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In the summer of 1955, George Stevens began shooting Gigante , a mega production with southern overtones like Gone with the Wind (1939). Edna Ferber's novel had made a great impression on him and so he decided to face a challenge with a budget of $ 2.5 million . Finally, the film cost 5.5 million dollars, it was worked 37 days more than stipulated and a little more than 265,000 meters of film were filmed that had to be cut until 3 hours and 21 minutes of viewing.
But Warner Bros. did not mind all those inconveniences since the film grossed 35 million dollars in the United States - its biggest record to date that was surpassed by Superman in 1978 - and obtained 10 nominations for the Oscars, in whose ceremony , Stevens took home the best director award in 1957.
During the 114 days of filming, the director had to deal with the personal conflicts of the leading trio, Elizabeth Taylor (Leslie Benedict), Rock Hudson (Jordan Benedict) and James Dean (Jett Rink).
Until they were hired, Stevens and the heads of the Warner studios had a few run-ins, especially when they gave him several lists of the performers to be chosen. For the role of Jordan, the candidates were John Wayne, Henry Fonda or James Stewart, but the director wanted William Holden. As soon as Agent Henry Willson found out, he torpedoed any other option and devised a plan for his client, Rock Hudson, to be chosen. And he got it.
Furthermore, his omnipotent power allowed him to dispel rumors of his client's alleged homosexuality by forcing him to marry his secretary, Phyllis Gates. In Hollywood the sexiness of the attractive actor was an open secret, but the public did not have to know it. In fact, Hudson was hosting private parties at his house with other men and he could be seen having fun at the Tropical Villa, a gay hangout in Santa Monica.
As detailed in Don Graham's book Giant: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Edna Ferber, and the Making of a Legendary American Film , Hudson recalled in 1981 that "every actor in town wanted the role. "Clark Gable, Alan Ladd, but they were too old. And William Holden was borderline . At that time I was 29 years old, so I could play the young character, the middle-aged character and the old man."
To make matters worse, from the first moment, the chemistry between Rock Hudson and James Dean was conspicuous by its absence. Hudson accused Dean of stealing the limelight, stealing the most important scenes and enjoying an intense friendship with Elizabeth Taylor. The actress became the cloth of tears and a mother figure for Dean, who had lost his mother at the age of 9, coming to confess that he had been sexually abused by a religious. To release the tension between the two male leads, the star with the violet eyes used to speak to them separately until three or four in the morning.
Another fact that exacerbated the rivalry between the two interpreters, according to Graham, was the fact that they both shared the same house with actor Chill Wills. Rock tried to seduce and 'convert' Dean, but when he resisted, Hudson kicked him out in a bad way. For the biographer Paul Alexander, the protagonist of East of Eden did not like mannerisms or Hudson's fondness for dressing up as a woman. In a sense, he was threatened by Jimmy's transgressive personality, although he was also drawn to his youthful appearance.
At the time, the talk about Dean's sexual orientation was also a constant in the gossip press. However, when journalists interviewed his different achievements, they concluded that he could be heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or asexual.
Believe it or not, the biggest obstacle to the development of the film was the incorporation of James Dean. From the beginning he showed an elusive personality, he urinated in front of strangers, he was rude , he used to dress like a beggar, he liked to be late, he almost always ate alone, and his non-verbal language transmitted a certain hatred towards his surroundings. Nor did it facilitate the work of the press who wanted to promote the filming.
At the request to pose for a photographer, Dean put on his sunglasses and refused to take them off. Your excuse? He claimed that he was not wearing makeup and that he had not shaved. And he was only 24 years old! And besides, he was disobedient . George Stevens prohibited him from participating in car races, but the actor ignored it. The result? Dean died at the wheel of his Porsche Spyder on September 30, 1955. Twenty-six days after his death, his second film, Rebel Without a Cause, was released and, the following year, it was Gigante's turn . With only three films he became a legend.
On one occasion, Phyllis Gates said that her husband had confessed to her: "I was jealous of him because I was afraid that he would steal me from the spotlight in the film. I have been wishing him death even before we were in Texas. And now he's gone ". And she began to cry like a mourner.
Elizabeth Taylor suffered the unspeakable to convince George Stevens to cast her, something unheard of when the director worked with her on A Place in the Sun (1951), where he was able to extract the highest quality acting from the former prodigy. The actress had to deal with two fronts. On the one hand, Warner gave Stevens a list with 31 names headed by Jane Wyman - the perfidious Angela Channing in the Falcon Crest series -, but the director ignored the suggestions and wooed Audrey Hepburn, to whom he made it arrive. the script. His dream was frustrated and he immediately thought of Grace Kelly, the most important female star at the time after his performance with Gary Cooper in Solo in the face of danger.
The future princess of Monaco was eager to star in the film, but since she had rejected several films offered by MGM, which had her under contract, the studio bosses forbade her to accept the offer from Warner. In the meantime, Taylor kept insisting, but Stevens didn't see it clearly since she was about to give birth to her second child, Christopher. The interpreter was tired of making films without substance and wanted a new challenge. Her gynecologist told Stevens that within four weeks of giving birth, the actress would be in tip-top shape. Eventually Taylor got the role for himself.
For the first time he gave life to a happily married woman with children. But personally, her marriage to Michael Wilding began to break down and they divorced a year after the film's release. During filming, one of the protagonists' burdens was her mother, the frustrated actress Sara Sothern, who did not stop asking for things on her daughter's behalf. That situation filled the patience of the director.
In this new shoot, the relationship between Stevens and Taylor had changed a lot since they collaborated on A Place in the Sun. The director behaved like a tyrant and, on some occasions, came to ridicule the actress in front of the entire team.
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