StuartGalbraith
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DVD Review – Giant
Director, George Stevens; Producers, Henry Ginsberg and George Stevens; Screenplay, Fred Guiol and Ivan Moffat, based on the book by Edna Ferber; Director of Photography, William C. Mellor; Art Director, Boris Leven; Editor, William Hornbeck; Music, Dimitri Tiomkin.
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Carroll Baker, Jane Withers, Chill Wills, Mercedes McCambridge, Dennis Hopper, Sal Mineo, Rod Taylor, Judith Evelyn, Earl Holliman, Robert Nichols, Paul Fix, Elsa Cardenas, Victor Millan.
A Giant Production for Warner Bros. A Warner Bros. Release. WarnerColor. 1.66:1. 201 minutes plus exit music. No MPAA Rating. Released November 24, 1956.
DVD: Released by Warner Home Video. Street Date June 10, 2003. $26.99
1.66:1 / flat
(English) Dolby Surround, (French) Dolby Digital Mono
Special Features: Audio commentary by film critic Stephen Farber, screenwriter Ivan Moffat, and George Stevens, Jr.; Documentary – George Stevens: Filmmakers Who Knew Him; Documentary – Memories of Giant; Documentary – Return to Giant; New York Premiere TV Special; Hollywood Premiere featurette; Project Kick-Off newsreel excerpt; “Behind the Cameras” segments; original and reissue trailers (4); production stills and documents.
Reviewed by Stuart Galbraith IV
An excellent melodrama incorporating a message promoting racial equality, Giant is '50s Hollywood storytelling at its most confident. Covering about 25 years from roughly 1930 to 1955, it follows several generations of cattle- and oilmen, their wives, children, and laborers. At its center is the relationship between Leslie Benedict (Elizabeth Taylor), her traditional Texan husband, Bick (Rock Hudson), and an eccentric hired hand, Jett Rink (James Dean), who regards them with equal measures of envy and contempt.
The picture was directed and co-produced by George Stevens, the former cameraman who had helmed both A Place in the Sun (1951) and Shane (1953), two of the most popular and celebrated films of the 1950s. With Giant, Stevens reached the pinnacle of his career, creating a memorable film that has become equally famous for its teaming of Taylor and Hudson, and as the final film of James Dean, who died in a car accident near the end of production. Stevens was a meticulous producer, a fine actor's director, and a superb, subtle editor, and it's in those areas where Giant most shines.
The Taylor-Hudson-Dean angle had always been played up in the past, as well it might, and with this new DVD release both Warners and Stevens' son, George, Jr., emphasize the picture's then-groundbreaking frankness about white bigotry against Mexican laborers, even by Bick and Jett. (“Down here we don't make a fuss over those people,” Bick says early on.) Though other pictures have since dealt with this issue in greater depth, this aspect of the film is still quite powerful (and, sadly, surprisingly relevant) for what is generally remembered as an epic romantic melodrama/modern Western.
Yet despite this seemingly unflattering component, most Texans embraced Giant and the picture even came to be regarded as the “national film of Texas.” Certainly Giant is equally a celebratory, even myth-making Western about Texas' 20th century pioneers (though it also has a darker, Booth Tarkington-like backbone). Nearly 50 years after it was released, Giant has very nearly become a legend itself.
How is the Transfer?
Controversial. Giant was produced well into the wide screen revolution of the 1950s. Director Stevens reportedly hated CinemaScope, and his method of exhaustive coverage (shooting scenes in their entirety from every conceivable angle and “directing” in the editing room) probably precluded the use of a more expensive process like VistaVision, which would have been perfect for Giant. Instead, Stevens shot the film in standard 35mm for 1.66:1 cropping in movie houses.
I've not seen the briefly-released Canadian DVD, which had a low bit-rate, crammed the movie onto a single-sided disc, but which was enhanced for 16:9 televisions (with a 1.77:1 aspect ratio). According to some reports, George Stevens, Jr. was dissatisfied with this DVD and had it withdrawn. (The Stevens estate appears to share ownership of the picture with Warner Bros.) In any case Warner's new DVD is matted to 1.66:1, spread over two sides but without a 16:9 enhancement. A second, one-sided disc holds the majority of special features.
This matters little to those watching the film on standard televisions, but on widescreen sets Giant looks pretty darn small and never very sharp. The picture was definitely shot for 1.66:1 release, insofar as the opening titles get chopped off considerably at 1.77:1. However, in watching the picture both zoomed in and out, Stevens' compositions almost never suffer at 1.77:1. A careful 16:9 transfer with very slight black bars on the sides would have solved the problem or, except for the titles, simple framing adjustments by the Telecine operator (perhaps under the supervision of Stevens, Jr.) using a 1.77:1 ratio would have worked, too. As it is, on 16:9 TVs anyway, the film is an uncomfortable viewing experience no matter which route one takes.
Moreover, the ugly WarnerColor and Stevens' frequent use of long dissolves and grainy process shots, combined with perhaps too much printing off the original negative (a sad but common fate among popular color movies of 1950s) give the film a washed-out, generally soft, and less-than-pristine look. (The deep red velvet wallpaper interiors, the whirling dust storms, the many shots through screen doors, etc., couldn't have helped matters.) For instance, there's some sort of damage for several minutes in the form of shadowing vertical lines around the 40-minute mark of Side 1. The soundtrack, remixed for stereo surround, is also rather thin and unimpressive.
Special Features
If you count the audio commentary, the DVD of Giant will keep its most ardent fans busy for something like 10 hours. Many of the special features are carry-overs from earlier laserdisc releases.
“George Stevens: Filmmakers Who Knew Him” uses outtakes from the 1985 documentary George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey and features interviews with several long-deceased filmmakers, including Frank Capra, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and Fred Zinnemann, all discussing Stevens and his impact on American cinema.
“Memories of Giant” is a 51-minute talking heads documentary from 1998, with surviving cast members (with the notable exception of Elizabeth Taylor) reminiscing about the film's production. There’s not a lot of information in this leisurely production, but the anecdotes are warmly told and generally interesting. Rock Hudson appears in footage also shot for the 1985 Stevens show.
Both “Memories of Giant” and the 55-minute “Return to Giant” feature home movies taken by actress Jane Withers, who comes off as the genial mother hen during the production. “Return to Giant,” is the better documentary, concentrating on the invasion of tiny Marfa, Texas by the Giant cast and crew. It features a wider range of interviews (including many locals) and more behind-the-scenes information. As a portrait of a massive production working outside the confines of Hollywood, the program, from 1996, is excellent. Both this and “Return to Giant,” incidentally, are amusing for the emotional but utterly conflicting accounts of how the production learned of Dean's untimely death.
A kinescope from the long-defunct DuMont Network is the source for “New York Premiere,” a half-hour live program hosted by Chill Wills and a tiara-wearing Jayne Meadows. It is interesting mostly as a document of its era, and features brief interviews with studio head Jack Warner, composer Dimitri Tiomkin, and various celebrities. Oddly, this segment is presented in 1.33:1 format with 16:9 enhancement.
Even more odd is “Giant Premiere,” which is enhanced with a ratio of 1.77:1. Where this footage comes from is anyone’s guess, but it includes star-studded B&W footage from both the New York and Hollywood premieres. A 34-second excerpt from a Warner-Pathe newsreel shows the “Giant Stars Are Off to Texas.”
Also featured are two six-minute excerpts from “Warner Bros. Presents,” a mid-1950s anthology series in the manner of “Disneyland.” Hosted by Gig Young, the first of these infomercial-like segments (known as “Behind the Cameras”) show the cast and crew on location in Texas (some of which is obviously staged) while the second segment features an interview (likewise scripted) with Tiomkin. Oddly, the notorious “Behind the Cameras” interview with James Dean (in his Giant costume) touting the benefits of driving safely is not included.
If that weren’t enough, there's a feature length audio commentary, a short introduction to the film (without spoilers) by the ubiquitous George Stevens, Jr., a still gallery and archival production notes. An original and three reissue trailers in varying condition sell the same film zeroing in on elements of interest to that particular time, such as the 1963 reissue, which is clearly cashing in the publicity surrounding Taylor and Cleopatra.
Parting Thoughts
Giant is an excellent film given a problematic transfer. Fans of the picture will be enthralled by the myriad extras, however, and the film itself is not to be missed.
(A note to readers: This will hopefully be my last review to run after the DVD's street date. We're still transitioning here, and hope to be back in synch with the general release schedule shortly -- SG4)
