My First Dean
Tuesday, February 8, 2011 at 3:00PM 
JA from MNPP here with my first post in Nathaniel's renovated home. Over at my own, I just asked the simplest of queries about James Dean on this here 80th woulda-been birthday of his - that is, which character of his was the hottest, natch - but I avoided making one terrible admission therein.
See... we've all got holes in our cinematic histories, right? Like I've been in a well-documented Gary Cooper fit lately - how I made it this far into my life without gaping much at him I still haven't wrapped my head around. Every time the light catches his face and he bursts off the screen I boggle anew. Where have you been all my life, Gary Cooper? And it was only a couple of years ago that I finally watched the Godfather films. It seems nuts to me for the longest time that I hadn't plunked down and done then, and then I did, and all was fine. Everybody has such instances. You do! There's an obscure Venezuelan documentary about rice production that you haven't seen, you know it.
So don't judge me when I admit that -- Well, I haven't seen any of James Dean's films. Quelle horreur! Not exactly an obscure Venezuelan documentary about rice production, I know. But before you throw me all the deserved shade I got coming I'm looking to you folk, you kindly cineastes, to help me right my wrong. I'm asking you to tell me which of the three films which his legend rests upon - Nicholas Ray's Rebel Without a Cause, Elia Kazan's East of Eden, and George Stevens' Tex-epic Giant - that I need to sit down and watch immediately.
And then I will go and watch this movie you tell me to go and watch, and then I will report back to you with my impression. Feel free to make your case (and scold me, of course) in the comments!
The poll ends on Saturday, so vote yourselves silly until then, and look for my report back next week.
James Dean, reader requests
Reader Comments (20)
Where's the "All 3" choice?
In my opinion, Giant does not hold up as well as Eden and Rebel ... my fave is Rebel .. maybe because of Natalie Wood...
Eventually, Jonathan, eventually! But let's take this one at a time. After all it's taken me this long already, we don't want to overwhelm my delicate nature. ;)
All three need to be seen IMMEDIATELY, but I'll vote for Rebel Without a Cause, because, while it's the best and most iconic of the three, it also features the Sal Mineo and Natalie Wood. That has to be a selling point right there.
Gah, fine. Rebel Without a Cause would be the most obvious choice. It's his best known work and just holds up better altogether with brilliant writing, co-stars, etc. If we're just concerning ourselves with Mr. Dean, though, I think he does his best work in East of Eden. I agree with Rick about Giant. A good movie but doesn't hold up to Rebel and Eden.
I remember that I watched "East of Eden" in my English class and i kept thinking: This movie is great how will I be able to wait 2 days until my next class to finish the second half of it.
There are only a hand full of good movies which I have seen in classes:
"Christiane F" in Biology
"Schindlers Liste" in German
"Forrest Gump" in Histoy
"Harald and Maude" in English
Giant is an epic and very long. So if you want something quick first, this won’t be the choice.
But honestly Rebel is a good film but after I watched East Of Eden, my heart is just ooooo.
It’s the kind of movie where you instantly like just like Stand By Me. Try East of Eden first and review it!
Biology? Drug unit. Schindler's for German? Not Das Boot or Heimat or Goodbye Lenin!? The middle one's probably too long in it's entirety, but still, showing a snippet would be interesting. Forrest Gump in History? Wouldn't the teacher want something that, I don't know, RESPECTS HISTORY. Like There Will Be Blood's affectionate, and accurate semi-parody of 20s oil field history. (Although I have huge problems with the nasty, at least somewhat, aphobic nature of the whole characterization. Read previous comment threads to get a better taste.) Harold and Maude in English? Well, the teacher must respect films as literature on their own, then. (It is an original screenplay.)
Rebel Without a Cause: Very good, but not absolutely brilliant, upper tiers of cinema phenomenal. From that year: Night of The Hunter. Other A+s from the decade include: Seven Samurai, On the Waterfront, Touch of Evil and The 400 Blows.
Criteria for an A+: Film must succeed on visual, aural and moral levels. Visual failings: Choppy editing (a lot of filmmakers) and fake looking visuals (the reason Hitchcock doesn't have a single movie in the top 100, let alone A+ range (top 59 films ever) is because his aurally strongest movies (Vertigo, Psycho, Rear Window) are his weakest visually and his strongest movies visually (The Wrong Man, Strangers on a Train) are fairly weak in the aural department.) Aural failings: Poor performances, poor sound cues, poor sound design, grating score. (Aural failings are worth less marks wise for me, though.) Moral failings: I have talked about this already and have instituted a heirarchy about how bad every moral failing is (in terms of film grading aphobia is the least problematic moral failing.) A vilely homophobic movie (not All About Eve, because 1. at least it's coded characters are SMART and 2. There were probably more homophobic movies out around that time) can't get above a C. (I still give Blood an A, even though it's shorn me from P.T. Anderson's fan base, as I have mentioned before.)
Watch in this order:
East of Eden (best of the three films, most gorgeous of the three Deans)
Rebel Without a Cause (the time capsule movie)
Giant (there are other reasons to love this one besides Dean, whose sloppy work in the second half is distracting)
Amazing casts in all three films.
Bonus: East of Eden screen test (Dean and Paul Newman)
jonathan -- right? all three!
A tough call, but I think Rebel. As an earlier post said, it's the most iconic of the three. NOT Giant. It's way too long, and JD is only a supporting player (and he's a "middle-aged man" in the last part). East of Eden certainly has its merits, but JD's character is too much of a lost puppy. In Rebel, the puppy has come of age.
I'd say Rebel because it's so iconic.
I've never seen any Dean films or the Godfather series. They just aren't at the top of my list. But I know what you mean. I was that way with Robert Mitchum. Truth be told, I never had an actor from his period that was my favorite or that I saw more than maybe 2 films of remotely pique my interest. Then I saw a quote on imdb from "Holiday Affair". I watched it and thought "Mr. Mitchum where have you been all my life?!?!". A year later and I've seen almost every movie he's ever made. I've devoured his biographies. Watched clips online. It's kind of an obsession. And now when people ask who is your favorite actor RM pops out of my mouth without even thinking about it. 12 months earlier he was the Beef Council voiceover guy from my childhood. Sometimes filling in the gaps can be amazing. You can't believe what I've learned and other actors that I've been introduced to because I've watched so many of his films. .
"Rebel Without a Cause" is in my personal top 5 of all time so....
Although, having said that, "East of Eden" would be very high, too. "Giant" is not as good and it's Dean's least interesting performance, but Liz Taylor is sublime and it's great as the sort of film "Australia" wanted to be.
Incredibly difficult to choose between Rebel and East of Eden. I pick Rebel, because it is the source of the most iconic image of Dean - wearing that red jacket. And also because you get to watch Sal Mineo watching Dean with absolutely heartbreaking puppy love.
But East of Eden is probably the better movie. Dean is brilliant and the scenes with him and Jo Van Fleet are amazing.
Giant is a definite third. Still worth watching, of course, but it screams, "I AM A BIG HOLLYWOOD EPIC" for way too long.
my heart is with East of Eden
I think Rebel Without a Cause is the best film of all time, but I give East of Eden as James Dean's best performance. That performance (which should have won him the Oscar) carries the entire history of acting to that point in the most vulnerable, naked and emotional thing I've seen committed by an actor. I think it's the best male performance ever and should constantly be a reference for anyone.
I swear, there was no hyperbole in that post, lol.
Rebel Without a Cause is a must see for GLBT history alone, but East of Eden is considered his best performance. Just grab some popcorn and watch them back to back. I swear you'll fall in love with him (just like his co-stars do) after one and happily flip in the second.
Anything but Giant. If I'd seen that one first, I may have never gone on to the others, both of which I adore.
if you’re still not sure, which one to watch first, look at the covers and you’ll agree that he looks the best on East Of Eden cover. *just putting it out there*