Hudson and Taylor are both headstrong and bicker, but nonetheless produce twins Dennis Hopper and Fran Bennett. Third child Carroll Baker follows. They grow up, while Hudson and Taylor grow old with blue hair and unflattering makeup. Hopper becomes a charity doctor and marries Hispanic Elsa Cárdenas. Bennett marries dorky Earl Holliman.
Carroll Baker romances the theoretically much older James Dean, who by now is a celebrity with a spectacular oil empire. But she discovers Dean is an alcoholic with a fixation on her mother. Meanwhile, Hudson learns that prejudice is wrong, and proves it by fighting diner owner Mickey Simpson.
Interesting faces in minor roles include Sal Mineo as an Hispanic soldier and Rod Taylor as Elizabeth Taylor's brother.
How others will see it. Giant couldn't lose at the box office. Not only did it have Elizabeth Taylor, then a top draw, but it also marked the final movie of James Dean, who had died in a well-publicized car crash the year before. Indeed, the costly movie returned multiples of its budget and became the biggest grossing film in the history of Warner Bros. (although since surpassed, obviously).
Critical acclaim accompanied, and the movie was nominated for a remarkable ten Oscars, including most major categories. Both Dean and Hudson were nominated for Best Actor, and McCambridge's small role was curiously nominated as Best Supporting Actress. George Stevens won Best Director, his second such trophy. He had earlier won for A Place in the Sun, a much more deserving effort.
Today, the movie remains famous and well respected. The user ratings at imdb.com are very high, particularly among females, who clearly take pleasure in Elizabeth Taylor's plum role and outspoken character. Carroll Baker adds to the romance factor, key in the female demographic, with her dubious courtship of rich bad boy James Dean.
How I felt about it. Certainly, Giant goes on for too long. The running time is 200 minutes, and the last hour was particularly tough to endure. The cast and production values are top notch. The problem is that the direction is heavy-handed. At every turn, there is little doubt how we are supposed to feel about the characters. Especially Elizabeth Taylor and her proud perfection.
We are suspicious of the characters from the onset. Taylor marries Hudson because he is wealthy. Hudson marries Taylor because she is beautiful. These are normal, human motives, but they are all too blatant here.
As is the white prejudice against Hispanics. Per Giant, rural Texas society has three layers of class: wealthy landowner whites, poor whites, and Hispanics. It is reminiscent of the antebellum South, with Hispanics substituted for slaves. But while the Hispanics are not legally slaves, they are nonetheless obligated to work the land of the wealthy white landowners.
Taylor and her son Hopper fight this prejudice because they are fictional characters. In real life, they would surely enjoy the privileges that come from wealth and class. It is mildly grating that the Hispanics are invariably meek and submissive to Jim Crow, forcing Hudson and Hopper to battle on their behalf. This also applies to the black servant of Taylor's Maryland home, a presence that suggests the Taylor family may not have been so progressive after all.
The Texas class system limits upward mobility. Cárdenas remains Hispanic, and thus on the bottom rung, even though she has married into a very wealthy family. James Dean is the ultimate self-made man, rich and powerful, yet Hudson believes he is the better man because he was born that way. Meanwhile, Dean may well pine after Taylor, but he would not be so obvious about it, and it is implausible movie dramatics that have him pass out at the big banquet at the very moment he is to deliver his speech.
But perhaps the most ridiculous moment has Holliman turning down Hudson's offer to manage (and presumably inherit) his collosal cattle ranch. "Oh, no, I'd much rather just mortgage a small ranch and live in poverty." Yeah, right.