"Children of Giant" examines iconic film as backdrop of changing culture

Austin filmmaker Hector Galan's latest project started with a small story, albeit one close to his heart, about alumni of a segregated Mexican-American school in the West Texas town of Marfa in the 1950s.

But for the larger audience, Marfa in the 1950s means one thing: "Giant," the 1956 epic starring Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean that was filmed with the Davis Mountains as a backdrop.

Accordingly, Galan has combined the two threads into "Children of Giant," a documentary for PBS' Voces series that will air in Houston at 10 p.m. Friday on KUHT (Channel 8).

Based on Edna Ferber's novel and directed by Oscar-winner George Stevens, "Giant" created a sensation in the 1950s by reflecting some of the elements that were coming to the forefront in Texas as the stars rolled into Marfa in the summer of 1955.

Among Houston audiences, "Giant" probably is best remembered for Dean's depiction of Jett Rink, the ranch-hand-turned-oil tycoon whose character was based on Houston wildcatter Glenn McCarthy. Among Latino audiences, though, the clash of changing cultures as desegregation began eating into Jim Crow-style mores is its best-remembered plot line.

Stevens re-crafted some of the scenes from Ferber's novel to emphasize the racial divide between Hispanics and Anglos, going so far as to darken Mexican actress Elsa Cardenas' skin with additional makeup.

"George Stevens was showing for the first time to American audiences what was happening in real life," Galan said. "It was art and life coming together. He was ahead of his time, and it's amazing how relevant some of the things he showed on screen remain today."

Galan's father attended a segregated school in Christoval, south of San Angelo. Galan attended desegregated schools in San Angelo, but he remembers teachers rapping his knuckles with a yardstick when he spoke Spanish in class.

With that background, he was attracted to do a film about Hispanics in Marfa attempting to obtain a state historical marker for the Blackwell School, which served Hispanic students from the 1890s into the 1960s. But since many of the Blackwell School alumni of the mid-1950s served as extras for "Giant," it was natural to combine the two topics.

"Everybody knows about 'Giant,'" he said. "I thought the film was so big it would overshadow what the Blackwell School people were trying to do, but as time went on and as I learned about George Stevens, I started seeing the parallels."

Stevens, who won the Academy Award for best director, and the film's biggest stars have died, but "Children of Giant" includes interviews with surviving cast members Earl Holliman and Cardenas, Stevens' son, George Stevens Jr., and Marfa residents who were film extras or watched the movie being made on location.

Running parallel with memories of the film are vignettes about life in Marfa, including a 1950s ceremony in which students were asked to "bury" the Spanish language in a mock coffin outside the Blackwell School, and the odd fact that even today, the Hispanic and Anglo portions of the town cemetery are divided by a chain-link fence.

While he has strong feelings, Galan said he tried to craft a film that all audiences can appreciate.

"I don't want to preach to the choir," he said. "People like to hear about Liz Taylor and Rock Hudson, so we have that. But there also is a strong story. I didn't want people to walk away angry. I wanted them to see the truth, and I think I succeeded."