The Scene Where Rock and Company Try to Buy the Land from James Dean

There are a lot of good scenes in Giant, but one of my favorites is the one where Rock Hudson's millionaire rancher and some of his cronies invite James Dean's quirky, poor ranch hand Jett Link into a room to discuss a topic with him: buying the small piece of land he has been willed by Rock's sister for double its worth.

Its James Dean's scene to steal, and I guess he does so. But it is Rock Hudson's scene to command...and HE does so.

The set-up is fine. Heretofore, Hudson has barely tolerated ranch hand Dean, but Dean is a favorite of Rock's sister(Mercedes McCambridge), so he gets to keep his job.

But now the sister has died unexpectedly, thrown from a horse. Dean has lost his "sponsor." At the memorial gathering for the sister, the family lawyer tells Rock something: the sister left Dean a very small slice of the Benedict acreage. The lawyer's plan: Let's offer Dean double the value of the land to sell it back to us.

The scene proper begins with the "menfolk" discussing this in the house, while Dean anxiously fiddles with a rope in his hands outside the house. Dean's Jett Link is, here, literally an "outsider"(outside the house) and he is a bit scared and aimless. He KNOWS he's lost his sponsor, Rock's sister. (Nicely, he is in jacket and tie over his work jeans and shirt - he is trying to honor the one woman who honored him) As Rock and the men discuss making the offer, Dean looks like a "little boy lost" out on the porch.

Grudgingly(his power-losing patriarch does EVERYTHING grudgingly in this film) and with his deep voiced authority, Rock comes out on the porch and asks Dean in "to talk about something." Surprisingly, Dean springs to rebellious life -- he KNOWS that Rock's gonna fire him, but he can't fire him -- he QUITS. The sudden burst of pride and anger in Jett is a surprise.

But Jett dutifully enters the room, sits himself down, slumps deep in the chair, and plays with his little piece of rope as Rock leads the speechifying to tell Jett he's the owner of land and that they will buy it back at double the price ($1200.)

A new book on "Giant" notes that James Dean was very worried about this scene, because for most of it, he just sits there while Rock does all the talking(and some of the other men.) An advisor advised Dean to play with that piece of rope, and while that SORT OF steals the scene, I think Dean does it with his facial expressions. We sense his surprise at getting the land bequeathed, his love of "Madama"(McCambridge) for willing it to him, his pride in being a landowner...and his willingness to keep listening and listening as the men make him an offer he can't refuse.

But now comes the best part --as Rock and the men keep on talking, Dean starts getting FUNNY. He keeps making eye contact with men off to the side, men we can't see --to indicate to them how much he likes this cash offer, and how great it is. He winks at them, he raises his eyebrows, the whole play is "Well, wow, I'm gonna get twice the price of this land, aren't I doin' well, aren't we all PALS?" And he is misdirecting them.

When it is finally his turn to speak, Jett is extremely gracious: "I want to thank you Bick(Rock), i want to thank Madama, I want to thank ALL of you" for this offer....but...

He mumbles, "I think I'll just gamble along with ol' Madama."

What? Asks Hudson.

"I'll just gamble along with ol' Madama."

Rink is turning the offer down. He rises, shuffles to the door, opens it and makes a great cutting motion through the air that suggests "Adios! I'm out of here." And when he goes through that door, the first thing we see and hear are a couple telling Liz Taylor how they hit oil on their land:

Man: We're making a million dollars.
Liz: A year?
Man: A MONTH.

...and the future of Jett Link and his land is foreshadowed.

Anyway, the scene with Rock and the guys trying to buy off James Dean is a winner. Its a 1956 scene that feels very modern today. Somehow, as he nodded and winked and ACTED like he was going to take the money, Dean reminded me of Chevy Chase in Caddyshack -- (!!) -- the rich guy who humored the OTHER rich guys with winks and nods and then turned on them.

And as much as James Dean can be said to have stolen the scene, it is Rock Hudson's to run, and well in the character that he is playing: a rich, powerful man who keeps losing that power at every turn as the film goes along. At film's end, he will still be rich, but all of his assumptions about life will have been upended -- with his understanding. This scene is one of several in which Rock gets taught.

Its a great, entertaining scene. But I love the part where James Dean looks sideways(at men we don't see) nods, and winks...all before the double cross.