Giant is the film where Rock Hudson is upstaged by a piece of rope.
He sits behind a big desk while James Dean sits before him, waiting
to see if he’ll be fired—for what, I’ve forgotten. There are lots of things
that can go wrong on a ranch in West Texas. Hudson owns this ranch.
Dean lives in a shack the size of an ice cream truck. In this scene
he holds a piece of rope 15 or 20 inches long. He drapes it across
his palm, pulls it slowly off. He winds it loosely around his wrist,
slips it off. Actors cite this scene as a masterclass in presence.
Dean has the dirty-blond hair of the man I once saw at a funeral home,
wearing a shirt from the local hockey team: bright green, a white number.
He waited in line with the rest of us, and when finally he stood
near the casket, he held the hand of the widow
between his cupped palms, as if he were holding a bird.
