The entertainment industry is filled with people who shone brightly for a short amount of time and then passed away tragically young, withJames Deanundoubtedly being one of the most well-known. He was an up-and-coming actor throughout the early 1950s, with some of his earliest roles being on stage, and even as a background actor in a series of movies (all of which were uncredited roles). Some of his performances on stageended up airing on television, too, but as for the films themselves, he only starred in three. All were released in 1955 or 1956, and Dean had completed filming on the final two before his death, with those ultimately being posthumous releases. He died when he was only 24 in a car crash, and it can still be upsetting to think about what he could’ve gone on to do, had the accident not happened, and he’d continued reshaping/redefining what acting could be.
Still, his legacy – as short as it was – still impresses, given the three movies he acted in were all classics in one way or another, and proved more than enough to turn James Dean into a timeless cultural icon. He was Oscar-nominated for two of these three movies, andproved able to capture something that felt undeniably real, cool, and vulnerable as an actor on the screen. Those qualities were apparent to viewers back in the 1950s, and such qualities still shine through and leap off the screen when these films are watched today, almost 70 years on from when Dean passed away. It’s hard to rank three movies in the first place, and even more difficult when they’re all of exceptionally high quality, but that’s what the following intends to do: outline those three starring roles of Dean’s, and rank them, starting with the great and ending with the greatest.
3’East of Eden' (1955)
Director: Elia Kazan
Even if James Dean might not have quite reached legendary status before his first starring role inEast of Eden, signs already pointed to it being a promising movie. The film’s director,Elia Kazan, had just made the critically successfulOscar winnerOn the Waterfront, and the film had strong source material to work with, adapting the final quarter of the 1952John Steinbecknovel of the same name. With the adaptation being one that condenses the novel,East of Edenas a film might not be so much of an epic, but it doeswork as an impressive and moving drama,not to mention one that instantly established James Dean as a lead actor to be reckoned with. The film takes place during the 1910s, and mostly revolves around two brothers – Cal and Aron – competing for the affection of their father, Adam, all the while learning certain things about other members of their family, most notably their estranged mother.
It aims to be something of a modern-day Biblical story, taking influence from the tale ofCain and Abel, most prominently. Strong lead performances from Dean and the other cast members (includingJo Van Fleet, who won an Academy Award), assured direction from Kazan, and a dramatic story adapted from part of a classic Steinbeck novel all add up to makeEast of Edenone ofthe best dramas of the 1950s. It is perhaps the most old-fashioned feeling of all Dean’s movies, but that’s not necessarily to its detriment; after all, it has to retell a story from the Bible while also being set decades earlier than when it was made. Dean’s portrayal of Cal Trask earned him his first of twoOscar nominations (both were posthumous), andEast of Edenended up being the only film of his released while he was still alive. It instantly made him a star and continues to influence and inspire actors working today, with some of the most noteworthy actors citing Dean’s performance here asinfluential includingLeonardo DiCaprioandNicolas Cage.
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2’Rebel Without a Cause' (1955)
Director: Nicholas Ray
The James Dean movie that’s had the biggest impact on popular culture would be his second overall, and the first film of his that was released after his tragic death:Rebel Without a Cause. This is a coming-of-age drama that’s one of the go-to movies people think about when it comes to this genre, and indeed, cinema as a whole in the 1950s. It’s been referenced in the likes ofDamien Chazelle’sLa La LandandThe Disaster Artist, withTommy Wiseau–writer/director ofThe Room– shown to have taken influence from Dean’s acting style in this film. It was the only lead performance of James Dean’s that didn’t earn him an Oscar nomination, but maybe that just shows howthe Oscars really aren’t everything, because this film – and the appearance of James Dean in it – tends to be what people associate with the legend himself. He is, more or less, remembered as a cool, sympathetic, passionate, and good-hearted rebel without a cause.
The plot ofRebel Without a Causeis fairly straightforward, with Dean playing a young man named Jim who moves to a new town and befriends two people who are also outcasts in some ways: another young man named Pluto (Sal Mineo) and a girl named Judy (Natalie Wood). In his own way,Jim becomes something of a hero, standing up to bullies and society at large,even though the film does drive home the struggles that come with trying to be yourself and the way that leads to complications and clasheswith others. There’s a universality to the core story ofRebel Without a Causethat makes it understandable why it’s perhaps the best-known and overall most iconic of Dean’s films. His final movie ended up being impressive for different reasons, allowing him a chance to shine in a different role and be one part of an even bigger film… but that’s jumping ahead a bit. As far ascoming-of-age dramas about finding yourselfand then being yourself go,Rebel Without a Causeis hard to fault, and that it still has an impact so many decades later speaks to its quality and timelessness.
Rebel Without a Cause
1’Giant' (1956)
Director: George Stevens
East of Edenmight have been adapted from a novel that could be called an epic, butthe only truly epic filmof James Dean’s short-lived career was his final film,Giant. He absolutely shines here, and does get plenty of screen time, but he’s not central toGiantin quite the same way that he’s central to bothEast of EdenandRebel Without a Cause, being arguably the main character in the former and certainly the protagonist in the latter. InGiant, hehas something of a villainous role… not entirely, but the film spans a great deal of time, and early on, his character inherits a great deal of wealth, which is shown to change him dramatically as he grows older. Related to this, it is a little eerie to see the film span decades, to the point where Dean’s character reaches middle age, given Dean himself never lived that long. It’s a little reminiscent ofSynecdoche, New Yorkand its scenes ofPhilip Seymour Hoffmanin elderly makeup feeling even more somber when watched after his passing.
Going back toGiant, though, it follows a married couple (Rock HudsonandElizabeth Taylor) raising a family and dealing with various ups and downs in life while living on a Texas ranch, with complications added by Dean’s character, Jett Rink, who’s infatuated with Taylor’s character.Giantis extremely long, ranking up there with one ofthe lengthiest American movies of all time, but it tells so much story, has numerous characters, and covers plenty of years to make that runtime of more than three hours feel justified. Hudson, Taylor, and Dean all give some of their best-ever performances, withDean particularly impressing, given how different this role is than that of the angsty youths he played in his previous two movies. He did young angst brilliantly, of course, but you gain even more appreciation for James Dean once you see what he was able to do in what ended up being his final film. He already established himself as one of the greats, thanks to three high-quality and brilliantly acted movies, but it’s anyone’s guess what he could’ve gone on to do, had tragedy not struck on June 01, 2025.
