James Dean

There is a segment in this obscure made for TV bio-pic that ascends to another plane of artistry, and provides a spellbinding glimpse into what made this legendary actor so extraordinary. Dean, played by the gifted Stephen McHattie, has returned home to find his sensitive roommate sulking in the dark over the sudden realization that the mercurial Dean is broadening his horizons and slipping away from him. By no means unmoved, Dean's response is to read aloud a particularly meaningful passage from his favorite book "The Little Prince". And as he reads consolingly, dramatically; you can see the joy he takes in forming the words, the pleasure he derives from sharing them with an audience, the immense respect he has for the piece itself. The scene plays out as a sort of communion, with Dean seeming to re-absorb the passage as a way of purifying himself. His roommate is mesmerized at this level of devotion to craft and only then begins to appreciate what his friend is becoming, has become.

Told from the refreshingly limited viewpoint of his off and on roommate William Bast (who went on to be a reasonably successful TV and Film writer) the movie touches on the pivotal events of Dean's life and career like a stone skipping across water. The focus is very much on Bast's up close witnessing of Dean's improbable, mind-blowing emergence from awkward hayseed wanna-be into the most emblematic actor of his generation.

Considering that he doesn't look incredibly like Dean (McHattie's face is flinty and pentagonal whereas Dean's was chiseled and rectangular) McHattie does a remarkable job duplicating the body language and facial expressions - the slouched shoulders, sudden movements, furtive looks and exaggerated boyishness. The director frames and lights him in clever ways and there are times when, spookily, you really do feel like you're looking in on Dean's life. McHattie also captures that alien, kaleidoscopic, wildly unpredictable quality - no easy task. He gives you a sense of the development of the persona, the fine-tuning of the image he was trying to project to the world. His Dean almost seems like a mad scientist working on his most diabolical Frankenstein creation - himself.

Makes a nice companion to "9/30/55", another poignant meditation on the actor.

This is Probably the best James Dean BIO since it was written and produced by his real life best friend William Bast. While actor Stephen Mchattie (who plays James Dean) doesn't look that much like him you still get the feeling its him especially around the time of Giant. This was the first to show Dean's flirting with homosexuality which was remarkable for 1976. William Bast has since written a new book called "Surviving James Dean" which go much farther in detail then any movie has gone. You can hear an interview with William Bast at http://writingshow.com/podcasts/Bill_Bast.mp3

I've seen this movie many times and you can probably get it on DVD at Walgreens for $1.00 since I saw it their last week.

Made for TV movie about 1950's Hollywood icon James Dean, Stephen McHattie, based on the memories recounted in the film by his best friend and room-mate screen writer William Bast, Michael Brandon, that goes deep into to life of the crazy mixed up and complicated person that he was.

Bast first got to see Dean in 1950 on stage in the the play "Hamlet" that anything but convinced him what a major impact on the stage and screen,TV and the movies,he was to become over the next 5 years as well as decades after his death. Feeling that Dean was some kind of an oddball Bast soon realized that his talents were far greater then most if not all,including actor Marlon Brando, of the major Hollywood actors at that time. Getting more and more hooked on Dean Bast made things complicated for the actor in him being around when Dean was involved with the many women and young girls who were vying for Dean's attention. One of them young Norma Buckner, Amy Irving, ended up killing herself with an overdose of sleeping pills after Dean in trying to explain, in his far out opinions on the subject, to her what life was all about which made her far more upset-about life-then she already was.

We get to see Dean rise from making coke commercials to become a star in a trio of major Hollywood movies on his more or less, without as he said kissing butt, very unique acting talent alone! This talent was shaped in Dean becoming a member of the Strasbourg School of Method Acting in New York where he was it's youngest member. We also get to see that it was in fact Dean's extreme near sightedness, his vision was 20/400, that brought out that intense and manic acting ability that we see in his movies. Not wearing corrective glasses on the movie set Dean, nicknamed "Squinty" by those who worked with him, had to squint and look like he was in extreme agony to act out his roles! That style of acting on Dean's part made an impact on everyone watching him in the theater as well as on the movie set!It was what made Dean an overnight sensation in his first staring film "East of Eden" as the troubled and sensitive youth Cal Trask.

Even though Dean had a number of lady friends during his stay in both New York City and Hollywood they all, as gorgeous as they were, took second place to his love for acting and improving his acting ability in experiencing everything possible in in, good and bad,life to make him the acting legend that he was to become. Now in the late summer and early fall of 1955 Dean was at the top of his game and about to breakout in two movies,"Rebel Without a Cause" and Giant", that were soon to be released that he got himself killed in a head on car crash on September 30, 1955! That put an end to his life but gave birth to the James Dean legend that has already lasted more then twice as long, over 50 years, as his life did!

Very effective movie on the life times and death of James Dean with a bravo performance by Stephen McHattie who's so good playing the part that at times I had trouble distinguishing him and the character he was playing on screen: James Dean. Michael Brandon is also very effective as Dean's friend who after Dean's tragic death had continuous nightmares in him letting Dean down when he really needed him like,in what the film hinted at, being not only his friend but lover as well!

P.S As tragic as Dean's death was it was the person riding with him on that faithful day in September car mechanic Rolf Wutherich, Robert Kenton, who was an even more tragic figure. Surviving the car crash with a broken jaw and a number of broken ribs and bones Rolf for years got hundreds of hate letters in being responsible for Dean's death just by the fact that he not Dean survived the car accident! Suffering from depression and severe mental illness and attempting a number of suicides,in one case stabbing his wife and himself 14 times, Rolf finally got his wish by driving stone cold drunk into a building in Kupferzell Germany on July 22, 1981 killing himself on impact!

Written from the perspective of Dean's long term friend Bast (well portrayed by Robert Brandon), this film as some good quirks and sub- texts to it.

Actor Stephen McHattie does have the affect and appearance of Dean in some instances, he portrays the early start of James Dean as a somewhat transient and alienated life. Living in NYC and finally getting accepted to the prestigious Actors Studio, but living with a big name actor, who is just someone he owes a debt to, and to "pay the piper" as he tells his friend.

The section regarding Dean's earlier family life could have been better explicated, but the audience does see his Hollywood relationships, including some decent cameos by Brooke Adams and Meg Foster (as Liz "Dizzy" Sheridan, who appeared in "Rebel Without a Cause"), and now plays Seinfeld's mother (credited as Liz Sheridan).

Overall worth seeing , but better to rent a DVD or purchase it, for the true researcher into Dean's checkered history. This film shown on MAVTV channel in US is terribly edited, and MAVTV is not a good viewing experience, at all. 8/10.

Seriously sensitive TV-movie starring Stephen McHattie as actor James Dean and Michael Brandon as William Bast, a fellow student at UCLA and Dean's pre-stardom roommate. The film chronicles Dean's inauspicious work as a drama student--doing shaky Shakespeare on stage--and the years following once Dean relocated to New York City and was accepted into the exclusive Actor's Studio, which lead him to Broadway and then back to Hollywood. Bast himself wrote the teleplay, and he's very careful to show the many complex sides of Dean--the prankster, the romantic, the artist committed to his craft, the jerk--as well as the "Star Is Born"-like friendship which developed between the two men. Bast, a failed actor who took on writing jobs, grew to respect and love his friend, however, without any apparent envy or jealousy (although he's often shown playing the third wheel). Brandon has a tough job acting as the author's surrogate, but he does so without self-pity; his acceptance of his friend as America's newest star is casual and natural, with no melodrama. The film begins with a symbolic dream (never a good idea) and features sketchy episodes with a handful of the women in Dean's life, but the main focus is on the relationship between Dean and Bast, and in those sequences the movie shines. McHattie, whose thin smile curls up at the corners like the Joker, bears a passing resemblance to Dean when seen from a distance, but up close he has to overcome features which are too pronounced; it's not an impersonation, and yet the performance we do get slowly grows on you. "James Dean" is an unusually literate and thoughtful drama, with an excellent supporting cast including Dane Clark, Meg Foster, Brooke Adams, Amy Irving, Katherine Helmond, Candy Clark and Leland Palmer.