Fifty years ago, Giant a saga about modern Texas earned 10 Oscar nominations. Around the World in 80 Days won Best Picture but Giant should have. Director George Stevens, Giant's lone Oscar winner, made his adaptation of Edna Ferber's 1952 best-selling novel as sprawling as the vast Texas plains, yet as intimate as a campfire tale. Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, and James Dean each does some of the best work they had (or would) ever put forth. In Dean's case, it was also the very last. Days after he shot his final scenes, he died in a horrific car crash (Giant earned him his second posthumous Oscar nomination). Click through the following screens for 7 rare photos culled from the Warner Bros. archives, courtesy of Turner Classic Movies.
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Casting a 'Giant' Shadow
See 7 rare behind-the-scenes photos from the classic '56 Texas-set shoulda-been Best Picture, with candid looks at stars Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean, Rock Hudson, and Dennis Hopper from the Turner Classic Movies archive





























