(1955) During this production shoot James Dean appeared in an informal black & white TV commercial in which he responded to questions posed by actor Gig Young. Ironically, Dean was promoting safe driving and informed viewers, "People say racing is dangerous, but I'd rather take my chances on the track any day than on the highway." Before he left the studio he added one piece of advice: "Drive safely, because the life you save may be mine." Dean was wearing the very hat and clothing he wore for this movie throughout the commercial. He perished a few weeks later in a car crash.
Audrey Hepburn was one of first choices for the part later played by Elizabeth Taylor, while John Wayne was considered for the Rock Hudson part. William Holden, Forrest Tucker and Sterling Hayden were also considered for the part of Bick Benedict.
Elizabeth Taylor was said to be so upset the day after James Dean was killed in a road accident that she was excused from working on the picture for the day.
Orson Welles was inspired by the film to make The Other Side of the Wind, one of his many unfinished opuses. It tells of an old director trying to complete an epic movie and being taunted by his young male lead who keeps calling him "Fatso". The director encourages his star to buy a sports car. In what exists of the film, the director is played by lean, lanky John Huston. "Fatso", however, was James Dean's nickname for George Stevens during the making of "Giant".
James Dean called the shooting style of director George Stevens the "around the clock" method, because Stevens would film a scene from as many different angles as possible, which made everything seem to take longer to do.
James Dean was so completely immersed in his character that he hardly ever changed out of his costume.
Robert Mitchum was also considered for the part of Jett Rink.
Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor went for get-to-know-you drinks one night at the very start of the production. They both got exceedingly drunk, finishing the evening at 3:00 am. Their call-time was 5:30 am. Fortunately the scene being shot that morning was a wedding scene with no dialog, so instead of talking, all they had to do was look lovingly at each other. The two actors were concentrating so hard on not being sick that they were quite surprised when some of the people on-set started to cry, so convinced were they of their supposed looks of adoration at each other.
Montgomery Clift was considered for the role of Jett Rink.
Clark Gable was considered for the role of Bick Benedict, but was rejected as too old by producer Jack L. Warner.
George Stevens eschewed the use of the CinemaScope format, as he felt that the lenses tended to distort the image. In terms of his story, he felt that height was much more important than width.
George Stevens made the film for no upfront salary but a percentage of the (substantial) back end profits.
George Stevens shot 875,000 feet of film.
Barbara Barrie's first film.
A DVD version of the film was released in Canada, but not the U.S. - unusual for an American film. Warner Bros then pulled the Canadian release, causing a scurry of fans to buy the disc from Canadian distributors. The DVD quickly disappeared from stores, and became a rare item on auction websites for nearly two years, until its official North American release on DVD in 2003.
Director George Stevens wanted to cast fading star Alan Ladd as Jett Rink, but his wife advised against it. The role went to James Dean.
In the 2005 DVD release, there is what appears to be an inside joke in the title of one scene. The birthday party scene, in which Bick forces his visibly unhappy son to ride a horse, is titled "Uneasy Rider." Bick's son is played in adulthood by Dennis Hopper, who would go on to co-write, direct and star in Easy Rider.