The James Dean Story
US, 1957, 35mm, black & white, 83 min.
Print source: UCLA
Opening with a nearly playful animated title sequence and point-of-view reenactment of Dean’s fatal crash, Robert Altman’s second feature and only full-length documentary hints at the director’s antagonistic yet fascinated relationship to celebrities and their blind worship. Fame, performance and sudden death are themes that would reemerge regularly in Altman’s fictional work—and of course with the very same legend in Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. Altman claimed that he had intended to present a more potent demystification of Dean by traveling back through the actor’s brief life to interview friends and relatives on location in Indiana, New York and California and by pouring over photos and archival footage, including Dean’s eerie traffic safety film. Instead, due to decisions made by his co-director and the studio—such as the portentous, poetic narration by the Shakespearean-trained Martin Gabel—Altman felt the end product simply continued Dean’s sentimental idealization. Ultimately, the film is charmingly quirky and innovative, and its enigmatic and oddly electric subject—who embodied youthful American angst—seems to defy unmasking. Altman surely recognized an affinity with Dean’s thoughtful, independent spirit who followed his instincts, no matter what the risk.
Part of film series
Screenings from this program
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson
Vincent & Theo
Fool for Love
Prêt-à-porter
California Split
Thieves Like Us
A Perfect Couple
A Prairie Home Companion
O.C. and Stiggs
That Cold Day in the Park
Corn's-A-Poppin'
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
The Gingerbread Man
Dr. T and the Women
Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
