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27
MONDAY
He may not be the snarling, blackhearted antagonist of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, but James Dean’s character in George Stevens’ 1956 epic western Giant still knows how to hold a grudge across several generations. In his final performance before his untimely death, Dean plays poor-ranch-hand-turned-flamboyant-oil-millionaire Jett Rink, who buys up all the land surrounding the home of the man who married his former love interest, gets friendly with their daughter years later, and then has his goons attack the couple’s son after Rink insults their Mexican daughter-in-law. Had he taken his own advice about cautious driving—which he offered to Giant co-star Gig Young during the production of a highway-safety commercial shot on the set of the film in 1955—the American Film Institute’s Silver Theatre and Cultural Center’s “James Dean Remembered” retrospective would likely be significantly longer. Giant screens today at 8:05 p.m., complementing showings of East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause (see Showtimes for a weekly schedule) at the AFI’s Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. $8.50. (301) 495-6700