James Dean and Lois Smith, who is still alive at 91, in a wardrobe test for East of Eden

There's something so beautiful about this.

This has been posted a trillion times on here. You keep finding any reason to post JD. Did you just discover him? It’s weird.

God, look how young she was! She played Helen Hunt's aunt Meg in Twister.

Director Elia Kazan said that Julie Harris was one of the nicest people he had ever met.

R2 No. I just discovered Lois Smith.

Lois looks current like those gen z models on couture theme runways.

R4 She seemed nice but I think she was miscast in the role.

R6 She reminds me of Liv Tyler.

He strikes me as someone who was always “acting”

Harris WAS miscast.

R9 His vulnerability feels very genuine to me. He basically was Cal IRL.

Lois Smith has acted in movies that starred James Dean AND Timothee Chalamet.

Poignant and beautiful clip

Julie Harris was always a pruney sort of a woman who played hysteria and wounded vulnerability fairly well. And had the Tonys to prove it.

I didn't discover Lois Smith until Cruise's Minority Report and Twister. My favorite moment in the former is when the ancient Lois kisses Cruise on the mouth. She is also wonderful in Marjorie Prime.

He's so stunningly beautiful. It hurts to look at him.

Lois was Granny on True Blood and her death made me sad.

R8, more like those Eastern European models that became popular in the fashion world with their big heads, pale skin and weird baby like features.

R14 Yes, there was such beauty in his face, but also a touch of vulnerability and innocence. Marilyn Monroe had that same quality; she was gorgeous, but you could also see an almost childlike quality in her, too.

It’s kinda crazy watching this clip knowing Jimmy has been dead for nearly 70 years and Lois is still alive and just won her first Tony.

I LOVED this.

I love when he tries to put the cigarette in her mouth and you can tell she says to him, "No, I don't smoke."

Here she is accepting the Tony award in September 2021.

R21 Still beautiful at 91.

Dean is overrated because of his untimely and tragic death. He chews up scenery left and right in "Giant", and is comical as the aged Jett Rink. I imagine he would have had an interesting and lengthy career in Hollywood, however. Lois Smith is a national treasure.

R23 But seeing the two of them together in this clip - just magical. Even without sound, their chemistry, their vulnerability, a sense of hurt and woundedness - it all comes through.

R23 I love him in Giant, but I realize that’s a divisive performance. He was capable of giving more naturalistic performances like in this television episode.

I’m starting to think Dean is actually underrated. I don’t see how anyone can watch this wardrobe test and call him overrated. His appeal still resonates, 70 years later. The white boy faves of today have nothing on him.

This makes me more upset that Brando toyed with him so cruelly when he was, like Marilyn, so unsure of himself and self-destructive. It's a shame a decent man couldn't have helped Jimmy and stabilize him with a real loving relationship. Tragic beyond words.

He was young, hot, blond, hotheaded, sensitive and felt invincible. Was poor and from the sticks of Indiana. Became bicoastal and planted his feet in NY and LA. Wore a leather jacket, dressed in cowboy gear and rode a motorcycle. He fucked men and women to get ahead. He died young with a promising career. He was never a big star when alive but his death was shocking. He was a style icon to straight men, gay men and lesbians. Morrissey, a gay man drooled over James Dean and even wrote a chapbook about James Dean. Gay directors like Andy Warhol, Paul Morrissey and John Waters kept casting JD look-alikes in their films.

He represented sexy, carefree healthy masculinity that is lacking today.

R27 Brando was an asshole to Dean and people applaud him for it.

Actors and directors like Steven Yeun and Lee Isaac Ching are still inspired by Dean’s work to this day, so clearly he did something right.

Brando was an asshole to most people. James Dean was a naive kid who had a crush on Brando. Brando had no obligation to see Jimmy as anything over than another annoying homo that wanted to suck his dick and then copy his style. It's just an example of "never meet your idols". Paul Newman seemed much more compassionate to Dean. I think Dean leaned more gay than straight and would have embraced a gay identity like Sal Mineo did in the 70s.

Chung*

Lois Smith is a great actress, but she was too anemic, too 'normal' looking to play that role. Harris was a little too old for the part, but other than that, was fine.

Dean was constantly searching for father figures because he didn’t have a great relationship with his father. He saw a father figure in Brando but Brando didn’t give a fuck about him when he was alive. He only changed his tune decades after Dean’s death.

R33 The problem with East of Eden is that James Dean is prettier than Julie Harris. So is Richard Davalos. It’s kinda hard to believe they would be fighting over her.

[quote] This makes me more upset that Brando toyed with him so cruelly when he was, like Marilyn, so unsure of himself and self-destructive. It's a shame a decent man couldn't have helped Jimmy and stabilize him with a real loving relationship. Tragic beyond words.

That's the thing. Marilyn was a woman and very sweet to others which naturally made people care more about her. James Dean was socially awkward, would be cocky and rude at times. Most people thought he was annoying because of this. Brando just saw Dean as a hot piece of ass.

Brando was mentally ill and self-destructive himself and he had a terrible relationship with his parents. Even if Dean managed to charm him over. Brando would not have been a good influence anyway.

R36 A lot of people hated Dean, but a lot of people loved him too. I get the impression women responded to him more than men, ironically enough. They wanted to protect and take care of him. Geraldine Page, Eartha Kitt, and Elizabeth Taylor come to mind.

Julie Harris was too old. She looked and sounded so matronly compared to Davalos and Dean.

James Dean and his films are more interesting than Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Ryan Gosling and Supernatural guys who have millions of frau fans who post nonstop about them on her. James Dean also sucked dick and embodied the hot bad boy in leather on a motorcycle that gays like.

She was gorgeous.

Love that she's still at it, getting meaty roles and winning awards in her 90s!

We should all have such a satisfying career.

R37 Forgot about Vampira.

Pretty:

And kind of ditzy:

Smith and Harris were no match for Dick Davalos...

Lois Smith certainly had a sweet waif-like quality when younger, but she did not age all that well. Since DL loves it when women start showing their age, here she is just 14 or 15 years later in Five Easy Pieces.

She's a boozer R45. A loveable one...

It would have been magical to see them together in this.

He’s charismatic, but knows it.

She grounds him over and over again with her unspoken, unassuming truthfulness.

He strikes me as knowing he’s better when he’s in sync with her.

Beautiful

Julie was like an old lady from the beginning. She’s like Deborah Kerr, always the same character in everything. I just realized I never liked her, just like DK. Being an old movie buff, I guess it never occurred to me that any actor ballyhooed as a great actor could bore me to tears.

Warren Beatty in Splendor in the Grass seemed to be carbon copying Dean's performance in this. Too bad he was so bland and about as interesting as a cardboard box.

Did Dean ever play a convincing heterosexual?

R51 I thought he was convincing in East of Eden and Giant. He had great chemistry with Betsy Palmer in this television episode.