Giant

The young Texan cattle rancher Jordan ‘Bick’ Benedict (Rock Hudson) travels to Maryland and falls in love with the daughter of his business partner, Leslie Lynnton (Elizabeth Taylor). They marry and Bick takes his bride home to his cattle ranch in Texas. The free-spirited Leslie has trouble adjusting to her new home, its patriarchal and racist mindset. She forms a friendship with ranch aid Jett Rink (James Dean), against Bick’s wishes. Jett inherits a piece of land that turns out to have oil. The friction between Bick and the new wealthy Jett is only heightened by this and unfolds in this epic western about the rivalry between two families and two generations, between the old world of the cowboys and the new world of the oil tycoons.

GIANT was beloved by critics and by the audience and Martin Scorsese named the movie as a source of inspiration for his own epics.

With GIANT we link to our CHER: GODDESS OF THE SCREEN programme. In Robert Altman’s COME BACK TO THE 5 & DIME, JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN Cher is part of a devoted James Dean fan club in a small village, where GIANT – James Dean’s last movie before his untimely death – was shot. The movie and its star play a big part in Altman’s splendid film.