Despite only appearing in three major films before his death at age 24, James Dean was ranked the 18th greatest male film star by the American Film Institute.
This is my ranked list of his films.
3) Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
Teenager Jim Stark (James Dean) moves to Los Angeles with his parents and befriends outcasts Plato (Sal Mineo) and Judy (Natalie Wood). When bullies goad Jim into a game of chicken, it ends in a tragic accident, which, in turn, leads to a confrontation with police at the Griffith Observatory.
Dean’s death less than one month before the film’s release, coupled with the later sensational deaths of costars Sal Mineo and Natalie Wood prompted some to declare the film cursed. The only young cast member who would go on to a long and substantial Hollywood career was Dennis Hopper.
Jim is frustrated by his father’s timidity and confused by his relationship with Plato. When Jim’s dad tries to have a heart to heart conversation with his son while wearing an apron, the movie’s underlying concerns about masculinity and homosexuality are brought into sharp focus. These concerns have only become more relevant with time.
A modest Hollywood success, director Nicholas Ray was more influential in Europe where he was hailed as one of the greatest directors of all time by Jean Luc Godard. In a Lonely Place (1950) is an examination of the dangers of celebrity culture, Johnny Guitar (1954) reinterprets the American West through a feminist lense, Bigger than Life (1956) presciently warns of the dangers of overmedication, but this movie about the identity crisis of teenagers in Los Angeles is his legacy because it created the myth of James Dean.
Sixty years later, this remains the definitive film of teen rebellion, and the image of Dean leaning against a wall in a red jacket has become a symbol for teen disillusionment during the era.
2) East of Eden (1955)
In the years just prior to World War I, Cal Trask (James Dean) and his brother Aron vie for the approval of their domineering father. Years earlier, their mother, Kate (Jo Van Fleet in an Oscar-winning performance), abandoned them and now works as a prostitute, although the boys have been told she died.
The only major film featuring James Dean released during his lifetime was an adaptation of half of the John Steinbeck novel of the same name, which was in turn an adaptation of the Biblical story of Cain and Abel.
Forty years before “family values” and the importance of fathers became a political issue, James Dean’s performances as Jim Stark and Cal Trask demonstrate the need for a strong, caring father figure.
Director Elia Kazan introduced audiences to The Method through his collaborations with Marlon Brando and James Dea; together they revolutionized acting with their raw, unmannered performances.
I prefer this to Rebel simply because it’s larger in scope and a more complex portrait of a struggling American family.
1) Giant (1956)
When Texas rancher Jordan “Bick” Benedict Jr. (Rock Hudson) marries Maryland socliate Leslie Lynton (Elizabeth Taylor), his resentful sister, Luz (Mercedes McCambridge), makes life miserable on their sprawling Texas ranch.
When Luz dies, she leaves a parcel of land to Jett Rink (James Dean), a ranch hand who’s fallen in love with Leslie. When oil is discovered on Rink’s land, he becomes a wealthy and powerful rival to the Benedicts.
While the 1950s are routinely seen as a volatile time in the history of race relations between black and white America, this film’s treatment of Hispanic workers on the Benedict ranch reminds us American racism was, and is, much more complex.
Two of Dean’s costars from Rebel Without a Cause joined him in this film: Dennis Hopper as Jordy, the eldest son of Bick and Leslie, and Sal Mineo as Angel Obregon, a young Mexican worker on the Benedict ranch.
Her performance in this male dominated film, helped Elizabeth Taylor establish she was more than a former child star and a gorgeous woman, but also an accomplished actress. After Giant, she embarked on a decade long run of incredible performances in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), BUtterfield 8 (1960), and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) .
Rock Hudson is best remembered for a series of light romanctic comedies with Doris Day, but he was a capable dramatic actor and he’s great as Bick, whose obsessive quest for a legacy reminds me of Faulkner’s Thomas Sutpen.
Many of director George Stevens’ films focused on fractured families including The Talk of the Town (1942), A Place in the Sun (1951), The Diary of Anne Frank (1959).
While Jim Stark and Cal Trask were broken, damaged young men, Jett Rink is selfish and spiteful. Yet Dean manages to make him sympathetic, proving his ability to play more than troubled teenagers.
Watching this movie makes me sad because I’m reminded of how many wonderful performances we lost. Had he lived, which iconic roles would have gone to Dean instead? Maybe it would have been James Dean jumping off a cliff with Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) or mumbling his way through The Godfather (1972) as Don Corleone?