On a bright sunny day in June of 1949...
a young man set out from rural Indiana in quest of a dream.
He was, in a sense, abandoned by a beloved mother, Mildred...
who died when he was nine...
and by a father, Winton, who sent him away to be raised by relatives.
But in less than five years, he would realize his dream...
and the world would recognize his true genius.
Although he made only three feature films and died before his twenty-fifth birthday...
his unique raw talent would catapult him to stardom...
and the status of international cultural icon.
His name was James Byron Dean.
As 18 year-old James Dean traveled to Los Angeles...
he was returning to the town where he had spent his childhood...
to his distant father, and to the artistic dreams instilled by his mother.
He wanted to live what he called in a high school essay "a talented life."
He wanted to be an actor.
Self-confident, eccentric and strangely driven...
Dean threw himself into drama classes at Santa Monica City College...
and at UCLA.
By December 1950, Dean began getting...
bit parts in television and feature films...
while at the same time cultivating new friendships...
that would eventually help further his career.
The first in a series of serendipitous encounters occurred...
when Jimmy's friend from UCLA, James Bellah...
took him along as an extra to film this soft drink commercial.
Let's join the Pepsi crowd!
That very day Jimmy met Isabelle Draesemer, an agent...
who was impressed with his youthful good looks and agreed to represent him.
The producers of the commercial were also impressed...
with his boy-next-door quality and asked Jimmy to come to the studio...
the next day to film a second spot, this now famous Pepsi commercial,
Draesemer next had Jimmy photographed, arranged auditions...
and encouraged him to enroll in acting classes.
Dean's first significant role for television...
was in a religious special called Hill Number One...
where he played the disciple, John the Beloved.
Surely we did not spend three years following the Master...
to return again to our nets.
Was it for this the Master sent us out to cure the sick, cast out devils?
Soon afterward, Draesemer got Dean a part...
in this Trouble With Father episode co-starring Martin Milner.
She loves me, she loves me not.
She loves me, she loves me--
- Hi, Drexel. - Hi, Randy.
She loves me, she loves me not.
- Who loves you? - How should I know?
You know, I wish somebody would love me.
Somebody will. It takes all kind of women to make a world.
By the summer of 1951, Dean was working as a parking lot attendant...
at Ted's Auto Park, a haunt for out-of-work actors adjacent to CBS.
One morning while working at Ted's, Dean met Rogers Brackett...
director of the popular CBS radio series Alias Jane Doe.
Brackett would become Jimmy's mentor, his confidant...
and the architect of his early career.
In August, thanks to Rogers' friendship with director Sam Fuller...
Dean got a speaking part in his first feature film...
the stark war drama, Fixed Bayonets.
Lieutenant, I think I hear them coming.
Yeah, there's some people out there in the river.
Pass the word down to alert.
- It could be the rear guard, huh? - Yeah. It could be the Reds, too.
Next Brackett arranged for Jimmy to meet Hal Walker...
who was directing a Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedy called Sailor Beware...
and cast him as a corner man to a boxer who was to fight Jerry Lewis.
- That guy's a professional. - Gee whiz, I can't fight a professional.
That wouldn't be fair, he's ring wise.
Say, come on into the dressing room. I got an idea.
Paragraph, quote...
"What are the facts?
"Rienzi stuffs your ballot boxes."
Draesemer soon secured Jimmy another bit part...
in DEADLINE - USA, starring Humphrey Bogart.
His part was trimmed down to a small piece of a montage...
revealing how a newspaper went to print.
Yes, that's Jimmy talking with Humphrey Bogart.
But tiny bit parts were not what the ambitious young actor had in mind.
With Rogers' blessing, Dean decided to go to New York.
In New York, Jimmy could find out for sure if his acting aspirations were valid,
Just before he left Los Angeles, Draesemer secured Dean a part...
in Douglas Sirk's comedy Has Anybody Seen My Gal?...
starring Rock Hudson.
Jimmy was cast as a smart-aleck kid ordering a soda from Charles Coburn.
Gramps, I'll have a choc malt. Heavy on the choc, plenty of milk...
four spoons of malt, two scoops of vanilla ice cream...
one mixed with the rest, and one floating.
Right on schedule, 20 year old James Dean left Los Angeles for New York.
Along the way he stopped to visit Rogers Brackett in Chicago.
He then visited with Marcus and Ortense Winslow...
his aunt and uncle who had raised him...
on the farm in Fairmont, Indiana since he was 9 years old.
Jimmy arrived in New York City in late October.
He settled in at the Iroquois Hotel on West 44th Street...
which would be his home on and off for the next few years...
as he continued to pursue his dream.
Dean started hanging out at The Rehearsal Club...
a resident hotel for female show-biz hopefuls.
One rainy afternoon he asked an attractive young woman to loan him an umbrella.
Elizabeth Sheridan, known as Dizzy, was a dancer...
and would become the first love of his young life.
Sheridan watched with admiration as Dean began to land parts on television.
He was cast in a tiny role with no dialogue...
in this CBS Studio One presentation...
ofTen Thousand Horses Singing, starring a young John Forsythe.
The rate on that is $30.
Mr. Hebert usually gives me kind of a special rate.
- Pardon me. Mr. Bascomb, good evening. - Good evening.
- Have you my reservation? - Of course, sir.
If we could just get this rate....
Dean managed to make something out of the part.
First he says "Yes" at the desk.
- Is everything ready? - Yes, sir.
- 1003 for Mr. Bascomb. - Yes.
Then, once in the elevator, Jimmy tells the elevator operator what floor to go to.
Ten.
Notice John Forsythe's reaction to Jimmy...
knowing full well that Jimmy had no dialogue.
Remember this was live television.
Two weeks later, Dean received what was his best part on television in 1952...
in this CBS Lux Video Theater presentation of The Foggy, Foggy Dew.
This silent footage is all that remains of that production.
The soundtrack and the original picture negative were destroyed in 1953.
Dean was starting to feel very good about himself.
He'd been in New York no more than a few months...
and had already appeared in several television shows.
He was finally fitting into the tempo and rhythms of the city.
Now he felt ready to approach the acting mecca, the Actors Studio.
But since arriving in New York, he did nothing but procrastinate...
until by chance he met a young, struggling actress named Chris White.
Chris also wanted to become a member of this premier acting school...
and had written an original scene entitled Ripping Off Layers to Find Roots.
After working together for six weeks on the scene...
they auditioned for the actor's guru, Lee Strasberg.
Then they waited,
Meantime Jimmy found work with his second appearance on CBS's Studio One...
in this presentation of Abraham Lincoln...
based on a true story and co-starring Robert Pastene as Lincoln.
- Are you William Scott? - Yes, sir.
The General tells me you've been court-martialed.
Yes, sir.
- Asleep on guard. - Yes, sir.
- That's a very serious offense. - l know, sir.
What was it?
I couldn't keep awake, sir.
- You'd had a long march. - 23 miles, sir.
- You were doing double guard. - Yes, sir.
- Who ordered you? - I offered, sir.
Why?
Enoch White, he was sick...
and we both come from the same place, sir.
Where is that?
Vermont, sir.
Dean started hanging out at Riker's Coffee Shop on 57th Street...
another haven for out-of-work actors.
Having met Martin Landau previously at an open casting session...
Dean began a close friendship with Landau...
and would meet here often for coffee, and to discuss what roles were coming up.
Today Hallmark honors on the Hall of Fame....
Dean also met actress Sarah Churchill...
daughter of Prime Minister Winston Churchill...
and host of IBC's Hallmark Hall of Fame.
Through that friendship, Jimmy was cast opposite Cloris Leachman...
in this production of Forgotten Children.
And now I have something extra special to announce.
Martha's promised to accompany me to the Peachtree Cotillion.
Martha, that's wonderful news.
Bradford, the rest of you boys better shoot yourselves...
Martha's lost to you.
- When's the wedding, ma'am? - What wedding?
Wesley asked me to the cotillion, and I accepted.
Does that mean I have to marry him?
Besides, I shan't be here long enough to marry anyone.
Shan't be here? Where you going? Haven't you been away enough?
Surely you've given up on going to New York.
Your father'd roll over in his grave...
if he knew she was spending his money up north.
I don't intend to spend any of Papa's money. I'm going to work.
- Work? At what? - l don't know.
Thought something to teach in school. Anything to make myself useful.
I am an emancipated woman.
The only emancipated woman I ever knew lived in a side street in Memphis.
What happened next changed Dean's life forever.
He and Chris White were accepted into the Actors Studio...
with Dean becoming its youngest member.
Jimmy proudly sent a letter home to Marcus and Ortense...
to tell them of his accomplishment.
Then Rogers Brackett arrived in town...
and by happenstance introduced Jimmy to Lemuel Ayers...
who was producing a new Broadway play titled See The Jaguar.
Competing against more than 100 other actors, Jimmy won the part.
It would be his Broadway debut.
His reviews were excellent, but the play was not.
It closed after only five performances.
At the same time, Jimmy and Liz Sheridan were growing apart.
It was a bitterly disappointing end to 1952.
But 1953 would start off with a bang.
Thanks to the rave personal reviews for See The Jaguar...
Dean would appear in an astonishing 16 television shows...
over the next 12 months.
The first was this one-act play...
on Kate Smith's Talent Showcase presentation of The Hound of Heaven.
His co-star was veteran actor John Carradine.
I'm looking for a Mr. Hyder Simpson...
- and a hound-dog named Rip. - That's us, son.
I figured it was.
If you and Rip's all set, we might as well be moseying along.
Mosey where?
Heaven, Mr. Simpson.
Like I was telling that fellow, I ain't gonna set foot in heaven without Rip.
You didn't get messed up with nobody in there, did you?
That fellow there behind the gate, he wouldn't let Rip in so I didn't go in.
Why, that'd be just a place of hell without Rip.
You ain't far from wrong, Mr. Simpson.
That is hell.
Heaven's on down the road, there a piece.
How come that fellow lied to me like that?
They don't never give up.
Always trying to get our folk in there right up to the last minute.
How come he wanted to keep Rip out?
See, he was afeared that Rip would have warned you...
and he would have, too, once he got a whiff of that brimstone.
You see, Mr. Simpson, a man...
he'll walk right into hell with both eyes open.
But not even a devil can fool a dog.
The next four shows, two episodes of Treasury Men in Action...
and one episode each of You Are There and Danger...
are further examples of Jimmy's early work...
that have never been located, and most likely will never be seen again.
Another favorite hang-out of Dean's was...
Cromwell's Drugstore in the NBC Building at Rockefeller Plaza.
It was here where he met Rod Steiger.
The pair co-starred in an episode of...
Tales of Tomorrow entitled The Evil Within.
Steiger played a scientist working on a new truth serum.
Jimmy played his lab assistant.
- You want to try it again? - Yeah, sure, try it again.
- You know, I think maybe this time-- - No, look, let's face it.
This thing has set us back months, years and days.
- Did you call me last night? - Yes.
You did?
Yes, just like we planned.
That's strange, because Annie said that you didn't call.
You know, she sounded strange. Upset.
When you told me she broke the test tubes--
I don't understand.
See, Ralph...
Annie has never lied to me before.
Maybe she forgot.
Maybe.
Now regularly employed, Jimmy moved into this apartment on West 68th Street.
He wrote home to his young cousin Marcus Winslow, Jr...
to send him some drawings to brighten up the walls.
Marcus was delighted to comply, sending him some of his best work...
which meant a lot to Jimmy at the time.
A tantalizing hint of where television acting might lead...
came when Jimmy was asked to audition for the role of Curly...
in director Fred Zinnemann's film version of Oklahoma.
Zinnemann would later note that Jimmy's test was sensational.
But he didn't get the part, and the screen test was destroyed.
With dogged determination, Dean kept honing his craft...
both onstage and in front of the television cameras.
His next appearance was in NBC's Campbell Soundstage presentation...
ofSomething for an Empty Briefcase.
Sloan, I don't want any more of your larceny, petty or grand.
Dean was cast as an ex-con trying to go straight...
and his co-stars were Don Hammer and noted actor Robert Middleton.
Now then, Joseph, stand up.
Stand up, Joseph. Stand up.
Good. Now what's the reason for this tremendous change of heart?
None of your business.
Joey, for Pete's sake, don't say anymore.
Don't worry, boss, he'll be all right.
But I do worry. Joseph's young, foolish.
Shall I continue to worry?
- Joseph! - l don't want any trouble, Sloan!
You have trouble already.
It's like Mickey says! I want to do something worthwhile!
Worthwhile? What could you possibly do? What do you know how to do?
I'll learn something to do!
Something better than holding up hotel clerks or filling stations.
- Are you finished? - Yeah!
How'll you live while you're learning?
How are you going to eat, pay for this room?
That's right. Do this one little job with us...
then you can do whatever you want to do.
Lay low for awhile, 'cause you'll be hot...
or maybe you could learn to do something worthwhile...
- while you keep out of sight. - Mickey, I didn't know you had it in you.
Wise, very wise.
How about it, Joseph?
You want to learn something "worthwhile" while you're hot?
- Why don't you get yourself another boy? - Because you know too much about me.
I'm no stoolie, Sloan.
I just want out! I don't want to do this job tonight or ever!
This sudden reformation. There must be a woman in this somewhere.
I thought so. What's her name?
Where does she live?
Perhaps Mickey and I can inform her that you're no angel.
- Yeah, that'd be easy. - You tell her you were?
No.
I told her the truth.
You wouldn't understand anything about that, would you, Sloan?
One month later, Jimmy was back on CBS's Studio One...
in a summer theater production ofSentence To Death.
Jimmy portrayed a juvenile falsely accused of murder.
Time of the murder, 10:10. What were you doing?
It's okay, I was right there, downstairs.
They got a television screen. It's 16 inches.
I was watching a fight between 10:00 and 11:00. Lots of people there.
Talk to anybody in particular?
One old guy.
Yeah, he had a white mustache.
A nice old guy.
He'd remember me. He said it was his hobby.
He'd never forget me.
- Get his address? - No.
His name?
- It won't fly, Palica. - What?
- You're it. - No!
Now, Palica, you're not the type that would make any trouble?
- No, I don't want any trouble. - That's a smart boy.
One week later, Jimmy appeared on CBS's Danger series.
The show was called Death Is My Neighbor.
This time Dean portrayed a psychotic janitor.
Listen, J.B., that window is still stuck and the gas stove doesn't work yet.
Okay, I'll tell Mr. Timmons then.
Listen, now that we're talking friendly...
- l want to tell you something about him. - Yeah?
Well, he's really a nice old guy.
Now isn't there something you can do just to keep him from moving?
Now, look, J.B. Your uncle said that his place was a firetrap.
Well, Uncle Leo told me that that was just an excuse...
to let you move in here.
Now, look, J.B., let's just let your uncle worry about this, huh?
Now come on. I've got to get dressed because....
I might see you tomorrow--
Sure can switch the subject awful fast, can't you?
You can think of that old guy in there as your father, all right...
but he's not my father.
Now, come on honey. I'm late as it is.
What do you want to do?
- You want to dance some more? - Now cut it out.
Jimmy next co-starred with John Kerr and Wendy Drew...
in the NBC series, The Big Story's production...
ofRex Newman, Joplin, Missouri.
Again Jimmy played a young hood on the lam.
I sure hope nothing's happened to him.
How much longer are we going to wait?
We told the minister we'd be there by 5:00.
We can't go without Howie.
Maybe you'd better read this license all over again.
It says you and me on there. I don't see anything about Howie Madden.
A guy needs a best man. I told Howie we'll wait.
Is he going on our honeymoon with us, too?
- Now listen-- - No, you listen.
How long do you think I've waited for this day?
You and me, married.
Howie Madden doesn't fit into this. This is our day. Ours.
Sure, honey. But Howie's our friend.
It wouldn't be right not letting him stand up for us.
We have to wait.
Hi.
I knew you'd come. I knew it.
- How'd it go? - Fine. Couldn't have been better.
That fellow you saw changed his mind.
- What are you two talking about? - Julie, you're beautiful.
Look at this bride.
- Have you two been up to something? - Us? Not a chance.
It's a business deal, honey, that's all.
If I'm going to get you married, why are we waiting?
- I'll get my coat. - Got the ring, Todd?
Me?
I thought you said you were going to bring it.
That's right. I forgot.
We'll just have to go pick it up.
Where?
Why don't you leave that to me?
Mr. and Mrs., shall we go?
Jimmy's hobbies and interests were quite diverse and eclectic.
His creative energies found outlets everywhere,
A bullfighting aficionado, he would practice for hours with his cape.
He loved to draw.
He loved to paint.
And he loved to write poetry.
He played the bongo drums and a recorder.
He studied modern dance.
But always acting was his primary passion.
Jimmy next appeared in the CBS Omnibus presentation of Glory In the Flower...
an original play by William Inge, who wrote it with Dean in mind.
His co-stars were the legendary Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy.
Hey, Bronco!
Where did you get that bottle?
Bronco Evans, you're 17 years old. You can't drink that hooch in my bar.
I'd have my license taken away before sundown.
Now, Howie, lay off. I'm not hurting anybody.
Any of the rest of you kids been drinking?
Come on, tell me the truth.
Yeah, yeah, they're telling the truth.
- You ought be ashamed of yourself. - Don't give me that.
Last week you were in trouble...
with the authorities for smoking marijuana.
- What's going to become of you, boy? - I'll manage all right, thank you.
You don't have to worry about me.
I can't let you stay here, Bronco, if you'll drink.
Give me that bottle, and you can sit--
- I'm not going to take orders from you! - Look, boy.
Someday you're going to have to take orders from someone.
Don't give us any backtalk, you little goon.
Kids like you litter up a place causing trouble.
Buzz, don't. He's just a boy.
Take it easy, Buzz, I'm not running any torture chamber.
I know how to handle his kind better than you.
Ten days later, Jimmy appeared...
in this NBC Kraft Television Theatre presentation of...
Keep Our Honor Bright. It was written by George Roy Hill.
Jimmy portrayed a college student caught in a cheating scandal,
There were others. I know there were others. They used my exam copy.
You wouldn't kick the whole lot of us out, would you?
Look, Jim.
If there are others who cheated, you're on your honor to tell us.
No, I'm not.
No, you've already decided to expel me.
I don't owe you or the honor committee anything.
If you'll promise to let us all take the exams over again...
I'll tell you the names.
I can't promise that.
The final decision isn't ours.
But it's our job to find out who all the cheaters are.
That's right, Matt.
I move we accept his condition if he writes all the names now.
- l second that. - Opposed?
Motion carried. How about those names?
We'll get to take the exams over again...
and we'll get a chance to graduate?
That was the majority. Come on, quit stalling.
How about it, Matt?
Jim, we can't guarantee you that you won't be expelled.
We will recommend that you all take the exams again. That's all we can do.
Okay, now. How about it?
Just two days later, Jimmy appeared in his second Campbell Soundstage...
in this production of Life Sentence.
His co-star was Georgina Johnson.
It js considered one of his finest television performances,
He portrayed a convict who daydreams about the warden's wife...
and wants her to go away with him.
I don't know you.
But you introduce yourself to me...
where there's a party going on. Here.
Glasses tinkle, and there's music.
And I say....
Hi.
I've seen you around before.
My name's Hank Braden.
I'm Jean.
Hello, Jean.
A beautiful day, isn't it?
I'm Mrs. Jeffrey Wright!
- Hello, Jean. - Please, go, the guard will be coming soon.
In two weeks I get out of here.
I'm going to take you away with me to a nice big city...
and we're going to make it nice and big....
All right.
In a mere 12 days in November 1953...
Jimmy worked in three challenging roles.
In NBC's Kraft Television Theatre's presentation of...
A Long Time Till Dawn...
written by Rod Serling, he played an embittered ex-con.
We were going to get a gas station, see...
and we're going to both work in it, both of us.
Oh, we'd get along fine.
I wrote her I was getting out. I don't get it, Pop, I just don't get it.
Is it so hard to understand?
You marry a girl from a little town, you bring her to New York...
you stick her in a little room, you go out and get in trouble.
Not once or twice, but all the time!
- How much do you think a girl can stand? - Well, I stood it, didn't I?
Didn't I stand it?
Backbites, run-arounds, dirty deal, I stood it.
Yeah, Pop, you got a great town here. There are eight million people...
stand in line out there to give you their business.
That's what you always thought, but, Joey, nobody was against you.
You were against yourself.
You acted like a fish thrashing around in a net...
when all the time if you only would stand still and be patient.
I stood still! I didn't hardly move for six months!
And that cell. Pop, it was 12 by eight and a half.
Yeah, I get out and I find my wife has skipped.
You got a fine town here, Pop. Just fine.
One week later Dean co-starred opposite Gene Lockhart...
in the Armstrong Circle Theatre production of The Bells of Cockaigne.
Jimmy portrayed a blue-collar worker struggling to raise an asthmatic child.
Oh, Joey. Hey, how's your little boy?
Well, he's got asthma, hasn't he? How do you expect him to be?
If you had asthma, how do you think you'd be?
No, I was only asking you a civil question.
My wife and me...
we were up with him about all night.
He's just laying there trying to get his breath...
and, you know, gasping for air. Can't do nothing.
Does that answer your question?
It does, Joe, but now can't a man offer you a little sympathy...
- without you going off like that, now? - Thanks for your sympathy, Pop.
Sympathy don't pay no doctor bills.
On Thanksgiving Day, 1953...
NBC's Robert Montgomery Presents...
aired this presentation ofHarvest.
Dean co-starred with acting legends Dorothy Gish and Ed Begley...
as a farm boy who's unlucky in love,
Well, this must be about the last of the beef, isn't it, Ellen?
Yes, almost finished.
Well, first cool day comes along we'll have to butcher that barren heifer.
It's hog fat right now. It ought to make some first-rate beef.
- Paul, aren't you feeling well? - I feel all right, Ma.
I'm not hungry.
- Paul, where are you going? - Out.
I'm going to go to a movie or something.
Jimmy's own luck was about to change.
In the same month he was cast again in a Broadway production...
an adaptation of André Gide's provocative play, The Immoralist.
Co-starring with Geraldine Page and Louis Jourdan...
he would play a corrupt and seductive Arab boy.
Jimmy and Geraldine became close friends almost immediately.
The same cannot be said of Jourdan, who never became close to Jimmy.
The opening night of February 8 coincided with Jimmy's 23rd birthday.
As the curtain came down, each cast member took a bow.
When his turn came, however, Jimmy curtsied.
The audience went wild...
but director Daniel Mann...
and legendary producer Billy Rose were furious,
Impulsively, Jimmy gave his two-week notice.
It was during his two-week run in The Immoralist...
that things started happening very quickly for Jimmy.
First he met noted photographer Roy Schatt.
Jimmy would become Schatt's friend and his student of photography...
along with Martin Landau.
At the same time screenwriter Paul Osborn was adapting...
John Steinbeck's novel East of Eden for the screen.
Osborn and film director Elia Kazan...
caught one of Jimmy's performances in The Immoralist...
and knew they had found the perfect Cal.
Kazan set up a series of screen tests,
The first was opposite Patricia Smith as Abra...
in a scene that was eventually pulled from the script by censors...
afraid of its sexual overtones.
Abra, you asleep?
- It's me. - What? Who is it?
It's me, Cal. Don't....
- Cal, you're crazy. - Yeah.
Listen, I gotta talk to you. I got it.
- What? - Come here.
I gotta tell you. I got the $3,000...
and I've gotta give it to him.
What time do you have to go to the hospital in the morning?
- 9:00. - No, wait.
Wait till I slip something on.
What time do you get off from the hospital?
5:00.
Cal, this is terrible.
I could have got the wrong house.
Next, Kazan paired Joanne Woodward with Jimmy in this test...
utilizing dialogue from the famous Ferris wheel scene.
Do you think Aron really loves me?
Are you're crazy? Sure.
I don't know.
I just seem to lose him now and....
Cal, may I ask you something?
- And you don't mind? - No, go right ahead.
Well, when you....
People say you stay out all night and....
Well, when you go out with these girls...
the girls who follow you around...
and like that Mexican girl...
why do you go out with them?
Do you love them?
Or is it because you're bad?
Finally Kazan tested Jimmy with Broadway star Julie Harris.
But Warner Bros, Studio head Jack Warner...
felt that Harris was too old to play Abra.
So Kazan then asked his friend, famous Life magazine photographer, Gijon Mili...
to film this silent test in color, with no special lighting or makeup.
Upon seeing the test...
Jack Warner approved Julie Harris for the role of Abra.
Kazan was also busy casting the role of Cal's twin brother, Aron.
You have the nerve to lie there and tell me that he doesn't love you?
Now get the hell off of me!
You say one more word, I'm going to beat your head in.
It came down to this test between Richard Davalos...
and that of another struggling actor at the time, Paul Newman.
What, what, what, what?
Look over here. Look. Now over here. Look right at me, will you?
Now both of you. Right above the camera. Look right at it.
- You mean right in the goddamned lens? - That's it. All right. Now come over here.
- Look at me. Look at each other. - He's a surly....
Now what do you think of each other?
No, we can't print that.
Do you think you can hit the bobby-sox league?
Answer me. Do you think you can hit the bobby-sox league?
Yeah, all that wanna go. All that wanna go.
Kazan would eventually settle on Davalos.
On February 23, Dean gave his final performance in The Immoralist.
On March 6, Warner Bros. officially announced...
that James Dean had been cast as Cal...
in the film adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel, East of Eden.
On March 8, Kazan joined Jimmy on his first airplane ride...
from New York to Los Angeles.
Jimmy's entire wardrobe was tied up in a bundle of brown paper and string.
But he was returning to Los Angeles in style.
He moved into an apartment on the Warner Bros. lot...
that he shared with Richard Davalos throughout the filming of East of Eden.
Kazan put Jimmy on a high-protein diet, and sent him to Palm Springs to get a tan.
With other cast members...
Jimmy underwent wardrobe, makeup, and photographic tests.
One such test was this scene...
which later would be rewritten and restaged in the final version of the film.
Action.
- You think it's pretty? - Yes. It's very pretty, Cal.
- Don't drink any more wine, Cal. - It's just wine.
But you've been drinking so much of it.
Wine won't hurt you.
Did Aron.... Aron didn't tell you what was in his present?
No.
Really he didn't, Cal.
You don't believe me.
Please believe me. I'd tell you if he did.
Well, I'm not going to worry about it.
You know something?
I bet Dad hasn't even got the least notion he's having a birthday today.
No, he probably doesn't.
I can hardly wait to see his face. Can you?
Oh, boy, I forgot. I almost forgot.
What?
Well, Dad's getting so old, honest...
I couldn't even get all of his candles on one cake...
so I just got this one here.
- It's a big one. - It's beautiful.
At last...
filming of East of Eden, officially began on...
May 27th, 1954.
A few weeks into the filming, Jimmy visited Paul Newman...
on the set of The Silver Chalice...
where he was introduced to Newman's co-star...
the lovely ingénue, Pier Angeli.
She was beautiful, she was talented, and like Jimmy...
had lost a parent, her father, at a young age.
Within weeks, Jimmy and Pier could be spotted around town together.
A romance was beginning to bloom.
While the Hollywood publicity machine approved of the match...
Pier's strict Italian mother did not.
So the lovers started seeing each other secretly.
East of Eden was a closed set.
Kazan wanted to protect Jimmy from the press.
But another kind of pressure came...
when Jimmy's idol, Marlon Brando, showed up unannounced.
Jimmy boldly reciprocated, calling on Brando...
on the set of the costume drama, Desirée the next day.
East of Eden wrapped on August 9.
Already reports of Jimmy's astonishing work in the film...
were filtering through the entertainment industry.
Jimmy moved back to his apartment on West 68th Street...
and started doing television again.
He much preferred his friends there...
and the feeling of community that New York offered...
with its live theater and television roles...
to the loneliness of Hollywood.
His first role upon his return to New York...
was in an NBC Philco Playhouse production of Run Like a Thief.
Jimmy's co-stars were Kurt Kasznar and Gusti Huber.
- My room has been searched. - By whom?
Those policemen. I told you they were here.
I don't know why they'd pick me.
Why didn't you tell me? Are they searching every room?
- l don't know. - Did you see them?
No. After work, I went to one of the guys' room...
and he said it had been searched.
I didn't believe him, and then I went to mine.
It's your imagination, Robbie.
I don't know why they would think of me.
- I don't like not being trusted-- - It's your imagination.
No, I'm sorry, it isn't. Excuse me, you see this bureau?
Mine's over here. Now, I don't dust as much as you do...
so you can see right where they moved it.
Some of the college kids must have played a joke on you.
Forget about it, will you?
No, I can't. I know this happened.
See, they don't know me now. I'm new here.
They'll start asking me a lot of questions pretty soon.
I don't want that.
They went through my laundry. They went through my closet.
The door was open when I came back.
I just cleaned my room and I know I closed it.
My bed? I know how to make my own bed.
They tore it up.
My pillows are always like this, and this is the way....
On different occasions, Jimmy would meet with his friends at the coffee shop...
on the roof of the Museum of Modern Art.
On this particular day...
it was composer, Leonard Rosenman's birthday...
and Jimmy was joined by Roy Schatt, Marty Landau...
Billy Gunn and Bob Heller.
Within a few weeks Pier Angeli was in the gossip columns...
linked to other men.
Jimmy commented that he worried about Pier, telling a friend:
"They're getting to her. I'm gonna lose her."
Dean returned to Hollywood.
Bitter, he uncharacteristically agreed to go out on an arranged date...
with rising starlet Terry Moore.
They attended the premiere of Sabrina on September 22,
The following morning Jimmy went to Googies...
a coffee shop next to Schwab's Drugstore on Sunset Boulevard,
He hung out with friends and tried to cool his frustrations.
And then...Pier came back to him.
They attended the gala premiere of A Star is Born...
looking stunningly young and in love.
They talked about marriage.
Jimmy asked her to come back to New York with him...
so that they could get married.
Pier replied that her mother would never approve of them eloping.
Just days later, without warning...
Pier announced that she was engaged to singer Vic Damone.
The story is told that as Pier Angeli married Vic Damone...
Dean sat across the street from the church...
a dark and brooding presence on his motorcycle.
This rumor is not true, but the loss of Pier...
like the death of his mother, left Jimmy inconsolable.
A love like this would never come his way again.
He threw himself into the only other thing he cared for...
his work.
And now there was as much work as he wanted...
starting with this CBS General Electric Theater presentation of...
I'm a Fool.
His co-star was Natalie Wood...
who, within three months, would become his co-star in...
Rebel Without a Cause.
Well, in this next race...
there's this horse...
About Ben Ahem.
If I were you, folks, I wouldn't put a cent on him in this first heat...
'cause he's probably going to run like...
a oxen hitched to a plow.
Well, anyway, after this heat's over though I'd get right down there...
and I'd lay on my pile.
On December 6, 1954...
East of Eden was sneak-previewed, and the word was out.
James Dean was an actor of extraordinary talent.
He had transcended cinema acting, so that jt was no longer acting...
it was behavior and it was deeply personal.
The bar had been raised,
I should have gone right on in there.
I should have gone right on in there and talked to her.
He said, "Don't get anybody else."
He said, "You stay with me...
"and you take care of me."
Jimmy continued to meet with his friends at Googies.
One morning he confronted his friend, Jack Simmons...
and asked him if he really wanted to be an actor.
Jack said yes...
so Jimmy jumped on his motorcycle and with Jack in tow...
proceeded to producer Mort Abrahams' house.
Jimmy had just committed to do this...
CBS General Electric Theater production of...
The Dark, Dark Hours...
and he convinced Abrahams to give his friend Jack a role.
Jimmy's co-stars were Constance Ford...
and the future President of the United States, Ronald Reagan.
- You the doctor? - Yes.
We had an accident here.
Bring him in.
- The doc's going to take a look. - I'm sorry, Max.
- Say hello to the doctor, Peewee. - "Hello to the doctor."
Well, bring him right down here.
Sorry, man, easy.
Oh, no, doc.
Now you take out that bullet and stop talking.
I'm not a surgeon.
- Well, fake it, Dad. - What?
Do the best you can.
You dig me?
I can't. I'm alone here. I'd have to have some help.
Man, he's square.
Hey, Bud, maybe he wants the sheriff to hold the light.
I can't do it alone.
You gotta play this one solo, man.
- Do you want him to die? - Die?
Okay.
Bud'll help you.
Like I gotta cover this cat.
- You married, doc? - Now listen....
Now what's a wife for if she can't help you once in a while?
Now take it easy, boys. Don't push me too far.
Go get his wife, Bud. And hurry up, will you?
Jimmy returned to his apartment in New York...
and resumed his student-teacher relationship with Roy Schait,
Searching for good locations, Jimmy would photograph Roy...
or Roy would photograph Jimmy.
Jimmy purchased a 16-mm Bolex camera...
and started experimental photography...
using the water fountain in Roy's back yard.
Then Roy took this series of portraits of Jimmy...
which are now referred to as the "Torn Sweater Session."
On New Year's Eve, 1954, Roy had a party...
and invited Jimmy, Marty Landau, Bob Heller...
Barbara Glenn, Billy Gunn and Tony Ray...
son of director Nicholas Ray.
Still in New York, Jimmy next appeared...
in this ABC US Steel Hour production of The Thief.
I shan't like to talk about it.
Roy Schatt came to rehearsals...
and shot this layout throughout the day.
Amongst the many photos was this one...
which prompted Jimmy to say. "Roy, look, Picasso!"
You're going away from me.
Yes.
Oh, yes, if he wants me to.
Fernando, I'll never forget what you did for me, never...
wherever I go and as long as I live.
But you're going away from me.
It will be like a second honeymoon.
I trust you'll have a very good time.
Fernando, don't be angry with me.
But you're going away from me forever.
I'm afraid for you.
You mustn't do anything foolish.
Now do you promise me?
Do you know...
what my love for you is like?
Do you know now? Do you?
Then don't be afraid...
because I can.... I'll be all right, I promise you.
Goodbye.
I must go now.
My husband is waiting.
That very day, Warner Bros. announced...
that Dean had been cast in his next film.
Rebel Without a Cause.
Returning to Hollywood, Jimmy rented this cozy apartment...
on Sunset Plaza Drive, just above Sunset Boulevard...
with its endless rows of nightclubs.
One of his favorite clubs was Ciro's...
where his friend Sammy Davis, Jr. was performing.
Jimmy was at ringside at Sammy's final show...
on January 26.
As the final script for Rebel Without a Cause...
was being prepared...
director Nick Ray started script readings with the cast...
at his Chateau Marmont suite, in Bungalow 2.
And with the premiere of East of Eden approaching...
the Warner Bros. publicity machine began to grind.
Life magazine photographer Dennis Stock approached Jimmy to do a photo layout.
It was decided that the two would go to the Fairmont farm...
for some hometown photos...
and Jimmy could spend some time with his young cousin, Marcus, Jr.
Whether in New York or Hollywood, Jimmy kept in touch with young Marcus...
who had always looked up to Jimmy as his older brother.
Then it was off to New York, where Dennis Stock captured...
one of the most iconographic images of the young actor...
on the verge of stardom...
strolling through Times Square in the rain.
Not wanting to experience a media circus, typically...
and to the chagrin of the Warner Bros, brass...
Jimmy skipped the East of Eden world premiere in New York.
Nonetheless, East of Eden would establish his power...
as a rising star, and he returned to Hollywood.
Once back in Hollywood, Jimmy treated himself...
to his first Porsche...
a white 356-Super Speedster convertible.
He couldn't wait to take it for a spin.
Early one morning in March...
Jimmy was speeding down Laurel Canyon Boulevard...
on his motorcycle and ran a red light at Sunset Boulevard...
almost colliding with a car driven by...
world-famous photographer, Phil Stern.
After the two exchanged obscenities...
Jimmy realized who Phil was...
and invited him over to Schwab's Drugstore for breakfast,
By the time breakfast was over...
Phil had invited Jimmy to tag along with him...
over to the Guys and Dolls set...
where Phil was supposed to do a layout with Marlon Brando.
While waiting for Brando, Phil would shoot...
these famous photos of Jimmy...
including Jimmy's interpretation of Comedy...
Tragedy...
and a primal scream...
On March 23, Jimmy started wardrobe tests...
for Rebel Without a Cause.
He also tested with a variety of different actors for the part of Plato,
Among them were Gregory Marshall, Richard Beymer...
and Jack Simmons.
Jimmy campaigned to convince Nick Ray to cast Simmons in the role,
Although Simmons lost the part to Sal Mineo...
he was given the role of Cookie in the film's final casting.
A friend once remarked...
Jimmy always had to be the best at everything he did.
On March 26, he entered his 356-Speedster...
in a road race in Palm Springs...
and astonishingly, finished first in one race...
and second in another.
Jimmy's knack for striking up friendships with photographers...
was unparalleled.
One such relationship developed when...
world-renowned photographer Sanford Roth...
was assigned by Warner Bros. to cover Dean...
now one of the studio's most valuable assets.
Sanford invited Jimmy to come home that day...
to meet his wife Beulah and stay for dinner.
What follows is a representation of a special collaboration...
of two distinct artists...
and some of the most striking photographs...
ever taken of James Dean.
On March 28, Rebel Without a Cause began filming...
in black and white and Cinemascope.
But when Jack Warner got wind of how well East of Eden was doing...
he shut down production and told Nick Ray to start again...
this time in color.
I don't want any trouble.
The blade game, huh, Buzz?
I thought only punks fought with knives.
Well, who's fighting?
It's not fighting. It's examination time, man...
and it's a crazy game.
- Yeah, somebody get him a knife. - No.
Come on, get him a knife. Pick it up!
- l don't want any trouble. - Pick it up!
Now you understand the action. There's no sticking....
Crunch.
Just a little jabbing, that's all.
What's the matter?
What are you waiting on, Toreador? I thought you wanted a little action.
- Are you crum chicken or-- - Don't call me that!
Hey, toro...
George Stevens had started pre-production on his Texas saga, Giant.
As Jimmy's stardom grew, so did his ambition.
Even as he continued to pour himself into the work of making Rebel...
he was angling for the role of Jett Rink in Stevens' forthcoming film.
He had read the script and started hanging around Stevens' office...
and the studio Art Department.
Stevens wanted Alan Ladd...
Warner Bros. preferred Montgomery Clift.
Dean, being the darkest of horses, would prevail.
Meanwhile, Jimmy's passion for racing was also accelerating.
On May 1, he entered his second road race...
at Minter Field in Bakersfield, California...
and ended up placing third that day.
Back in Hollywood, he continued to do television work...
but by now his celebrity was such...
that he was asked to film a special introduction...
for the CBS Schlitz Playhouse presentation of...
The Unlighted Road.
Hello, I'm James Dean.
Welcome to the Schlitz Playhouse of Stars.
Our play is the story of a young man named Jeffrey Latham...
who opened the door of...
a very ordinary, innocent-looking roadside diner.
My name is Deegen. Mike Deegen.
I'm Jeff Latham.
You got anybody waiting for you in Stanton?
How long did you say you worked in diners?
A couple of years off and on.
Well, look, kid. I need a helper. How would you like a job right here?
Full counterman's wages. All the grub you can eat.
If you like to save on room rent, I've got a folding cot in the back room.
Well, is it a deal?
Okay.
Listen, I got some papers here. I got my army discharge.
Forget it, kid. Put them away. I go by faces.
You're hired.
Okay.
While Nick Ray was in the midst of shooting Rebel...
George Stevens had commenced production on Giant...
and had organized this press conference to introduce the cast.
Jimmy took time out from his last week of filming Rebel to attend.
Giant started shooting at Warner Bros. in Burbank...
then moved on to the Virginia location for the opening sequence...
while Jimmy finished his work on Rebel.
Unbeknownst to Warner Bros...
Jimmy had entered a road race in Santa Barbara...
but before going to the races, he stopped at the studio...
and dutifully fulfilled his obligation to film hair and makeup tests...
for the upcoming epic.
Here, boy.
I didn't mean to wake you up, son.
Arriving in Santa Barbara, Jimmy prepared his 356-Speedster...
for the fourth race...
the under-1500-cc-production event.
While waiting for his race he walked through the pits...
and had his first encounter with a Porsche Spyder.
It was love at first sight.
Although he started in the 18th position...
Jimmy had moved up to fourth place when his Speedster blew a piston...
and he had to withdraw.
On George Stevens' personal order...
there would be no more racing until Giant was finished.
Meanwhile the Giant production company moved on to Marfa, Texas...
where Dean would join them on June 3.
He had brought along his 16-mm Bolex camera...
and as filming began, he started this behind-the-scenes coverage.
Bob Hinkle, the film's dialogue coach...
worked to make Jimmy's portrayal of cowboy-turned-oil-tycoon...
Jett Rink, authentic.
Bob would teach him a lot of the western ways...
but most important, he taught Jimmy some scene-stealing rope tricks.
You know something, Bick?
I don't know but what it just might not...
be a pretty good idea to gamble along with old Madama.
How do you mean?
Just gamble on.
Just keep what she give me.
I'm sentimental too, Bick.
I just think...
it's good to gamble along with her.
I know that land ain't worth much...
but then someday...
I just might up and put my own fence around her...
and call her Little Reata.
When Jimmy wasn't spending time with Hinkle...
much of his time was spent in the company of co-star...
Elizabeth Taylor.
Mind if I pay you a rather personal compliment?
What is it?
You make a very excellent cup of tea.
Yeah, well, I do a lot of things in a pinch.
Would you like one lump, or do you like two?
Well, I think I'll take mine straight.
That's good enough for me.
It's not too good, is it?
Jimmy and Liz formed a strong and deep friendship...
while on location in Marfa, Texas.
Sometimes after the day's work...
Jimmy and Liz headed down to the river to cool off...
or they could be found hanging out in the motel lounge after dinner...
or having a sing-along with an old player piano.
After 43 days and the shooting completed in Marfa on July 10...
the production company moved back to Burbank.
Jimmy stayed on an extra two days to shoot pick-up shots...
including some for the oil derrick sequence.
Back in Hollywood, the gossip columns were soon full of stories...
about Dean and his new love interest, Ursula Andress.
They were often seen together at one of Jimmy's favorite restaurants...
in Hollywood, the Villa Capri.
The staff of this Hollywood nightspot...
served as another surrogate family.
The maitre d', Niko Romanos, even helped him locate a new home...
a secluded spot in Sherman Oaks.
Once again Jimmy was rubbing shoulders with a glamorous and older Hollywood.
Jimmy and Ursula attended this party at the Villa Capri...
thrown by Frank Sinatra for owner Patsy D'Amore.
Other guest included Sammy Davis, Jr. and Milton Berle.
Jimmy continued to date Ursula. They were constantly seen around town,
On August 29, 1955...
they attended the very first Thalian Ball,
But he couldn't keep away from the races.
Although he was still making Giant and the ban on his racing continued...
he nevertheless attended the September 5, Labor Day meet...
in Santa Barbara...
and had his friend Lou Bracker drive his 356-Speedster.
On the morning of September 17, Jimmy completed his role in Giant.
Governor...
you know what you can do?
After lunch he joined Gig Young...
to film a special safe driving public service message...
for the California Highway Patrol.
Ladies and gentlemen, James Dean.
- Hi, Jimmy. - Hi, Gig.
We asked Jimmy over today because he's a racing man himself...
a real one, not a crazy one.
Incidentally I should explain that Jimmy just stepped over from the set of Giant...
and need I add he plays a Texan?
Speaking of racing, have you ever been in a drag race?
- What, are you kidding me? - l just thought I'd ask.
No, Jim races in the tradition, you might say...
real racing cars, real tracks. How fast will your car go?
In honest miles an hour, clocked, it will run about...
a 106-107.
You've won a few races, haven't you?
One or two.
Where?
Well, I showed pretty good at Palm Springs.
I ran at Bakersfield.
We probably have many young people watching our show tonight...
and for their benefit I'd like your opinion...
about fast driving on the highway.
Do you think it's a good idea?
That's a good point.
I used to fly around quite a bit, and took a lot of unnecessary chances...
on the highways.
And I started racing...
and now I drive on the highways...
and I'm extra cautious...
'cause no one knows what they're doing.
Half the time you don't know what this guy is gonna do.
On a track there are a lot of men who spend a lot of time...
developing rules and ways of safety.
And I find myself being very cautious on the highway.
I don't have the urge...
to speed on the highway.
People say racing is dangerous...
but I'll take my chances on the track...
any day than on a highway.
Well, Gig. I think I'd better take off.
Now wait a minute, Jimmy, one more question.
Do you have any special advice for the young people who drive?
Take it easy driving. The life you save might be mine.
Four days later Jimmy went to Competition Motors...
and traded in his 356-Speedster...
for a brand-new machine, his dream car:
the powerful Porsche 550 Spyder.
Jimmy had been impressed with the Spyder's performance...
after first seeing it at Bakersfield back in May.
On the evening of September 25, his agents threw a party for him...
at the Chateau Marmont to celebrate his new contract...
with Warner Bros.
He would be paid $100,000, per picture...
for a 10-picture deal,
It was the first million-dollar contract in Hollywood's history.
The next night, Rebel Without a Cause had its first preview screening.
The audience, in the words of a witness, went berserk.
Dean celebrated with Nick Ray and the cast at his old hangout...
Googies.
By September 29...
Jimmy had entered his new Porsche in the upcoming road race...
to be held at Salinas...
in California's Central Valley.
On the morning of September 30, 1955...
he hitched the Spyder to his station wagon...
and towed jt to Competition Motors for a fine-tuning.
There he was joined by photographer Sanford Roth...
and an actor friend, Bill Hickman...
both of whom would accompany him on the trip to Salinas.
Roth Wutherich, Jimmy's mechanic...
spent some three hours fine-tuning the high performance engine...
and installing a seatbelt on the driver's side.
Jimmy's father Winton and his Uncle Charlie...
stopped by to wish him luck.
They all went across the street to the Hollywood Ranch Market...
for coffee and doughnuts...
while Roth went home to change clothes.
Leaving Hollywood, Jimmy stopped off six blocks from his house...
to gas up the Spyder.
At the last minute, 24 year-old James Byron Dean...
had decided to drive the Spyder himself all the way up the coast...
to put some miles on the car's engine.
It was 2:30 in the afternoon.
They were now off to Salinas.
September 30, 1955, still evokes great mystery...
and the 50 years since his death have not diminished his image...
as a cultural icon.
They have only enhanced it.
James Dean is instantly and universally recognized...
as a special genius and there has hardly been an actor since...
who has not been influenced and inspired by his work.
His three feature films are still shown around the world...
and his talent is lauded and rediscovered by each new generation.
The lonely young man from rural Indiana...
could not have imagined such a legacy.
See you.
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