Ep. 137: James Dean – Top 5 Movies
Intro
Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.
I’m Jans your Mnemonic Man and today's episode will be on a man that died at the age of just 24 but left an indelible legacy of youthful rebellion and defiance, and of course good looks, James Dean.
Dean was born in Marion, Indiana but soon moved to California where his dad was transferred for work. Tragically his mother fell ill and died, and as a result he was moved back to Indiana where he was looked after by his aunt and uncle on their farm.
In college he was a pre-law major at Santa Monica College but then transferred to UCLA and switched his major to drama. This didn’t last long though, as he then dropped out of UCLA to pursue a full-time career in acting. He landed his first professional acting job for a Pepsi commercial where he sang and danced around a jukebox, along the way supporting himself by working as a parking attendant and a “stunt tester” for a game show.
He finally broke through to the big time with his role in “East of Eden” where he played the wayward Cal Trask vying for the affection of his dad over his favoured brother. From here, he had his three giant movies before he met his untimely death behind the wheel of his Porshe Spyder. He was buried in his home town Fairmount in Indiana where apparently it has been extremely difficult to secure the headstone with it going missing a total of three times!
Today’s mnemonic will be on James Dean’s top five movies.
So, with that being said, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.
Wikipedia Summary
James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955) was an American actor with a career that lasted five years. He is regarded as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he starred as troubled teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were loner Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955) and surly ranch hand Jett Rink in Giant (1956).
Dean died in a car crash in 1955. He became the only actor to receive two posthumous Academy Award acting nominations, being nominated in the Best Actor category for East of Eden and Giant. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him the 18th best male movie star of Golden Age Hollywood in the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list. Dean's film roles, fashion, and manners became celebrated in popular culture and influenced the development of rock and roll in the 1950s and 1960s.
Dean was born on February 8, 1931, in Marion, Indiana,[1] the only child of Mildred Marie Wilson and Winton Dean. He claimed that his mother was partly Native American, and that his father belonged to a "line of original settlers that could be traced back to the Mayflower".[2] Six years after his father had left farming to become a dental technician, Dean moved with his family to Santa Monica, California. He was enrolled at Brentwood Public School in the Brentwood neighbourhood of Los Angeles, but transferred soon afterward to the McKinley Elementary School.
Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Dean]
Mnemonic
James Dean – Top 5 Movies Mnemonic – RED GaS
(Picture red gas spread everywhere following the car accident where James Dean crashed his silver Porshe 550 Spyder)
1. Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
2. East of Eden (1955)
3. Deadline – USA (1952)
4. Giant (1956)
5. Sailor Beware (1952)
Five Fun Facts
1. James Dean was born in a small town called Marion in Indiana. He moved to California when his father was transferred there for work as a dental technician. Tragically his mother died of cancer and he was sent back to Indiana to live with his aunt and uncle on their farm in Fairmount.
2. Not only was James Dean a great actor but he was also quite the athlete. In high school, he excelled at baseball, basketball, and running track. However, his favourite event was the pole vault where he set the Grant County pole vault record at Fairmount High.
3. James Dean dated Jerry Seinfeld’s mum, that is his TV mum Liz Sheridan from “Seinfeld”. According to her 2000 memoir entitled, Dizzy & Jimmy: My Life With James Dean: A Love Story, she met Dean in New York in 1951, moved in together, and at one point were engaged to be married.
4. James Dean only starred in three movies. These three movies were “East of Eden” where he co-starred with Julie Harris and Raymond Massey, “Giant” co-starring again with Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson, and “Rebel Without a Cause” which was the only movie he received top billing.
Now just speaking about rebels. When I was young, I used to be quite the rebel. I would often walk in through the outdoor, take a seat standing up, and watch a PG movie without a parent while drinking Pepsi from a Coke glass. All this while defying all expectations by being predictably unpredictable!
5. Following James Dean’s tragic death in his Porshe Spyder a curse is said to have followed the car. George Barris a famous auto customizer purchased the car after Dean’s death. Apparently, when it arrived in the shop, it rolled off the trailer and crushed an employee’s legs. This was followed by a thief trying to steal the steering wheel who slipped and broke his arm, and also those who bought the Porshe’s parts ended up in fatal crashes. To add to this the man who sat next to Dean at the time of the accident (Dean’s mechanic), died while drunk driving following several suicide attempts.
Three Question Quiz
Q.1. What was the nickname that James Dean gave to his Porshe 550 Spyder? Options are The Silver Bullet, Little Bastard, or The Super Speedster
Q.2. Was James Dean booked for speeding two hours before his death? True or False
Q.3. James Dean studied with what great acting teacher?
Bonus Q. James Dean was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Actor. Name both of the movies?
Mnemonic Recap
James Dean – Top 5 Movies Mnemonic – RED GaS
(Picture red gas spread everywhere following the car accident where James Dean crashed his silver Porshe 550 Spyder)
1. Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
2. East of Eden (1955)
3. Deadline – USA (1952)
4. Giant (1956)
5. Sailor Beware (1952)
Three Question Quiz Answers
Q.1. What was the nickname that James Dean gave to his Porshe 550 Spyder? Options are The Silver Bullet, Little Bastard, or The Super Speedster
A. Little Bastard. Which is what Jack Warner called him when he refused to vacate his trailer on the Warner Bros lot.
Q.2. Was James Dean booked for speeding two hours before his death? True or False
A. True, for doing 65 mph in a 55 mph zone.
Q.3. James Dean studied with what great acting teacher?
A. Lee Strasberg
Bonus Q. James Dean was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Actor. Name both of the movies?
A. Those movies were “Giant” and “East of Eden”. The only actor to receive two posthumous Academy Award acting nominations.
Word of the Week
Jouissance
[ zhwee-sahnns ]
noun
pleasure; enjoyment.
Example
The studio contractually banned James Dean from racing while he was filming “Giant” so it would be a few more weeks before he could indulge in the jouissance of racing cars.
Extracted from: [https://www.dictionary.com/]
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References
https://www.ranker.com/list/best-james-dean-movies-list-of-james-dean-films/ranker-film
https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-james-dean
https://www.funtrivia.com/submitquiz.cfm
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/616297/james-dean-actor-facts