Search - The James Dean Story / The Bells Of Cockaigne on DVD

Jimmy Had A Lot Of Heart And Determination From The Start

Samuel R. Smith | evansville, indiana | 10/01/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Perhaps the most astounding portion of "The James Dean Story" is the audio and still footage of the hidden recording of the Dean family talent at auctioneering. I watch this dvd every year on Sept. 30, close to the hour of Dean's death. So much of the film captures Jimmy Dean as a very sensitive young man whose bold heart knew very few limits. Although he was very myopic, he was a basketball and track "star" (he averaged 15 points a game in a three game semi-final in an era when 15 points in a game was a lot, and set a pole vault record for that region which was only broken years later). I found it interesting that Marcus Winslow Sr. commented that Jimmy "must have broken 15 pairs of glasses" playing sports. Although he was short in stature he had the heart of a lion. I was also pleased with the summation, or the conclusion, where the narrator, Martin Gable reminds us of the positive images of youth Jimmy left us. So many other documentaries, including the ones with Bill Bast, or Peter Lawford, are so much hearsay, and are speculative at best."

Robert Altman's Masterpiece

kametamorphic | East Haven | 12/22/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"THE JAMES DEAN STORY is a powerful movie. It is an intimate story of Dean told in the simplest of images and wonderful narration. A simple homage to an American icon who's effects of his brief time here still linger."