History Film / Giant

The film, which spans from the [[TheRoaringTwenties 1920s]] to the early [[TheFifties '50s]], is a saga of the Benedict family, beginning when Texan {{Rancher}} Jordan "Bick" Benedict (Hudson) heads east to Maryland to purchase [[CoolHorse War Winds]] from Dr. Lynnton and ends up marrying his daughter, socialite Leslie (Taylor). They start life at Bick's ranch, Reatta, and have three children. Leslie, who has a hard time dealing with the sexism and [[NobleBigot racism]] of Bick and bascially everyone around her, leaves Bick for a time but they eventually reconcile. After Bick's sister dies, she leaves local handyman Jett Rink (Dean) a small plot of land, which [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules he refuses to sell to Bick even though he's offered twice its value]]. He then strikes oil, which eventually happens around the region with even Bick getting rich off oil after he swore to keep the ranch only cattle. Bick's attitudes are put to the test when his kids grow up and not only do none of them want to run the ranch after him, but his only son Jordy (Creator/DennisHopper) marries Juana, a Mexican-American.

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Bick steadfastly refuses to allow Jett to drill for oil on Reatta. When UsefulNotes/WorldWarII begins, however, he realizes he has to swallow his pride for the sake of the war effort.

** The first thing Jett does after he strikes oil? Drive his truck all over the nicely manicured lawn at Reatta up to the front porch to share the news, make a pass at Leslie, and return Bick's punch with three of his own.

* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: Jett goes on a drunken rant in the banquet hall of his hotel about how he failed to get Leslie from Jett, then falls over forward and knocks the head table over.

* BookshelfDominoes: Bick does this to Jett's wine cellar during their confrontation.
* BrainyBrunette: Leslie is very witty and well-read, reading huge thick books from her doctor father's library at home and she is raven-haired like Elizabeth Taylor.

---> Men's Stuff? Lord have Mercy, ''(turns to the other women in their corner)'' set up my spinning wheel girls, I'll be joining the harem in a moment.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Luz doesn't like Leslie riding War Winds, saying she'd "fall off and break her neck", but [[spoiler: this is what happens to Luz.]]
* FrontierDoctor: Jordy becomes a modern version of one of these.
** Earlier Leslie brings Dr. Guerra, who helps work with the Mexican-American community at Reata.
* HappilyMarried: Bick and Leslie.

* IgnoredVitalNewsReports: Subverted. Judy is parked with her husband to be Bob Pace and turns off a news report about Pearl Harbor, but the report is just a summary of the damage that had been inflicted two weeks earlier - and she notes that she is about to lose him for the war's duration.
* ItsAllMyFault: Bick blames himself for Luz's death.

* LoveAtFirstSight: Bick and Leslie and later Jordy and Juana.

* MyOwnPrivateIDo: Both Jordy and Judy do this.
* NiceToTheWaiter: Leslie is this to the Mexican servants, practically no body else is. At least at first. Bick is particularly rude to Jett.
* NoHeroToHisValet: Jett, a self-made man who got rich of off oil and owns and runs an airport and hotel, ends up a bitter drunk who rants about how he didn't snare Leslie away from Bick and how he worked as a "flunky" for the Benedicts while a waitstaff stands by waiting to clean up the reception hall.
* NobleBigot: Pretty much '''everyone''' but Leslie at the start of the film, and it takes a long time for Bick to stop being this even after his son's marriage.

* RejectingTheInheritance: None of Bick's kids want to take over the ranch.

* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: Jett Rink refuses to sell the land Luz left him back to Bick for twice its value, though it isn't explained why. Later on, this is Bick's reasoning for not allowing oil to be drilled at Reatta, but it's a BrokenAesop as they end up getting rich off oil during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

-->'''Uncle Bawley:''' Bick, you shoulda shot that fella a long time ago. Now he's too rich to kill.

* ShootTheDog: [[spoiler:Bick shoots War Winds after Luz's death, he says he's the one who had to do it]].

* StalkerShrine: Jett has a photo of Leslie in his cabin at Little Reatta.

* TranquilFury: Leslie to the landlord of the small village where most Mexican-Americans live, after witnessing the neglect and poverty they live in, as she brings Dr. Guerra to start working and inspect the village. She says a few words in her gracious and pissed off SouthernBelle accent
---> This place is a scandal.

!!This work contains example of the following tropes:

The movie culminates in the opening of Jett Rink's hotel and airport, and at the [[ExpositionParty big party]] Jordy tries to fight Jett Rink when he finds out that him and his wife were only invited so that Jett's employees could deny them service. Bick almost gets into a fight with Jett away from the eyes of the people, but is so disgusted by the wasted, over-the-hill shell of a man that Jett has become that Bick simply tells him there's no point in beating him down -- and later Jett passes out at his own party. Later on the way home, they stop at a diner and [[BadassGrandpa Bick gets into a fight]] with the racist owner when he refuses to serve a Mexican family -- while he doesn't win the fight, he does reignite the love and respect of his wife.

* BadassGrandpa: Bick at the end of the movie.

* DidntGetTheGirl: Jett feels this way about Leslie, and it colours his conduct for the rest of the movie.

* IgnoredVitalNewsReports: Luz II is parked with Jett Rink and turns off a news report about Pearl Harbor.

** The first thing Jett does after he strikes oil? Drive his truck all over the nicely manicured lawn at Reatta up to the front porch to share the news, make a pass at Leslie, and return Bick's punch with three of his own. ** It's also implied that Bick could have exercised this up till that moment.

** Creator/ElizabethTaylor plays the mother of Carroll Baker—who was a year ''older'' than Taylor in real life.

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: The first thing Jett does after he strikes oil? Drive his truck all over the nicely manicured lawn at Reatta up to the front porch to share the news, make a pass at Leslie, and return Bick's punch with three of his own.

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: The first thing Jett does after he strikes oil? Drive his truck all over the nicely manicured lawn at Reatta up to the front porch to share the news.

* WhamShot: Jett watches as Leslie leaves a footprint in the soil...and oil seeps out.

''Giant'' is a [[TheFifties 1956]] EpicMovie directed by Creator/GeorgeStevens, starring Creator/ElizabethTaylor, Creator/RockHudson, and Creator/JamesDean. Based on the 1952 novel by Edna Ferber, the film is more famous for [[AuthorExistenceFailure being James Dean's last role]] (some of his lines had to be dubbed).

%%* TheFilmOfTheBook

The film, which spans from the [[TheRoaringTwenties 1920s]] to the early [[TheForties '50s]], is a saga of the Benedict family, beginning when Texan {{Rancher}} Jordan "Bick" Benedict (Hudson) heads east to Maryland to purchase [[CoolHorse War Winds]] from Dr. Lynnton and ends up marrying his daughter, socialite Leslie (Taylor). They start life at Bick's ranch, Reatta, and have three children. Leslie, who has a hard time dealing with the sexism and [[NobleBigot racism]] of Bick and bascially everyone around her, leaves Bick for a time but they eventually reconcile. After Bick's sister dies, she leaves local handyman Jett Rink (Dean) a small plot of land, which [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules he refuses to sell to Bick even though he's offered twice its value]]. He then strikes oil, which eventually happens around the region with even Bick getting rich off oil after he swore to keep the ranch only cattle. Bick's attitudes are put to the test when his kids grow up and not only do none of them want to run the ranch after him, but his only son Jordy (Creator/DennisHopper) marries Juana, a Mexican-American.

* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler: Luz II gets this of Jett after he drunkenly rants about how "lost" Leslie to Bick]].

%%*TheFilmOfTheBook

* SceneryPorn

* AdaptationalHeroism: The DinerBrawl didn't appear in the original book. In the book, Bick is not present. Only his wife, daughter and Mexican daughter-in-law are there, and they simply leave without causing any trouble when the diner owner orders them out.

The film, which spans from the [[TheRoaringTwenties 1920s]] to the early [[TheForties '50s]], is about the Benedict family, beginning when Texan {{Rancher}} Jordan "Bick" Benedict (Hudson) heads east to Maryland to purchase [[CoolHorse War Winds]] from Dr. Lynnton and ends up marrying his daughter, socialite Leslie (Taylor). They start life at Bick's ranch, Reatta, and have three children. Leslie, who has a hard time dealing with the sexism and [[NobleBigot racism]] of Bick and bascially everyone around her, leaves Bick for a time but they eventually reconcile. After Bick's sister dies, she leaves local handyman Jett Rink (Dean) a small plot of land, which [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules he refuses to sell to Bick even though he's offered twice its value]]. He then strikes oil, which eventually happens around the region with even Bick getting rich off oil after he swore to keep the ranch only cattle. Bick's attitudes are put to the test when his kids grow up and not only do none of them want to run the ranch after him, but his only son Jordy (Creator/DennisHopper) marries Juana, a Mexican-American.

The film is about the Benedict family, beginning when Texan {{Rancher}} Jordan "Bick" Benedict (Hudson) heads east to Maryland to purchase [[CoolHorse War Winds]] from Dr. Lynnton and ends up marrying his daughter, socialite Leslie (Taylor). They start life at Bick's ranch, Reatta, and have three children. Leslie, who has a hard time dealing with the sexism and [[NobleBigot racism]] of Bick and bascially everyone around her, leaves Bick for a time but they eventually reconcile. After Bick's sister dies, she leaves local handyman Jett Rink (Dean) a small plot of land, which [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules he refuses to sell to Bick even though he's offered twice its value]]. He then strikes oil, which eventually happens around the region with even Bick getting rich off oil after he swore to keep the ranch only cattle. Bick's attitudes are put to the test when his kids grow up and not only do none of them want to run the ranch after him, but his only son Jordy (Creator/DennisHopper) marries Juana, a Mexican-American.

The movie culminates in the opening of Jett Rink's hotel and airport, and at the [[ExpositionParty big party]] Jordy tries to fight Jett Rink when he finds out that him and his wife were only invited so that Jett's employees could deny them service. Bick almost gets into a fight with Jett away from the eyes of the people but he is so disgusted by the wasted, over the hill shell of a man that Jett has become that Bick simply tells him there's no point in beating him down -- and later Jett passes out at his own party. Later on the way home, they stop at a diner and [[BadassGrandpa Bick gets into a fight]] with the racist owner when he refuses to serve a Mexican family -- while he doesn't win the fight, he does reignite the love and respect of his wife.

The movie culminates in the opening of Jett Rink's hotel and airport, and at the [[ExpositionParty big party]] Jordy tries to fight Jett Rink when he finds out that him and his wife were only invited so that Jett's employees could deny them service. Bick almost gets into a fight with Jett away from the eyes of the people but he is so disgusted by the wasted, over the hill shell of a man that Jett has become that Bick simply tells him there's no point in beating him down - and later Jett passes out at his own party. Later on the way home, they stop at a diner and [[BadassGrandpa Bick gets into a fight]] with the racist owner when he refuses to serve a Mexican family - while he doesn't win the fight he does reignite the love and respect of his wife.

The film is about the Benedict family, beginning when Texan {{Rancher}} Jordan "Bick" Benedict (Hudson)N heads east to Maryland to purchase [[CoolHorse War Winds]] from Dr. Lynnton and ends up marrying his daughter, socialite Leslie (Taylor). They start life at Bick's ranch, Reatta, and have three children. Leslie, who has a hard time dealing with the sexism and [[NobleBigot racism]] of Bick and bascially everyone around her, leaves Bick for a time but they eventually reconcile. After Bick's sister dies, she leaves local handyman Jett Rink (Dean) a small plot of land, which [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules he refuses to sell to Bick even though he's offered twice its value]]. He then strikes oil, which eventually happens around the region with even Bick getting rich off oil after he swore to keep the ranch only cattle. Bick's attitudes are put to the test when his kids grow up and not only do none of them want to run the ranch after him, but his only son Jordy (Creator/DennisHopper) marries Juana, a Mexican-American.

''Giant'' is a [[TheFifties 1956]] EpicMovie directed by Creator/GeorgeStevens, and starring Creator/ElizabethTaylor, Creator/RockHudson and Creator/JamesDean. Based on the novel by Edna Ferber, the film is more famous for [[AuthorExistenceFailure being James Dean's last role]] (some of his lines had to be dubbed).

The film is about the Benedict family, beginning when Texan {{Rancher}} Jordan "Bick" Benedict heads east to Maryland to purchase [[CoolHorse War Winds]] from Dr. Lynnton and ends up marrying his daughter, socialite Leslie. They start life at Bick's ranch, Reatta, and have three children. Leslie has a hard time dealing with the sexism and [[NobleBigot racism]] of Bick and bascially everyone around her, she leaves Bick for a time but they eventually reconcile. After Bick's sister dies, she leaves Jett Rink a small plot of land, which [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules he refuses to sell to Bick even though he's offered twice its value]]. He then strikes oil, which eventually happens around the region with even Bick getting rich off oil after he swore to keep the ranch only cattle. Bick's attitudes are put to the test when his kids grow up and not only do none of them want to run the ranch after him, but his only son Jordy marries Juana, a Mexican-American.