Giant Family Review

Sprawling epic covering the life of a Texas cattle rancher and his family and associates.Texan rancher Jordan "Bick" Benedict, Jr. (Rock Hudson) visits a Maryland farm to buy a prize horse. While there he meets and falls in love with the owner's daughter Leslie (Dame Elizabeth Taylor), they are married immediately and return to his ranch. The story of their family and its rivalry with cowboy and (later oil tycoon) Jett Rink (James Dean) unfolds across two generations.—Col Needham <[email protected]>Ambitious Texas-style scale epic that traces the rising and falling fortunes of two generations of Texans. Miscegenation, moral dissipation, racism, the oppression of women - a variety of topics are brought forth during this movie's three hour and twenty-one minute running time. The core of this movie is actually the relationship between Jordan "Bick" Benedict, Jr. (Rock Hudson) and his wife Leslie (Dame Elizabeth Taylor). It is through them that we follow this movie's themes of generation, conflict, and social change. However, it is Jett Rink (James Dean) whom audiences remember, particularly in the early scenes when he is striding out on his small piece of land, or when he comes to tell Bick that "my well came in big". He puts his oily hand on one of the white columns of Benedict's porch and, unemphatically crystallizes the theme of this movie - the muddy thumb prints of materialism on the pillars of elegance and the coming conflict between the aristocracy and the nouveau riche. "You should have shot that fella a long time ago", a friend says to Bick about Jett Rink. "Now he's too rich to kill."—alfiehitchieSprawling, epic tale of a wealthy Texas rancher and his wife, their descendants, and their life together over twenty-five years. Jordan "Bick" Benedict, Jr. (Rock Hudson) met his future wife Leslie (Dame Elizabeth Taylor) while on a trip East to buy breeding stock, returning home with a bride. Living on a half-million acre ranch takes some getting used to for Leslie, as does the rough and tumble lifestyle. They have children who have their own minds and are apt to disappoint their parents over their life choices. As Leslie says at one point, "you can't live their lives for them, you can only raise them." Bick's rival is a former ranch hand, Jett Rink (James Dean), who inherits a tract of land from Bick's late sister Luz Benedict (Mercedes McCambridge). Jett strikes oil and becomes as wealthy as the Benedicts although there is one thing Bick has that he can never have as his own.—garykmcdWealthy Texas rancher Jordan "Bick" Benedict, Jr. (Rock Hudson) shakes things up at home when he returns from a trip to the East Coast with a love interest, the refined Leslie (Dame Elizabeth Taylor). Bick and Leslie get married, but she clashes with his sister, Luz Benedict (Mercedes McCambridge), and wins the admiration of the ambitious young Jett Rink (James Dean). Bick and Jett form a tense rivalry that continues to surface as the years pass and fortunes change in this sweeping drama.—Jwelch57421 moreAll