Plot: Ambitious Texas-style scale epic that traces the rising and falling fortunes of two generations of Texans. Miscegenation, moral dissipation, racism, the oppression of women - a variety of topics are brought forth during this movie's three hour and twenty-one minute running time. The core of this movie is actually the relationship between Jordan "Bick" Benedict, Jr. (Rock Hudson) and his wife Leslie (Dame Elizabeth Taylor). It is through them that we follow this movie's themes of generation, conflict, and social change. However, it is Jett Rink (James Dean) whom audiences remember, particularly in the early scenes when he is striding out on his small piece of land, or when he comes to tell Bick that "my well came in big". He puts his oily hand on one of the white columns of Benedict's porch and, unemphatically crystallizes the theme of this movie - the muddy thumb prints of materialism on the pillars of elegance and the coming conflict between the aristocracy and the nouveau riche. "You should have shot that fella a long time ago", a friend says to Bick about Jett Rink. "Now he's too rich to kill."
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