Third generation cattle rancher Bick Benedict (Rock Hudson) visits Maryland in the 1920’s to buy a prized horse and leaves with a wife as well. Within two days Leslie (Elizabeth Taylor) falls all over Bick and his big Texas ideals, though she’s an independent minded woman. The wide open opportunities of Texas seem romantic to Leslie, and having a wealthy rancher on her arm is a good idea.
But once they’ve arrived at a huge house in the middle of dusty nowhere, Bick expects Leslie to up and change instantly: “You’re a Texan now. You’re a Benedict now.” Oh, it’s going to be a daily struggle for a smart Eastern girl in Texas. Between the racism against Mexicans and blatant sexism the big ranching men constantly spew, Leslie’s got to change a few things around here somehow.
Soon Leslie meets Jett Rink (James Dean), the young poor cowboy looking for a way out of Texas and all it’s poor islolation. When he’s left a piece of land, suddenly Jett is busting with pride and has something to show for himself. He works hard to make an oil well and eventually strikes it rich. Later, Bick and his children have to deal with Jett, the oil tycoon.
So yes, Bick and Leslie have three children, a boy and two girls. Bick plans on giving his ranch to his son, just as his father and grandfather did, but even at an early age the boy doesn’t want anything to do with ranching. He’d rather be a doctor and work alongside a Mexican. Of course, Leslie encourages her son and Bick feels like generations of his family’s work are being undone.
Let’s break this down into the one reason to see this movie: James Dean. Though he’s just a minor character, he steals the show. And he’s the one person we want to identify with from the start; he’s young, poor, very cool and dreams of something more. As his role progresses to an aging oil tycoon, Dean’s performance only gets better. This was also Dean’s final role, before the film was even out of production, he was killed in a car crash.
Sadly, Giant is just a long boring film about this Texas family and the change from one generation to another. The sexism theme is not strong enough to hold any weight here, mostly because I couldn’t believe that a real independently minded woman (in the 1920’s or otherwise) would just marry some rich and ignorant guy that showed up at her daddy’s house within two days. Argue with me if you want, Leslie is a terrible character from the start.
Sigh, let’s end this on a better note. James Dean everyone:
“I’m rich, Bick. I’m a rich ‘un. I’m a rich boy. Me, I’m gonna have more money than you ever thought you could have — you and all the rest of you stinkin’ sons of … Benedicts!”
The Best Picture Project 
Wow. I had expected this to be quite interesting, so to hear you were bored by it bothers me.
Don’t let my opinion scare you away, if it sounds interesting to you, you may find it much more enlightening than I did.
I am shocked at your reaction. This was one of my favorite films that year. Maybe having been a teenager during the 1950s gives me a different perspective; but Liz’s feminist independence was unheard of back then…even the whole session about politics being “men’s talk” was not that far-fetched. Leslie was way ahead of her time! Another aspect of the film was the “ethnic/racial” element…the movie was banned in certain localiies because of this; and don’t forget, it wasn’t that far removed in time from the troops being sent to Little Rock to integrate the schools. Finally, there was the notion of sex roles with the son wanting to go into medicine and the daughter wanting to be a rancher–unheard of (and frowned on) in the 1950s. This was a time of awakening on so many levels in the US and this film was way ahead of its time in so many ways. Add the excellent performances of Hudson, Taylor, Dean, and the introduction of Carroll Baker and Dennis Hopper…what a film! I can’t even count how many times I returned to the theater to see this one…it was one of the first VCRs I ever bought and likewise the DVD as soon as it was made available. If you consider “Giant” in the context of the time, it was truly a remarkable film. Still LOVE this movie!
Well, I finally saw this, and I felt the same as you did. Just posted my own review. This was pretty boring and long. And Ken, I suppose your analysis of the movie during that time explains the film’s success and longevity. But looking at it now, its really not a very effective film at portraying those social issues.