movie question of the day: what would have happened to james dean had he lived?
anthead
could he have had meaningful career in the 60s? could he have evolved?
or, would he become as passe in the 60s and 70s as little richard and
elvis?
at least you can recycle old music as nostalgia acts. can you do that
with mooies? i guess wayne did, but wayne represented something
broader and vast--american confidence.
dean represented teenage angst in mooies like rebel and east of eden.
by 60s, kids were totally free, and dean's angst was rather passe, even
quaint.
if dean didn't die, would his mystique been as powerful? perhaps.
brando lived on but he became a great icon nevertheless.
donsto...@hotmail.com
***************
Mooies? Movies cows watch???????
RichA
He would have died of AIDS like Rock Hudson.
Same with Sal Mineo if his gay lover hadn't killed him.
Bill Vermillion
>could he have had meaningful career in the 60s? could he have evolved?
>or, would he become as passe in the 60s and 70s as little richard and
>elvis?
We'll never know. It seems the only way to gain quasi-immortality
is to die young at the peak of your career.
And can Elvis be passe is the Prime Minister of Japan went to
Graceland today, which he seemed to appear to think was more
important than his meeting with President Bush. {I suspect many
would agree with his priorities}
>if dean didn't die, would his mystique been as powerful? perhaps.
>brando lived on but he became a great icon nevertheless.
And Brando left a large legacy of film so that you could see he was
a great actor. With only three films in a relatively short
time-span it would be hard to judge his future abilities. He could
be one of those who would give up the media - as other actors have.
Bill
--
Bill Vermillion - bv @ wjv . com
Howard Brazee
wrote:
>could he have had meaningful career in the 60s? could he have evolved?
>or, would he become as passe in the 60s and 70s as little richard and
>elvis?
A few years ago there was a TV show, Sliders where people went into
alternate dimensions. It would have been neat if they had gone to an
oldies concert to listen to Buddy Holly, or had James Dean on TV in
the background playing some grandfather.
gerry
James Dean is usually held liable for the fatal car crash on 9/30/55.
Yet, a Discovery Channel documentary I saw years back included a
reconstruction of the accident using computer technology. The
findings: it was the other guy whose speeding caused the accident, not
Dean in his new sports car. That make sense, Dean just received one
speeding ticket, he was a film star who would suspect that other cops
might try to make their reputation by also tagging him with a speeding
ticket. So heavy-footed Dean plays it safe and gets smashed by a
speeding Ford that ran through the highway intersection. After the
accident, the Ford driver knew enough to shut up, any admission he made
about his speeding through the intersection could have gotten him
charged with vehicular homicide.
The first brief report of the accident in the New York Times on October
1 mentions Dean was driving a "German speedster." Another Times
report mentions Dean had already received one speeding ticket. Still,
the police on the scene had to know that Dean was not solely liable for
the accident, just from the skid marks Dean's car made to avoid the
Ford. Maybe the driver of the Ford lived in the area and was known to
the police. Whatever the reason for the incompetent accident scene
investigation, 24 year old Dean never saw another birthday.
From: http://members.aol.com/jaydeebee1/memorial.html
James Dean, 24, had wrapped up shooting on the Warner Bros. film Giant
and was set to compete in an automobile race held at the Salinas
Airport.
Dean originally intended to pull his new 1955 silver Porsche Spyder on
a trailer behind his 1955 Ford station wagon. However, at the last
minute he decided to drive the sports car to put some pre-race mileage
on it.
Accompanying Dean in the Porsche was his mechanic, Rolf Wütherich, 28.
Following in the station wagon-with-trailer were Sanford Roth, a
noted photographer, and Bill Hickman, a fellow actor. The quartet
departed Los Angeles around 1:50 p.m.
Racing down the Grapevine grade on Route 99 (now Interstate 5) north of
Los Angeles, the caravan was stopped at 3:30 p.m. by a California
Highway patrolman for going 65 mph in a 55 mph zone. Both Dean and
Roth received citations from the officer.
Resuming their trip, the two cars turned west onto Highway 466 (today
shortened to 46) at Famoso, just north of Bakersfield, and headed for
Paso Robles, where they would catch U.S. 101 north for Salinas.
Dean's fast Porsche left the slower station wagon behind as the two
cars climbed over Polonio Pass.
The downgrade from the pass runs straight as an arrow down to the
"Y" intersection of Highways 46 and 41; a short distance beyond,
Cholame is visible.
Approaching the intersection from the opposite direction was a large
black-and-white 1950 Ford Custom Tudor coupe.
Dean's Porsche accelerated to a reported estimate of 85 mph on the
downgrade toward Cholame. As the two cars converged on the junction,
the Ford veered over the center line.
trotsky
> He would have died of AIDS like Rock Hudson.
> Same with Sal Mineo if his gay lover hadn't killed him.
That's interesting: does your diseased mind believe that heteros don't
suffer similar fates?
Eric Grayson
went to Steve McQueen.
Some of Dean's contemporaries have made it to the present day. Among
them are Martin Landau and Dennis Hopper. I find it likely that Dean
would be among their ranks as a respected, semi-legendary actor.
Wordsmith
He would have went on to make a whole franchise of *Rebel without a
Cause* movies and would have retired fat and happy at the ripe ol' age
of 35. There. Who needs a crystal ball?
W ; )
tomcervo
gerry wrote:
> Slightly Off-Topic:
>
> James Dean is usually held liable for the fatal car crash on 9/30/55.
> Yet, a Discovery Channel documentary I saw years back included a
> reconstruction of the accident using computer technology. The
> findings: it was the other guy whose speeding caused the accident, not
> Dean in his new sports car. That make sense, Dean just received one
> speeding ticket, he was a film star who would suspect that other cops
> might try to make their reputation by also tagging him with a speeding
> ticket. So heavy-footed Dean plays it safe and gets smashed by a
> speeding Ford that ran through the highway intersection. After the
> accident, the Ford driver knew enough to shut up, any admission he made
> about his speeding through the intersection could have gotten him
> charged with vehicular homicide.
Dean's last words? "He's gotta see us."
Every reconstruction shows the same thing--Dean was driving safe and
legal; the other driver--Donald Turnipseed (sic) pulled into the
intersection without a right of way. Dean's only mistake was
underestimating the stupidity of a fellow driver, a skill that comes
with age and experience. Turnipseed was a local boy and got off without
a ticket--a bad break, since that ticket would be worth a fortune now.
But not to him, he's dead now too.
tomcervo
his career might have at least one bump. He probably would have been up
for a lot of the same roles as Paul Newman or Marlon Brando, so by
looking at the garbage they were offered and sometimes did, you can
what would have happened to Dean.
Or he might have done an Albert Finney, who returned to the stage after
the success of "Tom Jones" and did few films.
George Peatty
<filmspam...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>Some of Dean's contemporaries have made it to the present day. Among
>them are Martin Landau and Dennis Hopper. I find it likely that Dean
>would be among their ranks as a respected, semi-legendary actor.
I don't. He had a reputation for being "difficult" and being difficult is a
kiss of death.
Al Smith
He'd probably be another Paul Newman or Clint Eastwood, an aging,
respected, creaky old actor.
Robert Birchard
became a self-parody in later years--much like Marlon Brando, who more than
compensated for his few good performances with a trail of unspeakable bad
ones.
"anthead" <aegi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1151699071.1...@h44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
leno...@yahoo.com
Well, since Dennis Hopper and he were reportedly best friends and the
teenage Hopper didn't react in a very composed manner to the bad news
(no surprise, see Hopper's bio) it's possible that HIS career - and
private life - might have been quite different. They were planning to
work together a lot, I think.
Lenona.
tomcervo
George Peatty wrote:
>He had a reputation for being "difficult" and being difficult is a
> kiss of death.
Hollywood is full of "difficult" people with long-lived careers,
including two of Dean's three directors. He had a young man's
impatience with bullshit, and it's easy to imagine him taking off for
Europe in the 60's, and coming back just in time for the American new
wave of the 70's.
He'd have made a great Frank Booth.
gh
RichA <rande...@gmail.com> wrote:
> He would have died of AIDS like Rock Hudson.
> Same with Sal Mineo if his gay lover hadn't killed him.
>
Dean would have gained 200 pounds by middle age and went on to play the
part of Superman's uncle in the late 1970's for enough money to buy a
hundred Porsches.
G
Eric Grayson
Robert Birchard <bbir...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> He woud be considered a hambone who made a splash early in his career and
> became a self-parody in later years--much like Marlon Brando, who more than
> compensated for his few good performances with a trail of unspeakable bad
> ones.
Ah, still the same Bob Birchard we all know. Politically correct to
the last...
If I'd been in Jim Backus' shoes during the shooting of Rebel Without a
Cause, I'd probably have punched Dean. He's walking all over other
actors' dialogue, mugging during others' speeches, etc. He looks like
he needs a tranquilizer all through that film.
Eric
El Klauso
Had James Dean lived after "Giant," he probably would have been
unemployable. His aged "Jet" charecterization in the film was
incredibly ineffective, and would have sighnificantly slowed his career
. Only the sentimentality involved in assessing his work in the movie's
release after his death saved Dean from an avalanche of negative
reviews.
precode
"I might have gone to Marilyn Monroe for the win, but this might work
out..."
Mike S.