Giant
US (1956): Drama
They call it Giant because everything in this picture is big, from the generous running time (more than 200 minutes) to the sprawling ranch location (a horizon-to-horizon plain with a lonely, modest mansion dropped in the middle) to the high-powered stars. Stocky Rock Hudson stars as the confident, stubborn young ranch baron Bick Benedict, who woos and wins the hand of Southern belle Elizabeth Taylor, a seemingly demure young beauty who proves to be Hudson's match after she settles into the family homestead. For many the film is chiefly remembered for James Dean's final performance, as poor former ranch hand Jett Rink, who strikes oil and transforms himself into a flamboyant millionaire playboy. Director George Stevens won his second Oscar for this ambitious, grandly realized (if sometimes slow moving) epic of the changing socioeconomic (and physical) landscape of modern Texas, based on Edna Ferber's bestselling novel. The talented supporting cast includes Mercedes McCambridge as Bick's frustrated sister, put out by the new "woman of the house"; Chill Wills as the Benedicts' garrulous rancher neighbor; Carroll Baker and Dennis Hopper as the Benedicts' rebellious children; and Earl Holliman and Sal Mineo as dedicated ranch hands. Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com)
10 nominations, 1 Award
· Directing 1956: George Stevens
· Best Picture 1956: George Stevens & Henry Ginsberg - Producers (Warner Bros.)
· Actor 1956: Rock Hudson
· Actor 1956: James Dean
· Supporting Actress 1956: Mercedes McCambridge
· Writing (Best Screenplay adapted) 1956: Fred Guiol, Ivan Moffat
· Art Direction/Set Decoration (Color) 1956: Boris Leven - Art Direction, Ralph S. Hurst - Set Decoration
· Costume Design (Color) 1956: Moss Mabry, Marjorie Best
· Film Editing 1956: William Hornbeck, Philip W. Anderson, Fred Bohanan
· Music Scoring Awards (Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) 1956: Dimitri Tiomkin