Giant

Edna Ferber's Giant is a long book which describes a big state. The book is a none too favorable commentary on Texan materialism as expressed in conspicuous consumption and bigotry towards the Mexican population. The film, after pruning some of Ferber's more barbed comments, more or less follows the author's point of view and takes on the solemn tones of social criticism.

But the picture also has aims beyond taking a scalpel to the more peculiar states of Lone Star mentality. It is evidently intended to be something of an American epic, running, as it does, for well over three hours and covering a quarter century in the life of the ranch- owning Benedict clan. On the surface, these people would seem to make admirabe characters for a modern epic because they live on a large scale. Their "ranch," a domain of 596,000 acres, is the setting of some huge social affairs--mostly weddings and funerals--and a number of magnificent fights, all staged by director George Stevens with an eye for grand effects. The aura of grandeur surrounds even the villain of the piece, a rather boorish ranch-hand who finds oil on a little piece of land which the boss' sister leaves him, goes on to cover the rest of the state with oil wells.

The movie's fault, is that the people aren't really big; their motives often appear selfish or spiteful or stupid. The disparity between the characters' grand surroundings and their petty actions is, of course, one of the main points of the film, and it requires that these people be cut down from epic size by constant acid scrutiny. But it doesn't take three hours and any number of lavish sets to advance such a relatively simple argument--Stevens, as a matter of fact, clinches the point in one short scene which shows the group of ill-bred oil millionaires milling about in a hotel room before the test-imonial dinner. As a result, the film gives the impression that neither the director nor the screen-writers ever made up their minds whether they were producing an epic or a piece of social commentary.

Despite this difficulty, the film does have its good points. Stevens' mastery of sweeping outdoor shots is as impressive as ever, even though the empty scenery of Texas lacks the grandeur of that exhibited in his Shane. The acting, too, is mostly excellent, particularly in the surprisingly effective performance of Rock Hudson as the head of the Benedict clan. His work in the past has scarcely suggested the insight and ability which he reveals in this film. Elizabeth Taylor, in the role of Benedict's wife, is at least satisfactory and still very lovely. The performance of the late James Dean as the cowhand-millionaire, while perhaps not his best, does show that he was gaining control over his rather nervous acting style. In all, Giant is a work of considerable technical excellence marred--as are so many films, and not only the products of Hollywood--by a fundamental confusion of purpose.