a tiny piece of land for his own, on Reata, which he refuses to sell back to Bick, preferring to keep it for his own and maybe prospect for oil on it. Meanwhile, Leslie and Bick have their own problems -- Leslie can't abide the wretched conditions in which the Mexican families who work on Reata are allowed to live, taking a special interest in Mr. and Mrs. Obregon and their baby, Angel; but Bick doesn't want his wife, or any member of his family, concerning themselves with "those people." Leslie's humanity and her independence push their marriage to the limit, but Bick comes to accept this in his wife, and in four years of marriage they have three handsome children, a boy and two girls, and a loving if occasionally awkward home life. Meanwhile, Jett strikes oil on his land -- which he's named Little Reata -- and in a couple of years he's on his way to becoming the richest man in Texas, getting drilling contracts on all of the land in the area (except Reata) and making more money than the Benedicts ever saw from raising cattle. Bick is almost oblivious to the way Jett grows in power and influence across the years and the state, mostly because he's got his own family to worry about, including a son, Jordan III (Dennis Hopper), who doesn't want to take over the ranch from him, but wants instead to be a doctor; an older daughter, Judy (Fran Bennett), who wants to study animal husbandry and marry a local rancher (Earl Holliman) and start a tiny spread of her own; and a younger daughter, Luz (Carroll Baker), who's just a bit man-crazy and star-struck by the movies.

The American entry into the Second World War and the resulting need for oil forces Bick to go into business with Jett and allow him to drill on Reata, and suddenly the Benedicts are wealthy enough to be part of Jett Rink's circle, which includes the governor of the state and at least one United States senator at his beck and call -- and Luz develops a serious crush on Jett, who likes his women young and is especially attracted to her, as Bick's and Leslie's daughter. Young Jordan marries Juana, a Mexican-American nursing student (Elsa Cardenas), and his father accepts it begrudgingly, with help from Leslie. The war kills Angel Obregon (Sal Mineo), a death that even affects Bick, but the Benedict family gets through it wealthier than ever and grows some more with the birth of Jordan IV to Jordie and Juana. When the family attends a gala opening of Jett Rink Airport, which concludes with a dinner honoring Jett's success, however, young Jordan's wife is humiliated by Jett's racist edicts, and he is beaten up by Jett's men after punching the oil baron. Seeing this, Bick challenges his old rival to the fight that's been brewing for a quarter of a century and wins by default, Jett being too drunk to defend himself or to hit; he's also too drunk to make the grand speech that was to climax the celebration, and he ends up alone in the ballroom. The Benedicts have it out with each other, young Jordan accusing his father of being as much a racist as Jett, and Leslie caught in the middle between her husband and her son. It looks like the Benedicts may lose each other, until an encounter with a racist diner owner forces Bick to stand up and get knocked down (more than once) defending his daughter-in-law and his grandson.

Seen today, Giant seems the least dated of any of James Dean's three starring films, in part because it addresses issues that remain relevant more than 50 years later, and also because it has the best all-around acting and the best script of any of the three. Taken in broader terms, it's even better, with two of the best performances that Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson ever gave, and perhaps the second best of Hudson's whole career (after Seconds) -- the only unfortunate element at modern theatrical screenings is the tendency of younger viewers, who only know him in terms of the revelations late in his life of his being gay, to laugh and snicker at elements of Hudson's characterization; but his work is so good that the titters usually fade after the first 30 minutes or so. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

When dignified silent-film leading man Conway Tearle appeared in a short series of "B" westerns in the 1930s, many of his fans considered it a step downward. In fact, Tearle had already tried to establish himself as a virile "outdoors" performer in such silent adventures as Smoke Bellew. The story takes place in Alaska, where Kit "Smoke" Bellew (Tearle) has pitched camp in hopes of forgetting his troublesome past. He succeeds in this endeavor when he helps leathery prospector Shorty (Mark Hamilton) strike gold in them thar hills. Bellew also finds lasting happiness in the arms of the prospector's pretty daughter Joy (Barbara Bedford). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A patriotic German American attempts to prove his loyalty to the U.S. (and also impress the gal he loves) by enlisting in the army during WW I, but unfortunately is rejected. This romantic silent comedy follows his exploits as he proves his mettle after accidently discovering a German base, single-handedly capturing it and freeing a U.S. hostage. Naturally the young hero's girl is delighted. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The fast-paced FBO programmer Aflame in the Sky rather resembles a Tom Mix production -- with Jack Luden standing in for the flamboyant Mix. This modern-day western concerns a handsome hero, a lovely senorita, a stiff-necked military man, and an unspeakable villain. The hero's love of flying comes in handy when he takes to the air and skywrites a plea for HELP in the final reel. Luden's love interest in Aflame in the Sky is musical comedy star Sharon Lynn, best known as the scheming saloon-hall thrush in Laurel and Hardy's Way Out West (1937); the villain is old Douglas Fairbanks-cohort Robert McKim, here making his final appearance before his death of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 39, June 4, 1927. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A sequel to Riders of the Purple Sage (1925), The Rainbow Trail proved one of silent screen star Tom Mix's finest films. Mix appears as John Shefford, a nephew to Jim Lassiter, the character he had played in "Riders." The heroic Shefford not only manage to free his uncle from the sealed off Paradise Valley, but prevents Lassiter's adopted daughter (Anne Cornwall) from marrying a scoundrel (George Bancroft). Mix was slightly less bombastic in this film and it actually suited him. Both Riders of the Purple Sage and The Rainbow Trail had been filmed by Fox in 1918 starring William Farnum. The studio returned to the Zane Grey stories once again in 1931, this time as entries in their George O'Brien series. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Pulp writer Bret Harte's The Idyll of Red Gulch was turned into a fine Harry Carey Western vehicle by producer Hunt Stromberg. Set during the California Gold Rush of '49, Carey plays Sandy, a prospector searching for the mother of his murdered partner's young children. She proves to be one Madame Le Blanc (Doris Lloyd) and is now in the employ of Latham (Lee Shumway), the man who killed her husband. After several close calls, Sandy finally gets his man when Latham is knocked overboard from a river boat and drowns. Repentant, Madame Le Blanc enters a convent. Former Mack Sennett star Harriet Hammond played the ingenue in this film, a young girl who Sandy rescues from the clutches of the evil Latham. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi