1956
Directed by George Stevens
All right, I know I said earlier that James Dean was not that great of actor but was a pretty face who died too soon. I still stick by that, but in this film, he definitely showed some great potentially. If it wasn't for his untimely demise, he might have become a great actor. I still haven't seen East of Eden (which isn't on the list) so I suppose I will make my final decision on him then.
Still, there is no question that Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson are both great actors and I think they give their best performances here. There, that is everything I liked about the film. As for what I didn't like…
Man, that was boring (no oil pun intended). I cannot even give a good plot summary since the film was over THREE HOURS LONG! They are not fooling around with that title (okay, there a pun was intended).
Now, I can stand really long movies as long as the action keeps on coming and the plot keeps me entertained. However, the film is pretty dull.
So great performances but that didn't stop me from being out of mind bored.
RATING: **---
Interesting Facts:
Usually, epics like this movie would take older actors and put make up on them to make them look younger. However, this film did the opposite, which would become the standard practice later on.
James Dean died during the making of the film.
Dean's nickname for George Stevens was "fatso".
Yes, this was kind of long, wasn't it?
ReplyDeleteI think I liked it better than you, but that may be down to my practice of chopping up movies into multiple viewing sessions. Then it is easier to get through.
I found the general sentiments in the movie ranging from mildly to grossly offensive, but that may be me not being Texan.
I actually thought James Dean was a pretty good actor in Rebel... and even more so here. Whereas I find Rock Hudson to be a pretty face who doesn't act so much as look enigmatically expressionless in the hope that you paint your own thoughts onto his blank canvas. One man's meat is another man's poison, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteI'm torn between saying this film was bloated and empty, or saying it was a well made epic. Maybe this Gone With the Wind style of adapting the great American novel just doesn't get made any more so I'm not used to it.
Maybe I had more of a problem with the main character in Rebel rather than James Dean...I think past Amanda was generous with Rock (I still love him but the term "great" might be a little much)
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the other day how it's funny the way history sees James Dean himself and the model of a rebellious teenager as being entirely interchangeable. Had he made a different film for his one lead role, would he be forever known as the great lost cowboy, private detective or suave ladies man?
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