
Acting
James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he starred as troubled teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were loner Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955) and surly ranch hand Jett Rink in Giant (1956). After his death in a car crash on September 30, 1955, Dean became the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his role in East of Eden. Upon receiving a second nomination for his role in Giant the following year, Dean became the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him the 18th best male movie star of Golden Age Hollywood in AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list.

After moving to a new town, troublemaking teen Jim Stark is supposed to have a clean slate, although being the new kid in town brings its own problems. While searching for some stability, Stark forms a bond with a disturbed classmate, Plato, and falls for local girl Judy. However, Judy is the girlfriend of neighborhood tough, Buzz. When Buzz violently confronts Jim and challenges him to a drag race, the new kid's real troubles begin.

In the Salinas Valley in and around World War I, Cal Trask feels he must compete against overwhelming odds with his brother for the love of their father. Cal is frustrated at every turn, from his reaction to the war, how to get ahead in business and in life, and how to relate to his estranged mother.

Alexander has been a faithful employee of Madame Pollard as maitre d' at her elegant resort. Eager to introduce his protege Rob, things go wrong when his wife Della finds an expensive bracelet lost by Pollard and begs to keep. The police are called and Alexander's dreams of his future begin to crumble.

Wealthy rancher Bick Benedict and dirt-poor cowboy Jett Rink both woo Leslie Lynnton, a beautiful young woman from Maryland who is new to Texas. She marries Benedict, but she is shocked by the racial bigotry of the White Texans against the local people of Mexican descent. Rink discovers oil on a small plot of land, and while he uses his vast, new wealth to buy all the land surrounding the Benedict ranch, the Benedict's disagreement over prejudice fuels conflict that runs across generations.

A college student faces embarrassment and expulsion for having cheated on an exam. Her fiance is a member of the university's undergraduate honor board and could quietly make the matter "disappear." The young woman reconsiders, deciding that covering up for her bad behavior would be wrong and build a bad foundation for their marriage.

Welcome behind the closed doors of a Hollywood that only a select few will ever get to see -- a Hollywood of tragic lives and tragic deaths. Some of the worlds brightest stars are hiding deep, dark secrets that - once revealed show a life of unhappiness, heartbreak and torment that has been so carefully hidden behind the glamour and glitter of the big screen. See the true lives behind some of Hollywoods most iconic stars and learn why, for some, it was as if the act of dying itself was a final performance.

In the summer of 1955, an army of cameramen, lighting techs and movie stars descended on the small, west Texas town of Marfa to film what has become, "the national movie of Texas."

A documentary about James Dean. People who knew him or had worked with him reminisce.

James Dean: Born Cool tells the story of James Dean's rise from small town boy to immortal icon as told by Jimmy's closest family and friends from the perspective of his hometown of Fairmount, Indiana. Made with the full cooperation of the Dean Estate, Born Cool includes unprecedented access to hundreds of rare and never before seen photos and home movies, plus exclusive interviews with those who knew Jimmy best.

"Children of 'Giant'" is a documentary film that unearths deeply wrought emotions in the small West Texas town of Marfa, before, during and after the month-long production of George Stevens' 1956 feature film, "Giant." Based on the controversial Edna Ferber novel of the same name, the film, "Giant" did not shy from strong social-issue themes experienced throughout post-WWII America. George Stevens, its producer and director, purposely gravitated to the drought-ridden community of Marfa for most all of the exterior scenes.


