THE JAMES DEAN STORY

"I’m trying to find the courage to be tender in my life.  I know that violent people are weak people.  Only the gentle are ever really strong." - James Dean

The first movie ever directed by the legendary Robert Altman was The James Dean Story, released in 1957.  The documentary incorporates a large volume of still photographs, interviews with Dean's family and friends, and clips from his short-lived career.

This movie skims across the surface of Dean's existence and makes no effort to dig into any of the nuance or complexities that perpetuate Dean's legend and public adoration to this day.  Many of the people who are interviewed are stilted, awkward, and somewhat staged.  The documentary's unbalanced tone is heightened to another degree by the overly dramatic narration of Martin Gabel, doing his best to sound like Orson Welles. 

An avid fan may enjoy some bits and pieces of this documentary (seeing some of Dean's artwork, the interview with his high school drama teacher, and the previously unreleased screen test for East of Eden were pluses).  But for the most part, The James Dean Story comes off as nothing more than an effort to cash in on Dean's popularity and untimely death just 2 years prior to this film's release.

This movie does nothing at all to expose the brilliance and ground-breaking techniques that Atlman would incorporate in his subsequent endeavors.  I guess he had to cut his teeth somewhere.  Thankfully, Altman would do a much more endearing job of expressing his adoration of James Dean in his 1982 movie adaptation of the Broadway play, Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.