Giant is a 1956 American epic drama film directed by George Stevens, from a screenplay adapted by Fred Guiol and Ivan Moffat from Edna Ferber's 1952 novel.

[4][5] In the mid-1920s, wealthy Texas rancher Jordan "Bick" Benedict Jr. (Rock Hudson) travels to Maryland on a horse-buying trip.

He meets socialite Leslie Lynnton (Elizabeth Taylor), and they marry and return to the Benedicts' Texas cattle ranch, Reata.

Leslie plans for Judy to attend finishing school in Switzerland, but she wants to study animal husbandry at Texas Tech.

At the family Christmas party, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Bick offers Judy's new husband, Bob Dace, the opportunity to work on the ranch after the war ends.

Realizing that his children will not take over the ranch when he retires, Bick accepts Jett's offer to allow drilling on Reata.

The fictional character Jett Rink was inspired partly by the extraordinary rags-to-riches life story of the wildcatter oil tycoon Glenn Herbert McCarthy (1907–1988).

The Australian actor Rod Taylor was cast in one of his early Hollywood roles after being seen in an episode of Studio 57, titled "The Black Sheep's Daughter".

[6] Stevens gave Hudson a choice between Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly to play the leading lady Leslie.

[9] The film begins with Jordan "Bick" Benedict, played by Hudson, arriving at Ardmore, Maryland, to purchase a stallion from the Lynnton family.

The Oscar-nominated musical score was by Russian-born composer and conductor Dimitri Tiomkin, who conducted the Warner Brothers Studio Orchestra.

The movie is an epic portrayal of a powerful Texas ranching family challenged by changing times and the coming of big oil.

[13] In the first third of the film, Bick and Luz treat the Mexicans who work on their ranch condescendingly, which upsets the more socially conscious Leslie.

Bick eventually comes to realize his moral shortcomings – in a climactic scene at a roadside diner he loses a fistfight to the racist owner, but earns Leslie's respect for defending the human rights of his brown-skinned daughter-in-law and grandson.

Another subplot involves Leslie's own striving for women's equal rights as she defies the patriarchal social order, asserting herself and expressing her own opinions when the men talk.

[17] Giant premiered in New York City on October 10, 1956,[18] with the local DuMont station, WABD, televising the arrival of cast and crew, as well as other celebrities and studio chief Jack L.

The critical consensus reads, "Giant earns its imposing name with a towering narrative supported by striking cinematography, big ideas, and powerful work from a trio of legendary Hollywood leads.

[12] Bosley Crowther of the New York Times wrote that "George Stevens takes three hours and seventeen minutes to put his story across.

"[23] Variety claimed that Giant was "for the most part, an excellent film which registers strongly on all levels, whether it's in its breathtaking panoramic shots of the dusty Texas plains; the personal, dramatic impact of the story itself, or the resounding message it has to impart.

He performs his role in the overwrought method manner of the era, and the rest of the cast seems to be split between awe of his talent and disgust over his indulgence.

called Giant a "silly, solemn, sly, paternalistic, demagogic movie without any boldness, rich in all sorts of concessions, pettiness, and contemptible actions.

In 1981, in a Levi Strauss ad campaign and television commercial that launched the 501 Jeans for women, an actress says: "Travis, you're years too late", evoking a scene from the movie with James Dean.