Can someone please explain James Dean

I just dont get it, I never have..The guy really seemed quite feminine. Not to mention the worst actor in Rebel.

So what he drove a Merc and a Porch....James Cagney drove plenty of Mercs
and was 100% cooler than Dean.

Is it the Die young thing????

Maybe i'm just too young...Did he really do anything else???

There has to be a couple of you guys who knew him....Do tell

Bill

 

Never knew him, he was an actor and I guess he made enough money to own a car or two.

Why does it make any difference? You're you and he shouldn't have much affect on your life.

 

Jimmy Dean..... Gay
Jimmy Cagney ...... Awesome

Clark Gable and Gary Cooper - now they were car guys

 

Nah, he dosnt affect my life.

I'm not trying to flame the guy or anything, just curious about his I'd say weird thing he put over people.....

The Greatful Dead at least had Acid to blame theirs on. lol

Not trying to start ****.

 

Guess you had to be there................................

 

He raced cars and motorcycles and had great hair. What's not to like?...

 

Jimmy Dean-sausage

James Dean-Dude

MIKE

 

Hey, this was the early 50's, teens were introduced to rock and roll, hotrods, ***, keggers, all-niters after the drive-in movies, DA's, leather jackets and Levi's. The country was so conservative in the 50's that anyone not living then would not be able to even try to relate. Rebellion was in with the greasers (rockers and rodders) and the soshes (social cl***) ****ed big time. James Dean personified this new image in Rebel and he became a teen idol. He raced his Porsche and was pretty wild. He was born and raised on a farm in Indiana and was a struggling actor before his fame which only lasted a little over a year before he was killed on his way to a road race. I guess you had to be there to experience the 50's and that is probably why I have a hard time relating to today's teens and the things that interest them. If they can worship some freaky heroin addict making big time noise on an electric guitar and screaming incomprehensible lyrics and spitting all over the place I guess some of us can remember James Dean as a symbol of our youth.

31Acoupe

 

I never got Dean's charm, either...Brian Keith was da MAN in my book...always thought he was cool, and his kid, too!

Also always found coolness in George Peppard, George Kennedy and James Stewart.

 

Why does it make any difference? You're you and he shouldn't have much affect on your life.[/QUOTE]



HA HA HA HA HA thats a good one. if you dont get it you probably never
will !

rumors put aside, james dean was indeed one of many great early actors and if you dont see that your blind . he also was in many ways the same off camera as he was on...live fast,rebelious,cool....things people love to hate.

 

It's a simple matter of the image he portrayed on the big screen, nothing more. I'm sure he didn't really play chicken with other guys sailing over a cliff, any more than Clint Eastwood really roams the streets of San Francisco, blowing away punks with a .44 S&W.

 

[
A further anomaly in this whole "Dean Thing" is the way he has been connected in perpetuity with custom Mercs. He never owned one and the one he drove in "Rebel" was only mildly customized-nothing like all the ones that show up each year at the James Dean Festival,






=31ACoupe]Hey, this was the early 50's, teens were introduced to rock and roll, hotrods, ***, keggers, all-niters after the drive-in movies, DA's, leather jackets and Levi's. The country was so conservative in the 50's that anyone not living then would not be able to even try to relate. Rebellion was in with the greasers (rockers and rodders) and the soshes (social cl***) ****ed big time. James Dean personified this new image in Rebel and he became a teen idol. He raced his Porsche and was pretty wild. He was born and raised on a farm in Indiana and was a struggling actor before his fame which only lasted a little over a year before he was killed on his way to a road race. I guess you had to be there to experience the 50's and that is probably why I have a hard time relating to today's teens and the things that interest them. If they can worship some freaky heroin addict making big time noise on an electric guitar and screaming incomprehensible lyrics and spitting all over the place I guess some of us can remember James Dean as a symbol of our youth.

31Acoupe[/quote]

 

Who cares.....it's not like he was ever in any cl***ic films like Clash Of The ***ans or Teen Wolf.

 

31Acoupe that was well said.

 

Teen Wolf is probably the most cl***ic hot rod movie ever made!

 

I guess you could say he contributed to what a lot of us are on this site today; then we carried the torch on to you youngins'

(Don't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing )

I guess the old adage "You had to be there" rings true.

Can't forget Natalie either; quite the fox. Interesting thing is all three of those stars have p***ed away.

 

31A, great answer.

Keep in mind also - the girls thought he was HOT! He was new on the scene, a troublemaker, into hot cars and bikes, had great hair, etc etc.

Anything the chicks like, the boys are gonna emulate.



I think being a Beatle is all that got Ringo laid...

 

Actually Hack I always liked Mickey Rooney.

I think Dean was who Brando wanted to be. I think the real deal on him was everyone thought his life was wasted and that he had a lot more to give. remains to be seen, a lot of them guys were just a flash in the pan.

Now if you wanna throw one out there that is hard to understand lets talk about Wayne Newton, I mean the women are still all gaga over him, that old turd has staying power. I just don't get it at all.

Fortunately mrs ****** don't get him either so I got no compe***ion there.

 

Now that was funny.

"that old turd has staying power"

 

Good question. I never understood the James Dean thing..... I wasn't around
during his time of fame, so I guess I'm too young. The "Pharoahs" Joe Young
aka Bo Hopkins was a bigger bad *** than James Dean. His Merc was also a
kool & a ruff Kustom.

Why not a Joe Young Reunion?

Happy Trails,

Mick

 

Go rent "East of Eden" and especially "Giant" nad maybe then you'll see what a good actor he really was. Sure the Rebel thing is the one lots of folks remember but that shouldn't overshadow his other two films.

And for my money, cool is and will always be, Robert Mitchum. Rent the original "Cape Fear" and you'll see what a truly great actor can do with subtlety and finesse. Then watch "Thunder Road" for him and the cars. Then watch "Night of the Hunter"... creepy and good.

BTW who the F*** is Heath Ledger???

 

I can't act. But I sure could look cool driving those cars around. James Dean is kind of a womans thing,pretty boy,back then.

 

And for my money, cool is and will always be, Robert Mitchum.....Then watch "Night of the Hunter"... creepy and good.



that's no lie- "Night of the Hunter" is arguably Mitchum's best performance and reportedly his favorite.

"Leaning.....leaning....leaning on the everlasting arms...."

 

There was only ONE Joe Young....MIGHTY JOE YOUNG!!!! (1949 version)

James Dean was the "sensitive" rebel, the first of many role models to appear in the 50's, as we struggled to make our iden***y different from our parents. Unfortunately, someone told some of them they could sing (Ricky Nelson, Fabian, Tab Hunter, Ed Byrnes, etc - thank god for the reverb! ), And act (Pat Boone, Fabian, Tab Hunter, Ricky Nelson, etc.. ) and we were forced to endure endless painful performances to keep the girls happy so we could get lucky later.
Dean was actually a pretty believable actor as a young guy, but I wondered what he would be like at 60 - his range seemed to be limited and even though Giant allowed him to become old, he was still the same character from Rebel - just old...I think East of Eden was the best film he did.
My understanding was that he was a nice guy, and well liked by co-stars. I think 31Acoupe summed it up rather well. You had to be there, and be the right age to fully get "it", as shown by b29chevy's dissertation on queers and *******s in hollywood. He must have been too old...


Mutt

 

At the tender age of 15,I got dragged by my girlfriend to see Prince in purple Rain, because he was "dreamy"
Guess our generation **** out then.

 

He always seemed like a ***.

Cool is Steve McQeen in Bulltt... smooth!

 

As big of a James Dean fan as I am....I have to agree with Pic***o.

Although Lee Marvin was pretty cool as well.

Anyone know where I can find a copy of "Violent Tuesday"?

 

Times were different,,,when I was a kid I thought James Dean was cool!,,,,

Now I think Nads is cool! HRP

 

I heard somewhere that Lee Marvin was a paratrooper during WWII and was part of the D-Day invasion! THAT is BAD*** and COOL!

 

I always thought he WAS a good actor... plus it was a teen/idol type thing. He was irreverent, grouchy, tempermental, good-looking, just the thing young kids get excited over in a movie star... made three good movies, and died drivin' too fast...

what was your question?