Documentary on James Dean, 1996 (interviews with Dennis Hopper, Eartha Kitt, Julie Harris, Rod Steiger, Martin Landau, etc.) Produced by Tom Alvarez for Nineteenth Star Productions LLC
@@robfrancis8690 I don't know if you are being serious. . . Have you seen the movie, " Sweet Hostage", starring Martin Sheen, and,Linda Blair? The second, I read your comments, that movie came to mind. I'm not even sure why, because, I've seen that movie once, decades ago. . . When Brad Pitt first became an actor, many compared him to James Dean, but, I've never seen, or felt that. To me, there's one Elvis Presley, and one James Dean. Do I think what you're suggesting is possible. . .
@@robfrancis8690 Wait a minute, I thought you were referring to reincarnation, or. . . What EXACTLY, are you saying? I've done drag racing like that, but " chicken" is not something I've done. It's intense, the adrenaline rush from racing is powerful, and intoxicating. After the race was over, though, I almost always had a feeling of fear (?) I would think, I have to stop doing this. It's hard to put into words. It was almost like an addiction, for me. I wonder if it was like that for James.
All these years later, and it is still painful to see such a talent cut too short. The magic of James Dean is that whether or not he was before your time, it doesn't seem to matter, the admiration is the same.
62 years ago I saw the rebel without a cause & instantly became a fan of James, I didn’t know that he was already dead. I now at the age of 75 still like him. RIP man!
I am 57 years old. When I was 16 I was introduced to James Dean movies at a movie theater in Houston Texas and fell absolutely head over heels. I had never heard of him. What Blow to the gut when I found out he had died. I wanted to know more about him. Brad pit would have been the right pick to play James Dean's true life experiences.
It saddens me that he died so young and tragically; to think of how much more he had to give as an actor and what he would have accomplished as a person too. I am 24 myself; the age at which he died and I can honestly say I only feel as if my life is starting now; I bet he felt the same. His beautiful face, stance, acting ability and more importantly from what I gather humanity is what has ensured he has become an immortal god in Hollywood. RIP you beautiful Man, gone but never forgotten!
Incredible presentation of an artist and a one of a kind legend who has had so much influence over so many globally from Bob Dylan to people like me who never got over him since seeing him in 1955. He invented the word and concept of cool.
What an amazing, incredible creature. He looks so different from everybody else. He moves and talks and gestures and smiles and cries so differently. No point in wondering where he would have got to I know, but...
@@tayler7441 Oh yes, I know he studied ballet. I've got a whole library on his life, and have written about him myself. The photo you mention has been called a fake, but who cares, even if it is, there are those wonderful ones of Jimmy at Katherine Durnham's ballet school in NYC and of course the delightful series with Eartha Kitt. Not to mention the scenes from his TV movies where we can see him dancing rock and roll...
Being a teenager in today’s world has really made me able to relate strongly to James Dean. The influence he continues to have on people is amazing. He lives on for generations and he’ll never be forgotten. RIP Jimmy, you’re the best!
I understand what you're saying. Of all the great actors of all time, I think that Dean embodied the frustration of being young and vulnerable better than anyone else, before or since. But life in general is pretty short. How many people would have loved to have left a legacy like his in the brief time he was alive? Thank God for his movies, for now he truly lives on.
I remember in the late 50,s first seeing James Dean in East of Eden my mother had seen it first And said about this wonderful film and how different ,so good the young actor was who played The main part,well after seeing it myself the magic hit me. In the very early 70,s I went out to the states and the first place I visited was Fairmount Indiana to see Jimmy's grave and the town he grew up in from the age of 9 whilst I was in the cemetery a group of people saw me running Around looking for his grave they called out 'Are you looking for Jimmy Dean ' when I said Yes They said 'jump in to the car' and they turned out to be his cousins lovely people who took me To the grave site,after a little while they said you should go and see Ortense Jimmy's Aunt who Brought him up, Well I did I might add I had a taxi running up a bill. After opening the door to me And my saying ...I am a fan of Jimmy's ...when I walked away she called out 'Hey do you want to come in' oh yes I did ,who would not , so in I went to a charming front room which had a picture of Jimmy and her daughter on the tv , so homely and we had a lovely talk she told me about the new book that had just come out written by ...as she put it ..one of my countrymen
Oops sorry about my comment went before I had completed it,just to finish I did buy the book 'Mutant King ' and have it today she was a lovely natural lady and I treasure my time with her. Wish I could write more but I have taken up to much of your time, now at 76yrs I would love to Take a trip back with my son ,and you have guessed it ..Named James. Love to all Janet xx
I come back to this documentary time to time. Short life huge impact. The what if leaves us in a pool of mystery. A mystical man who will never be forgotten for the path he paved for others. His spirit lives on forever.
Defo.. extremely natural, sometimes whilst they were recording him act he would actually do things on the spare of the moment that actually wasn't in the script. He was so natural that I know of one scene they kept it in, he was acting as a drunk getting arrested well signed in to police station,, n started laughing , which that wasn't in the script. Now that is a great film 😆
Yep, I felt that too. I know she is an actress but I felt her tears and emotion were real. I believe Jimmy impacted people that way. If he was your friend, you walked in the sunshine. If he wasn't your friend, you felt that too. :)
James Dean is alive in the minds of men & women who have fallen under his spell. I was lucky to have viewed REBEL Without A Cause in a special one time viewing at the Times Square AMC theatre just prior to the pandemic. What a beautiful production! So special to have watched it on the big screen. And what a beautiful,gifted and talented actor. So special. It is definitely the very best way to view this film and to appreciate the fantastic actor he was. No one can emulate, imitate or act like him. And what a handsome young man. I love you James Dean. ❤
people who have sad childhood,dont seem to last long.losing a mother in a young age,having a cruel father who sent him with his mother's cascket away.all this must have been hard.
I don't think his father was deliberately cruel. People in those days were not bought up to show feelings/emotions and his father seemed one of those people.
@@lindajenkins8901 He didn't have God though. He was lost so all his fame and fortune and popularity don't mean shit at the end of the day. He is human and he will be judged one day soon.
Dannie Laird you don’t know what he did or didn’t have, dear. Judgmental pigs like you need to realize that there is no judgment and we just incarnate for the human experience. Nothing more and nothing less.
Thank you so much for a wonderful video. We are so lucky, to have this. To listen to the words, and hear about the memories, of James Dean's peers, friends, all who touched his life, and those who were touched by his. . . We are so very lucky.
It’s funny that man called him “ugly”…. If you really look at him he has big ears and a big head, small body. He’s not textbook “handsome” and yet he’s so unbelievably attractive and alluring. He’s like a magnet that just pulls you in. And I think it’s interesting he told Dick Van Patten not to memorize his lines too well. That’s actually really innovative. Every actors worst fear is to forget their lines and yet he had the understanding that it doesn’t come off as natural if your too prepared. It’s too bad he died so young and yet it did make him a mythical iconic figure.
James Dean, though his life was cut very short, his name became one of the most famous, in the world...Like Bob Marley and John Lennon, who, themselves, died young, James Dean became a larger-than-life legend...Unlike, Lennon and Marley, however, Dean didn't amass a large body of work...Of course, the music industry was/is different, than, the film industry...What work Dean created, though, has had a bigger impact, on the world of film, than, many actors, past and present, who've starred in a dozen movies, or more...Had James Dean lived, undoubtedly, he would've amassed a body of work, that, would've been comparable to that of Cary Grant's, Clark Gable's and Peter O'Toole's...Life is like a long road, that, you're not familiar with...You never know when it's going to end.
In the world!? Since when USA is the world ? James Dean or John Wayne ONLY matter to USA! NOT the world! As Canadian I can't care less about those "american propaganda" movies. You know the "Me, Myself and I" attitude the baby-boomers are so proud of?
@@thorgalldjnexa Maybe I can't express myself perfectly here, but I'm trying. Sorry if I make mistakes: As for James Dean and the "world": As a child I saw his films on German television and was so impressed that as a teenager I saw his films several times in the cinema and again in my twenties. In my room there were James Dean posters that I had bought and later portraits of him that I had painted myself. At the age of 24 in the 80s I went on a tour of the US with a friend and we made a detour to visit the grave of James Dean. (And that of Elvis too.) Back then we laughed at the American self-centeredness for other reasons. For example, every time we came across some very large ridiculous object next to a restaurant, shop or gas station in the middle of the semi-desert that was supposedly "the largest in the world".
@@thorgalldjnexa Living in Paris I agree, one of the more constant American sentence is "the best in the world" cause they are completly ignorants of the world.
It seems like after James Dean died everybody in Hollywood for the next 30 years claimed to have been his best friend ever whom Dean secretly confided in. Even though Dean had only been in Hollywood for about a year and didn't became famous or celebrated until after he died (somewhat because he died). Until then Dean would have just been yet another one of thousands of 20-something starving nobodies that Hollywood chews up and spits out as a matter of course. If you were a male actor he was a direct competitor to your own potential career. I find all of these supposed best buddies of James Dean to be pretty difficult to buy if they weren't actually on one of his three movies with him. Especially considering how moody and difficult to read the real Dean was known to be by co-stars and directors. And before anybody flips out, I love James Dean as much as you do ... I just find it hard to believe such a guarded and moody guy was so buried in friends (in Hollywood!) when none of his peers had any clue he was going to become tragically famous through an early death. Dean was literally alive for only the release of his first movie, which is probably the least remembered. By the time Rebel Without a Cause and Giant came out he was already dead and instantly iconic. But as all the retroactive Hollywood sycophants seem to indicate, let's not allow actual history to get in the way of a good story.
I like your comment, I met his childhood friend, classmate, and buddy Bob Pulley. He said, Dean was just one of the boys in Fairmont a little odd because of his mother's death and spoiled with over concern by his aunt, uncle, and grand parent's. He rose to great height's in his craft, if only he wasn't so impetuous he might still be alive.
Thanks for posting this the first time we seen Jimmy here in Europe was *East of Eden*. We never knew about all his TV work,great to see it now. He puts Brando in the dark.
this documentary is beautiful, I can't think of a better word. Though it would be impossible to tell someone's full life in a short documentary, this is the first one I see, after seeing quite a number, which brings the spirit of Jimmy Dean alive in a truly authentic way, mainly through these wonderful actors remembering a person who changed so many of us in one way or another.
A good friend of mine sent a letter to Dean's Aunt Ortez in Fairmount, Indiana asking her questions about Jimmy. i saw her letter back to Tom and it had a 4cent stamp on it the yr was 1957. She said Jim never let anything get in his way, as well as He never took No for an answer! i stared at that letter it seemed like over an hour! My friend went on to become quite well known out in Hollywood!
Growing up like Dean gave him his instrument far before he went to New York! I think had he lived he would of been a great film director! Well hell he directed that scene with Jim Backus, and Ann Dorian!!
***** Hey proneer, I personally don't think so. I don't think it's even close. James Dean's name is in so many songs. In India his movies are seen as classics, there's even a James Dean Fan club in China. Everybody knows James Dean, man. I just had to get some reading glasses. I was looking at the prescription glasses for the hell of it and in a magazine, they had a James Dean Collection. These frames were close to 300.00 bucks, google them, they are cool.
The first time I heard the name "James Dean" was in the early 90s. I saw "red jacket with cigarette and a funky hairdo" poster or tv feature somewhere....Just last Oct 14, 2015 that I browsed the wikipedia's list of 50 legendary actors and actresses. He is in the top 25 among male actors. I became curious why he became a legend in the movie industry when he only had 3 films...I searched and watched these 3 films. "East of Eden" alone is already an outstanding artfilm. I was amazed by Mr. Dean's charisma....Even in some song compositions, he is immortalized.......CAMERA really loves this guy! I became a fan after watching simultaneously with "Rebel Without A Cause".....But sad to say that I can't watch him anymore. :-(
I knew of James dean back in the 70's and did research on him and I still don't see it. his acting doesn't do anything for me. marlon Brando, montgomery Clift, and young Al Pacino acting affected me. the only thing I love about james Dean is, that eveything he done makes him look like the 1950's. love the 50's. its clothing, hairstyle and it music. anyway, to this day I'm still trying to make sense of James Dean.
@@marty51100 no worries i'm happy. I got the Buddha on my side, I wouldn't carry James Dean into my other life and we probably don't have any used for his name and Legacy.
@@CBHDK59 The sense , I think is this : At first, at the end of WWII there was great jubilation. We, the West had won - democracy had won. America was honored and idolized for the decisive role it played in the final outcome. Then came the 50's. People settled down and tried to find a new lifestyle in times of peace and abundance. Where did that lead ? It lead to a focus on money, career, material possessions, and a conservative, unimaginative middle class existence. Nothing wrong with that of course, but it left some wondering, "Is that all there is to life: work to have a good job, a house, a car, all the latest appliances, a wife and two kids ? Like every single other person ? Enter James Dean, who in his film roles symbolized the loner, the outsider, the one who didn't fit in, the one who questioned the status quo. He represented (very well, it must be said) the feeling of emptiness which was growing in American society. He may not have been like that in his private life, but his acting mirrored all the conflicting feelings of young people in the 1950's. His death sealed his status of cultural icon.
Yes, Marty was great, from tv's Mission Impossible thru great films like Crimes and Misdemeanors and Ed Wood. It's cool to know he and Dean were friends and colleagues.
He was very young, hungry for success. So he was thin, good looking, ambitious, eager to learn things, youthful. As with others, Elvis, Marilyn, Judy, all of who I remembered simply by one name just like Dean, they’re frozen in our minds in a useful, successful period of their lives. The time it was filled with joy and good health, and lots of hope and achievement. They’re never allowed to get older or to have failure, but always be in a sense at the height of their careers even though a few of them may have died when they were quite at their peak, we remember them at their peak, and we celebrate them. We listen to their music and we look at their movies and we look at these photographs that we have of them that bring back memories to us of our being involved in their careers, seeing their movies buying their records, singing their songs, whatever. It’s part of our American culture.
Eartha Kitt said she "didn't feel his spirit" after his passion for acting had been killed by Hollywood. She also predicted that his death would occur in that silver car.
Three of the most amazing creations of God namely Elvis Presley, Bruce Lee and James Dean - did they really exist or were born just to die. It's really painfully to just know that they were there in this universe!
Timeless,. Dean was the original square peg in a round hole, refusing to keep up the crumbling polite fictions of the 1950’s establishment. He was the sometimes tough outsider concealing pain and vulnerability. And Mr. Rosenman’s piano needed tuning.
I can remember growing up hearing about this iconic actor that most adult men idolized. There was even this trippy rock song from the 70's that prominently mentions his name.🤔🎙️🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
Where he goes beyond just being a good actor is expressing himself as he did. At times in his tv work he could be off on his motivations but you could see he was the only actor that was searching by expressing himself rather then being locked in to any particular motivation or technique. He was the Bruce Lee of acting. Using no way as way,expressing himself honestly and completely and a combination of naturalness and technique. And looking good like he did didn’t hurt that’s for sure.
Hopper himself was as charismatic as Dean. The difference being, obviously, in their distinct personalities. Nevertheless, they came along at a time of alienation and introspection. Brando and Clift leading the pack, of course. But then again, I think Sal Mineo is grossly underrated. His alienation was powerful, accented by his doe eyed, lost little dear face. But all true rebels.
windstorm1000 More than that, windstorm...Dean's looks went to the very heart of mainstream America, didn't they? He was that guy we saw walking down Main Street in Omaha, wasn't he? I guess I'm saying, even with his eccentricities, he was still all American. What say you?
Jay Young..I agree, esp. about Sal Mineo. I, along with millions of others over the generations, consider myself James Dean "biggest fan" BUT, I really feel Sal Mineo was the real star of Rebel. Plato, to me, was the most tragic and interesting character and while he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for the role, he did not get the public recognition he deserved for his flawless performance. Another tragic ending for a wonderful young actor, Sal Mineo. RIP
@Lloyd Bonafide not as bad a joke as your rant. Dean was not gay. He may have been bi, but I wouldn't bet on it. Hearsay, gossip, innuendo, speculation...Dean is long dead, and never confirmed any of this while alive. Case closed. He did love Pier Angeli, this is known.
Don't be silly they would be considered very average compared to the best actors of today. Look at James Dean's fights in these films, so bad it looks like a Chaplin movie. Also the "good old days" is a a human fallacy, everything was worse than what it is today, that is what makes us human, we learn from experience and improve unless you are an uneducated idiot who believes in MAGA and other nonsense
@@AirCrash1 while what you said made whole lot a sense, had james dean been born in this era with the sheer raw talent he's got, he'd still be the best among these new stars you said were better. There's just something about him
I just finished watching a lovely film about Dean and his friend Dennis a photographer for Life magazine it stars Robert Pattinson. Dean just raised on farm by Quakers half blind that's why he squinted so much without his glasses heavy smoker but just a natural beauty I guess. I remember making my Mom buy me a hand painted tee shirt of his image at a craft fair when I was only about eight leaning against a motorcycle smoking from a young age I loved that fifties asthetic loved Elvis etc. too.
Feel like i just got hit in the face with a wet sponge. That's how blown away i am. This gave me a whole new perspective, the stories are great, the TV footage is addictive and he just makes me proud to be human.
