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00:00Sous-titrage Société Radio-Canada
00:30I don't think anyone will ever be remembered after their death 50 years like James
00:59Dean is he's a name today probably more so than he was when he was alive in
01:06Hollywood what it is even today which is really amazing people will say about a
01:10new young actor maybe he's the next James Dean and they've been saying that
01:14for 50 years James Dean I guess you're about the best looking gal we've seen
01:20around here in a long time the star who became a legend who spoke for all the
01:25restless young as no one has before or since at his death James Dean is still
01:34almost an unknown that has just completed his third film but the three roles he
01:39plays and his particular personality conferring him the image of the consummate
01:43rebel his mark on Hollywood is indelible I don't think many people know that he
01:49was only in Hollywood 16 months and did three major films and Marilyn Monroe and
01:56Elvis Presley had a Hollywood experience it was much longer than that they predict
02:00that Elvis Presley will be another James Dean now have you heard that I've heard
02:06something about it but I would I would never compare myself in any way to James
02:11Dean because James Dean was a genius he made he's a vision robot caused giant 16
02:17months and race cars and boom and he was dead and it's just kind of all very
02:22dramatic just like his life was were it not for his death he'd probably just be
02:27another old actor today but he died at the right time and he died in a dramatic
02:34way there's kind of a what-if to it you know a tragic death happens very quickly and
02:41and and and that seems to be a central theme for all of them Monroe of course
02:45had it Presley had it obviously James Dean had it being frozen as a 24 year old
02:51it's just an amazing phenomenon that nobody's nobody's ever repeated that or
02:56been this popular this long after he's been dead live fast die young and leave a
03:05beautiful corpse said James Dean a challenge he met only too well
03:13that's the story of rebel without a cause it really happened Jimmy always had a lot
03:20of confidence in himself and he'd always told my mom and dad that if he could just
03:27get a break you know he'd make it he seemed to have this drive to be a success fast and of course
03:36before he was 24 years old he had made you know three movies so he did do it fast and and he seemed to
03:44to he seemed to be in control Dean's career takes off in March 1954 he turns his back on bit parts for TV and makes his first movie with the hottest director around
03:59Ilya Kazan Kazan had seen him he gave him a screen test in New York for East of Eden and the only competition he had was another young actor named Paul Newman and Dean got the
04:14the part Warner Brothers had to seek out vibrant new personalities tap new sources of talent create new stars James Dean as Cal the wildest boy you've ever met
04:26it was really a thrill to see Jimmy up on the screen and of course we didn't know how much he would be in it and turned out he was in it almost all the time but it to me it never seemed like he was acting in East of Eden it just seemed like that was Jimmy up there
04:43it was a very very powerful performance it was very close to the character was very close to what Jimmy really was and Kazan was wise enough to just pull that out of him and use it make him use everything he was
05:01at that time in Hollywood the style of acting was changing there was Brando and Montgomery Cliff they brought with them a revolutionary style to film and it turned things upside down
05:19James Dean was not just a Hollywood actor or a Hollywood star I think he was America's last pioneer because he did things
05:27the behind the camera the behind the camera in front of the camera that other people never did
05:33James Dean has an instinctive talent for powerful emotional portrayals played his own way
05:39when an actor plays a scene exactly the way a director orders it isn't acting it's following instructions he would say
05:46he liked to set and watch someone and just study what they do and different different types of people and and then I think later on he would he would pull those people into into some of his acting in East of Eden
06:08and some of the scenes with Raymond Massey he kind of did little things that weren't weren't part of the script and and Raymond Massey really got upset
06:20in the script it called for a a conflict between the two so he built it off camera by not talking to him and then on camera to do intentionally which would aggravate him and the actor wanted to actually quit the show and then on camera to do intentionally which would aggravate him
06:35and the actor wanted to actually quit the show because Jimmy was bringing such turmoil to the set
06:42but if you see that movie today you can see that conflict is real it's not just acting
06:48and I suggest a little slower Cal and you don't have to read the verse numbers
06:52for this shall everyone that is godly pray unto thee
06:56and surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him
07:01Selah
07:027
07:03not the numbers Cal
07:05thou art my hiding place thou shalt preserve me from trouble thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance
07:11Selah
07:128
07:14you have no repentance you're bad through and through bad
07:18it was very hard to adjust to this but I got to know him well enough that I could see through some of the changes of mood
07:30and realized that a lot of them were for effect he was trying trying things out trying a scene trying to make a scene seeing how you would react to something unexpected
07:45Jimmy's constant provocation leads to a bad boy reputation and a complicated relationship with Jack Warner the film's producer
07:52but impressed by his performance in East of Eden Warner soon offers him a second movie rebel without a cause
07:59the film came about because he had a contract with Warner Brothers
08:17Nicholas Ray wanted to be the next director with a Dean film and they literally wrote a script for Dean
08:29they knew that they had potentially a big star
08:31they knew that they had potentially a big star
08:33no I don't want you to go to the police
08:35there were other people why should you be the only one involved
08:37but I am involved we are all involved
08:41mom
08:43a boy a kid was killed tonight
08:46this is all going too fast for me son
08:48you better give me something
08:50you better give me something fast
08:52Jimmy you're very young
08:54rebel without a cause evokes a social reality that America is barely waking up to
08:58a rebellious and delinquent youth
09:00director Nicholas Ray knows Jimmy is made for the part
09:07you want to kill your own father
09:10you barely ever hear a fan talk about East of Eden or Giant
09:15it's always rebel
09:17there were very few actors that I can think of
09:20who portrayed adolescent youth as well as Jimmy did
09:24before that teenagers weren't really heard
09:28you know he was he yelled at his parents and he got mad and you know through things
09:34and you know before that kids were all teenagers and movies were all just squeaky clean and wholesome
09:40he's the first teenager that did this
09:44yeah that's what's important
09:47he's the first teenager that said sometimes parents are wrong
09:53and that's essentially what what Dean is saying in rebel
09:57you say one thing the other says another thing you know there's a scene about it
10:01and rebel with the
10:03and then you're tearing me apart
10:05you know what kind of drunken brawl those parties turn into
10:08it's no place for kids
10:10a minute ago you said you didn't care if he drinks
10:12he said a little drink
10:14you're tearing me apart
10:17what
10:18you say one thing he says another and everybody changes back again
10:22he did such a tremendous job playing the characters he played
10:27and honestly I think some people get the characters mixed up with James Dean himself
10:34it is conceivable at least that the young at the time of Dean's death
10:39were looking for an attachment looking for a human being looking for a symbol to attach their own frustrations
10:51and anxieties and anger and it coincided with not only that a movie was made about that particular aspect of the young rebel without a cause
11:07but he died so he became the martyr
11:10when they had the funeral for him was on exactly the same day that they released rebel without a cause
11:17I think the timing of that event probably increases popularity a thousand fold
11:23they released rebel about a week after his death and it's just kind of sad to see him up there on the screen and knowing that he wasn't here anymore
11:31all the ingredients are set for a legend to be born captured in the brilliant bloom of youth James Dean becomes a worldwide phenomenon
11:42his image is printed everywhere and there is a surprising abundance of photos for such a short career
11:48there are many pictures of Jimmy because he wanted many pictures because it's conceivable he knew he would die young
12:00and he wanted to leave a legend and I came along and proposed the ultimate legendary project
12:13let's go back and do your life one has to keep in mind that I had no idea he was going to die
12:20so the photographs become legendary not with my intention as such but that's the case
12:32Dennis Stock and his camera accompany James Dean as far as Fairmount Indiana where he grew up
12:39it is February 1955 the last time he visits his family and his cousin's last memories
12:45no one had any idea that we were never going to see him again the fact that Dennis took all his photos
12:57they've been in magazines and books and things you know every time I see one of them it brings back memories you know of when he was here
13:09it was a very happy time it was right after Christmas and I got this little Jaguar toy
13:14and it was a car that you could take apart and take the wheels off and take the motor out of
13:20you know he got down on the floor with me and played with that
13:24for a joke Dean asks stock to take a photo of him in a coffin
13:27eight months later his body would once again lie in the same funeral parlor
13:32on the farm he was alright but then I photograph him in a coffin
13:38he wasn't so alright you know that there was an unbalanced human being there
13:47unwittingly Dennis stock provides posterity with a different Jimmy Dean
13:53the fragile and touching farm boy whose life began with a tragedy
13:58Jimmy's mother died when he was nine years old
14:03and he came here to live with my folks
14:06my mom and dad raised him from age nine until he left here
14:13after graduating from Fairmount High School
14:16and to me he was just like an older brother
14:20he is coming from a quiet place but he's still a very angry young man
14:28because he lost his mother when he didn't want to
14:33and nobody can explain to him why so he is rebellious
14:4252 years later this small town in Indiana still celebrates its own Hollywood rebel
14:53every September tens of thousands of fans and admirers flock to the James Dean festival
14:59we're studying this subculture that's called gravers and gravers are men and women of all backgrounds
15:21socio-economic level ethnic backgrounds who are interested with dead celebrity icons
15:28we get James Dean fans that visit Fairmount from all over the world
15:32and you can't tell a James Dean fan by looking at them
15:36artists doctors lawyers punk rock kids you know motor bikers
15:43what makes an icon successful the one that can be long lasting and have a long following is they have to have a number of things
15:51first of all they have to have a place you know a place where people can go and walk where they walked
15:57and see what they saw and touch what they touched
16:04the festival kicks off with the main street car show
16:08among the 2,000 vehicles on show are the red ford and the tractor Jimmy drove in his youth
16:15you can tell from the festival in Fairmount that you know there's still a lot of people that like James Dean
16:27and rebel without a cause and Jimmy is what made the 49 50 51 Mercury car the classic car that it is
16:36and if you ever want to see Mercury's Fairmount's a place to come
16:42James Dean's passionate association with cars is not limited to one legendary scene in rebel without a cause
16:49with his first paychecks he signs up for real races on real racetracks
16:54I met James Dean in the movie called rebel without a cause
16:59I was the person that customized the Mercury and also I worked with him on what we call the chicken chase
17:07I coordinated the stunts and also the different variations
17:11from there on we became kind of what we call racing or custom car buddies
17:17he liked cars very much
17:19so we always on the set we talk about different cars and things like that
17:23and he was getting into racing and into that variation
17:27so we kind of followed each other around while he went into his racing days
17:32he liked speed he really did
17:34and then when it was time for the kids to go to bed
17:37Jim he'd say to me well shall we
17:39and I'd say sure
17:41and we'd go outside and he'd get
17:43and I think in those days he had a Porsche an old one
17:47and I'd get in my old Buick convertible
17:51it was souped up
17:52and we'd drive to the top of Mulholland Drive
17:55we'd pull up at a stop and he'd say okay let's go
18:11and he always won because he had a faster car and was a better driver I'm sure
18:15did everybody when they heard he was going to race in Palm Springs and Bakersfield and Santa Barbara
18:20here comes this young actor what could he know about driving
18:24and Phil Hill who was one of the world's most renowned racers said he was terrifying everybody else before he got on the track
18:32but once he got on the track he was the most precise driver he had ever seen
18:36he never endangered himself or any other drivers
18:39he was a very good racer
18:40he with this short amount of time that he was driving and his experience he was getting
18:47he could be and could have been one of the top racers
18:50he took a lot of chances
18:52and some people call him daredevil
18:54or possibly a man that didn't care about whether he crashed or got killed or not
19:01but that's not true
19:02he was just a very good racer
19:04and to win a race you have to take chances or you have to know what you're going to do
19:10his passion is of concern to the studio
19:12fearing that an accident will compromise shooting on his third film Giant
19:16Warner forbids Jimmy from driving before October 1st
19:19the very day of the race in Salinas
19:22Jimmy signs up
19:25Jimmy called me and asked if I would wanted to go to the racetrack with him
19:29he was going to a racetrack and he was going to race the new Porsche he'd bought
19:33and I couldn't go with him to the race the following day
19:38because I had to be in Mexico to do an interview
19:42and Jimmy tried two or three other friends he wanted to go with him
19:47and no one was available
19:49I was working in Switzerland and I got this need to see him
19:56I was working on a movie there
19:58and so I got on the plane
20:02mutual friend picked me up at the airport in Los Angeles
20:05took me to a house where Jimmy was
20:07and then he said to me
20:08come with me this weekend to ride
20:11and I said sure I'd love to
20:13and something turned in my brain
20:15and I said no I can't
20:18I had no idea why
20:21I just simply said I can't
20:23The day before he dies
20:25Jimmy's new Porsche is finally ready
20:28When we went to the car lot
20:31where he was buying the Porsche
20:34obviously he was excited
20:38but I had no idea how excited
20:40until he insisted on every detail of the car
20:43being explained to him
20:45shown to him
20:46but he spent four hours
20:47with me standing there
20:48stamping my feet waiting
20:50while he went over every detail of that car
20:53and he was so proud of that car
20:55he really
20:56I think he loved it probably more
20:58than he'd loved any woman
21:04It is largely thanks to James Dean
21:06that Porsche has become a mythical brand name
21:08For the past 20 years
21:10the star of the Fairmount show
21:12is an exact recollection of Jimmy's Spider
21:14In pride of place at the entrance to the show
21:16it captures everyone's attention
21:18We built this car in six weeks
21:32and that was rushing it just a little bit
21:34we worked day and night
21:35but I was trying to make a big show
21:37in my hometown of Detroit
21:38and that was in 1987
21:41So over the years I've learned a lot about the car
21:44and about Jimmy
21:46he was a car guy
21:48he loved cars
21:49loved motorcycles
21:50loved to race
21:51and that's what we like to do
21:52and that's more the connection
21:55than say the movie stuff
21:58Original cars they made 90 of them
22:02so there's not very many left
22:04this is a replica
22:05and so there's several companies
22:08that are making bodies
22:09and you could purchase one and build it
22:11so there's probably a lot of them out there
22:14not too many done up with the 130's
22:17and the Little Bastard
22:18and the whole James Dean connection
22:23The term Little Bastard
22:24was a term that a lot of different people claim
22:27and I've read it repeatedly
22:29but I personally believe
22:30that the one that really originated it
22:32was Jack Warner
22:33because he could not control James Dean
22:35and he called him a Little Bastard
22:37and right after he bought the car
22:39he took it to Barris' on Riverside Drive
22:42and Barris lettered
22:44Little Bastard on the trunk
22:45and then Jimmy purposely parked
22:47this new 550 Porsche Spyder
22:49right outside in the parking lot
22:51so that Jack Warner
22:52could look out of his window
22:53and see that
22:57Hollywood is locked into the star system
22:59and Jack Warner cannot allow another studio
23:01to benefit from Dean's popularity
23:03James Dean was really one of the first people
23:09to get a nine picture contract
23:11he signed that contract
23:13the last day of his life really
23:14with Jack Warner and George Stevens present
23:17and it was a tool that Jack Warner wanted to use
23:19to control James Dean
23:21because they figured that's the only way
23:22that they could do it
23:23is to offer him a nine picture contract
23:25for a million dollar
23:26and at the last minute
23:27Jack Warner changed the contract
23:29to $997,000 just to make sure that James Dean
23:33did not ever get
23:34Hollywood's first million dollar contract
23:36James Dean however
23:39does enjoy the unprecedented privilege
23:41of choosing three of the nine films
23:43his contract demands
23:44the night before he died
23:46he came to see me
23:47and he wanted to do
23:49a modern contemporary
23:52Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
23:54and I thought that was a very suitable subject for him
23:58because he had such a schizophrenic personality
24:02so changeable
24:04and so we talked about it
24:07and started to sort of kick ideas around
24:11and he was going to sort of finance this script
24:15and I was going to put it together
24:17he had plans for the future that were incredible
24:19he wanted to be a director
24:21he did not want to remain as an actor
24:24he wanted to be able to parlay that
24:26into becoming a director
24:28and when he got his first camera
24:30he began to take a lot of photographs
24:33and he thought in terms of scenes
24:36scenes
25:06as evening falls over Sunset Boulevard
25:12James Dean calls in for the last time at Boogie's
25:15a trendy bar where all Hollywood comes to hang out
25:18my father was a bongo player
25:20he played bongos with James Dean
25:22and James Dean after he would get off the movie set
25:25he would go up to Sunset Boulevard
25:27and watch my father and Bob Romeo play music
25:31and then James Dean would get up on stage
25:34and sit in with my father and Bob Romeo on a flute
25:39he liked to draw, he liked to paint
25:42I've seen paintings and drawings he's done
25:45he's very, very artistic
25:47he used to draw all the time when he was here at home
25:50and he'd encourage me to draw
25:53certain people can identify with him in a lot of different ways
25:56because he was so multifaceted
26:00the Indiana farm boy
26:03the wholesome high school athlete and student
26:08New York City bohemian
26:11Hollywood movie star, race car driver
26:15he painted, he played bongos
26:18so I think he was just so multifaceted
26:20that people could identify with him in a lot of different ways
26:23I think he had a curiosity
26:26I don't think it's appropriate to believe
26:30that he necessarily would have been outstanding in anything more than acting
26:36on the morning of September 30th 1955
26:55James Dean crosses Los Angeles for the last time
26:58and yet he's still officially not allowed to drive
27:01we saw him before he left when he was getting off with Hickman and Sandy Roth
27:09they were off to this gasoline station
27:12and the car was on the trailer
27:14of course from there on he took the car off the trailer
27:17and wanted to drive it
27:20of course Bill and everybody we all said
27:22don't drive it, you don't want to drive it
27:24three or four hundred miles clear up to Salinas for the race
27:27I want to get some use to it and I want to get into it
27:30so it was just one of those things that kept falling into place
27:35that led up to the tragedy
27:41there is something inevitable about the tragedy
27:44neither the studio ban nor the unreasonable distance he has to drive
27:48would change anything
27:50Jimmy slides in behind the wheel
27:53he liked to hear the engine go and the speed that he can make out of it
28:02Jimmy was going very fast, much too fast for the road
28:06Jimmy had gotten a ticket on the way down
28:09we traced back the route he had taken
28:11from the time he received the citation until the time of the accident
28:14and he would have averaged about 70 miles an hour
28:19from the time he received the citation
28:21to the time and the location of the accident
28:24however we did know that in this time he had stopped
28:29so we know he was going much faster than this
28:31Jimmy is not alone that day
28:35posterity will benefit from the presence of photographer Sandy Roth
28:37who follows him, camera at the ready
28:44I'm thankful that the photos were taken that day
28:48were able to capture his last moments as much as he could
28:54but in his Porsche Jimmy is much quicker
28:57and he speeds past him
28:59the last photo of Jimmy alive
29:02Sandy will see him just once more
29:05at Blackwell's corner
29:07a store in the middle of the desert
29:09every day we get people asking about James Dean
29:13on how he died, where he died
29:16history states that he bought
29:19an apples and a coke
29:21that's what they say he bought
29:23so what happens is people want to know
29:26do we have any apples?
29:27do we have any coke?
29:29the store that we're in now is
29:313200 square feet
29:33and we're building a 20,000 square feet building
29:37and it's going to have some James Dean memorabilia
29:40that doesn't hurt
29:41you know people come in and they know that
29:44this was James Dean's last stop
29:46so they want to stop here and
29:48and get the feel
29:50you know it's kind of a neat story
29:52knowing that he stopped here
29:54and he drove 25 miles west and died
29:57towards the end of the afternoon
30:00James Dean takes to the road again
30:02in his sleek silver machine
30:04heading for the final crossroads
30:14the road was going straight into the sun on September 30th
30:17and instead of the sun being up here
30:19it really was down here
30:21so you're looking right into it
30:23and on his car they don't have any sun visors
30:26to block this
30:27so he's looking straight into the sun
30:29he was driving a low
30:31a car that was low to the ground
30:33it was painted silver
30:35and it blended right in with the road
30:39that kind of went up a hill right behind him
30:41and of course the fellow that made a turn in front of him
30:46he'd made that turn probably hundreds of times in his life
30:50because he was a local person there
30:52as the intersections come together
30:54they're a Y intersection
30:56there was a mountain range over here
31:00with the sun going down over here
31:02looking in this direction
31:04but Jimmy's car was approaching
31:06the Porsche was approaching down here
31:09the Donald Turnip Speed car
31:15was approaching from Paso Robles in this direction
31:19so Donald Turnip Speed had the opportunity
31:22to make the turn to Fresno
31:24to his left
31:25as Jimmy had the right
31:26it was a Yield intersection
31:28evidently what really happened
31:30is that Turnip Speed didn't see him
31:32the sun was setting to his rear
31:34which reflected onto the asphalt
31:37and there's waves in the road like this
31:40so this little short Porsche racing car
31:43coming over those waves
31:45you could see something
31:46and then you couldn't
31:47it was like as if you were seeing a mirage
31:49or something out in the desert
31:50well what the accident report shows
31:52is that there was two sets of skid marks
31:55there was one set of skid marks
31:57about forty feet long
31:59then there was an interruption
32:00then there was another set of skid marks
32:02about sixty feet long
32:04he had no control when he put the brakes on
32:07so the car shifted to the right
32:09into Jimmy's path
32:11at that moment in time
32:13he was living life to its fullest
32:15he was sitting in a brand new beautiful car
32:18going fast with a wind blowing in his hair
32:21and he was speeding to a racetrack
32:24he had everything going for him
32:26and then it was over
32:28what better way to die
32:45doing something you love
32:46and then in the midst of it
32:48it's like dying in the middle of sex
32:50great
32:52it was a car that was built
32:54to race
32:56it was made out of aluminum
32:58it was just like crushing a piece of tin foil
33:00against something hard
33:02the control that Jim had with the car
33:04and everything he did was right
33:06Jimmy did what a professional
33:08or a craftsmanship racing man would do
33:11he would try to maneuver around that automobile
33:16not with braking
33:19but with force and power in your engine
33:22he immediately geared it
33:24he immediately put his foot down
33:27put his brake a little bit
33:28put his foot down
33:29turned his steer wheel
33:31brodied a little bit to the left
33:33come back around with his wheel
33:35to go around that car
33:37if that car would have just stopped
33:40one hundred tenth of a second
33:43Jimmy Wood went away from him
33:45but he was speeding
33:46that's all there was to it
33:47and he couldn't stop in time
33:48I think his last words according to
33:51to witherick were
33:53that car up there's got to stop
33:55and that car up there didn't stop
33:58the point of impact
33:59which was here
34:00and the car spun several times
34:03and came to rest
34:04it did not roll over
34:05and Jimmy according to a tow truck driver
34:08that I personally interviewed
34:09said that his feet were
34:11Jimmy's feet were tangled
34:13in the pedals
34:14and he was laying across the other
34:16across the other's feet
34:18Jimmy's neck is broken
34:20he dies in the ambulance
34:22Donald Turnip Seed is unscathed
34:25everybody involved in the accident
34:27was the victim
34:28Donald Turnip Seed
34:30his life was never the same
34:33you know he was a college student
34:34he had to quit college
34:35because you know he killed James Dean
34:38people were hounding him
34:40and coming after him
34:41and reporters
34:42he didn't want to be known
34:43as the man who killed Jimmy Dean
34:45it wasn't his fault
34:46in any event
34:47I think it was certainly
34:49for a while uncomfortable for him
34:51because he was in the news
34:53he was in the newspapers
34:54and every story about Jimmy
34:55had his name
34:56Donald Turnip Seed
34:58absolutely refused
34:59any requests for interviews
35:01he would not do that
35:02he had a lot of death threats
35:04on his life I heard
35:05he was always afraid
35:06that somebody was going to
35:07do something to him
35:08so we tried several times
35:09but he declined
35:10all interviews
35:11before he passed away
35:12today in Shulam
35:13a monument commemorates the moment
35:16on September 30th 1955
35:17when Jimmy encountered eternity
35:19I visited the accident site a couple different times
35:34when I was living in California
35:36and it just kind of had sad feelings
35:40and it's quiet
35:41desolate highway
35:42there's nothing really
35:43out there
35:44and you can't really imagine
35:46an accident happening
35:48I mean there's just
35:49nothing in any direction
35:51such a freak accident
35:52that somebody would
35:53pull in front of him
35:54out in the middle of the desert
35:56a lot of diners
35:57a lot of diners
35:58have told me
35:59that they don't feel complete
36:01until they make the trip
36:02to Shulam California
36:03where he was killed
36:04so you can't just do
36:05Faramount
36:06Faramount's
36:07kind of a sacred place
36:08and it's very important
36:10in the diners
36:11civil religion
36:12but you have to go
36:13Shulam too
36:14it's no different
36:15than people
36:16pilgrimage to Mecca
36:17you know
36:18it's the same kind
36:19of observance
36:21okay
36:22that makes them feel part
36:24in this case
36:25of their icon
36:26news of Jimmy's death
36:29spreads like wildfire
36:31George Stevens
36:33director of his third film
36:34Giant
36:35is in a screening room
36:36checking rushes
36:37Jimmy had shot
36:38just days before
36:39the telephone rings
36:41and falls from his hands
36:45the next morning
36:47the accident is on
36:48every front page
36:49my folks were on
36:54their way back
36:55home here
36:57when the accident happened
36:59my dad said that
37:00he heard on the radio
37:02on the way back
37:03that
37:04a young
37:07upcoming movie star
37:08had been killed
37:09in a
37:10sports car accident
37:12well
37:13he knew that Jimmy
37:14had just bought
37:15that spider
37:16and he just had
37:17a feeling
37:18that it was Jimmy
37:20and
37:21but before
37:22they could go ahead
37:23and tell who it was
37:24and everything
37:25he just
37:26he just shut the radio
37:27off
37:28and didn't say anything
37:29to my mom about it
37:30and
37:31he said he just made a
37:32point not to read
37:33any newspapers
37:34or
37:35anything like that
37:36because
37:37if it was Jimmy
37:38he didn't want her
37:39to know about it
37:40until he got home
37:41and
37:42of course
37:43when they got home
37:44they found out
37:45it was him
37:46and I think that car
37:48was an instrument
37:49for his death
37:50that his temperament
37:52to test things
37:54which was
37:55really the
37:56the very heart
37:57of his personality
37:59eventually caught up
38:00with him
38:01that he pushed that car
38:02a little too fast
38:03in the wrong place
38:04you know
38:06rather than
38:07on a racing course
38:08or something like that
38:09and he killed him
38:10the myth initially builds
38:13around the idea
38:14that Jimmy was
38:15somehow responsible
38:16for his own death
38:17with his need
38:18for speed
38:19and a tormented personality
38:20until 1992
38:25when Exponent
38:27a Silicon Valley company
38:28examined a case
38:29studied umpteen times
38:30before
38:31this time using
38:32new computer
38:33analysis resources
38:34no one since the time
38:40of his death
38:41in 1955
38:42had done an engineering
38:43or scientific evaluation
38:44of the accident
38:45we had access
38:46to the police report
38:47we had access
38:48to site photographs
38:49of the accident scene
38:50and working off
38:51the photographs
38:52and doing
38:53an on-site evaluation
38:55down in Paso Robles
38:56we were able
38:57to put together
38:58a scenario
38:59to understand
39:00how the accident occurred
39:02and what we found
39:03was that
39:04Dean might have been speeding
39:06up until the point
39:07of the accident
39:08but at the time
39:09of the accident
39:10his car was traveling
39:11between 55 and 60 miles
39:12an hour
39:13as was the Ford
39:14so the police report
39:16which said
39:17that Dean was traveling
39:18in excess of 70 miles
39:19an hour
39:20at the time of the accident
39:21in our opinion
39:22was wrong
39:23the fact that he died
39:25in a very tragic accident
39:27in a very high-performance
39:29vehicle
39:30in a situation
39:31where everyone said
39:32it was his fault
39:33I think it probably
39:35adds to the myth
39:38the Dean effect
39:39is immediate
39:40one week after the accident
39:423,000 unknown faces
39:44joined Fairmount's
39:452,000 inhabitants
39:46at their idols funeral
39:47the church was full
39:49and they had opened
39:51the windows of the church
39:52and so people outside
39:54could hear the sermon
39:56and so forth
39:57and so forth
39:58we came in
39:59to the church
40:01and in the front row
40:04was the family
40:06and we just sat to the side
40:10and we let it all happen
40:11you know
40:12sort of dazed
40:14and then eventually
40:16when it was over
40:18we walked up
40:20and went up to Marcus
40:28Dennis Stalk
40:29he came in
40:30he hadn't been there yet
40:31and he came in
40:33and he walked in front of me
40:35and walked over to my dad
40:37and dad got up
40:39and they hugged each other
40:42and that's the first time
40:43my dad had cried
40:44and he just cried
40:45and cried
40:46and he just cried
40:47and cried
40:48you're always surprised
40:49when a young friend dies
40:50and you're young yourself
40:51you're invulnerable
40:53you know
40:54you're young
40:55people don't die
40:56when they're young
40:57unless they're in a war
40:58you know
40:59sure
41:00it was traumatic
41:02I left Hollywood
41:04I just stayed around
41:06went to Indiana
41:07for the funeral
41:08and then I said
41:09I've had it enough
41:11there was
41:12there was four girls
41:14that I remember
41:15reading about
41:16that they committed suicide
41:18within a week
41:19after Jimmy died
41:20which was very unusual
41:21and when thousands
41:22and thousands
41:23of pieces of fan mail
41:24went to Warner Brothers
41:25they had no idea
41:27what they really had
41:29in his popularity
41:32but popularity has a downside
41:34rumour
41:36books and magazines
41:37vie for the hottest revelations
41:39and scandal
41:40Jimmy's life is dissected
41:42and analysed
41:43particularly his sexuality
41:45I didn't know
41:46anything really
41:47about
41:48Jimmy's sex life
41:50until after
41:51he died
41:52then when he died
41:53I began to interview
41:54friends
41:55many of them male
41:57and many of them claimed
41:59and I wasn't there
42:00so I don't know
42:01to have had relationships
42:02with him
42:03there were so many stories
42:05that it seemed to me
42:07that it was likely
42:08that there was
42:09some truth
42:10to the fact
42:11that he was
42:12bisexual
42:13not homosexual
42:14but
42:15as he put it
42:16once to me
42:17I'm not going to go
42:18through life
42:19with one hand behind my back
42:20the difficulty
42:21was really to trying
42:22to sort through
42:23all of the things
42:24that had been said about him
42:25somebody would
42:26have a rumour
42:27and they would put it
42:28in a book
42:29and then the next book
42:30would expound
42:31on that rumour
42:32and basically turn it
42:33into a lie
42:34it really wasn't true
42:35about him at all
42:36or they would take
42:37something he said
42:38and then take it
42:39out of context
42:40and that began to build
42:41a legend
42:42of what he was
42:43his sexuality
42:44it's a question
42:45of your own sexuality
42:46you were gay
42:47you want to believe
42:48that Jimmy was gay
42:49you're straight
42:50you want to be certain
42:51that Jimmy was straight
42:52hey he was all things
42:54to all men
42:55or women
42:56what was true
42:57was that he had
42:58had the impact
42:59on people to want
43:00to make them
43:01want to invent
43:02incredible tales
43:04about him
43:05he made them
43:07want to make him
43:09more important
43:10it was amazing
43:12and they did
43:14they supplied
43:15everything
43:16they were
43:17in themselves
43:19the best
43:20public relations
43:21machine
43:22I have ever seen
43:23the line between
43:25rumour and mythology
43:26is a fine line
43:27fans are quick
43:28to cross it
43:29they have prophecies
43:31for example
43:32the famous car commercial
43:34that he did
43:35with Gig Young
43:36hiya Gig
43:37we asked Jimmy over
43:38today because
43:39he's a racing man himself
43:40a real one
43:41not a crazy one
43:42Jimmy
43:43we probably have
43:44a great many young people
43:45watching our show tonight
43:46and for their benefit
43:47I'd like your opinion
43:48about fast driving
43:49on the highway
43:50do you think
43:51it's a good idea?
43:52good point
43:53I
43:54I used to fly around
43:56quite a bit
43:57I took a lot of
43:58unnecessary chances
43:59on the highways
44:01and I started racing
44:04and
44:05now I drive on the highways
44:07I'm
44:08extra cautious
44:10because no one knows
44:12what they're doing
44:13half the time
44:14you don't know
44:15what this guy's gonna
44:16do with that one
44:17people say racing is dangerous
44:18but
44:19I'll take my chances
44:20on the track
44:21any day
44:22than on a highway
44:23well Gig
44:24I think I'd better
44:25take off
44:26oh wait a minute Jimmy
44:27um
44:28one more question
44:29do you have any
44:30special advice
44:31for the young people
44:32who drive?
44:33take it easy driving
44:34the life you
44:35might save
44:36might be mine
44:37Dean used to be
44:40referred to that as
44:41the prophecy commercial
44:43there's prophecy pictures
44:45and the most famous
44:46is the Dennis Stock one
44:48where Dean is in the
44:49picture window
44:50of the
44:51uh
44:52funeral home
44:53and he's sitting up
44:54in a coffin
44:55another famous
44:56prophecy photograph
44:57and that's how
44:58the Deaners talk about it
44:59you know
45:00prophecy photographs
45:01there's a
45:02uh
45:03a picture of
45:04James Dean
45:05and his
45:06Marcus Winslow Jr.
45:07when he was like
45:08nine years old
45:09uh
45:10pointing to
45:11a tombstone
45:12that says Dean on it
45:13I don't know if you've
45:14seen this one
45:15but that's another one
45:16and Dean was used it
45:17as part of the
45:18you know
45:19you could see it coming
45:20you know
45:21it was a prophecy
45:22that kind of stuff
45:23uh
45:24they have all these
45:25different kinds of things
45:26that clearly tell us
45:27that
45:28this isn't Jesus Christ
45:29okay
45:30but
45:31it has the same
45:32symbolism
45:33after all
45:34the crucifix picture
45:35is huge
45:36among the Deaners
45:37and that
45:41and
45:42very good promotion
45:43keeps them going
45:44there's money
45:45invested in
45:46the
45:47Jimmy Dean
45:48image
45:49and
45:50there are very good
45:51marketing people
45:52who keep pushing it
45:53coming out with
45:54new dolls
45:55or new
45:56ashtrays
45:57or what have you
45:58and they keep plugging
45:59away
46:00at this
46:01that's part of it
46:02that's a made
46:03to me that's a major part
46:04of the equation
46:05it's commercial
46:08the last weekend in
46:09September is Fairmount's
46:10most lucrative
46:12it's not easy for the fans
46:14to leave the James Dean
46:15Fest without stopping by
46:16Rebel Rebel
46:17the souvenir store
46:19probably the world's
46:20biggest collection of
46:21James Dean memorabilia
46:22and spin-off products
46:24411
46:25that's your change
46:261, 2, 3, 4
46:27thank you
46:28422
46:3010
46:31about 750
46:34there you go
46:35enjoy it
46:36thanks
46:37t-shirts are popular
46:38of course
46:39books are always popular
46:41books with photos of him
46:43items of memorabilia
46:44just
46:45make you feel closer
46:47to that part
46:48you know
46:49they're gone
46:50you're never going to be
46:51close to them
46:52a little metaphysical
46:54communication
46:55or closeness
46:56at the peak of my collection
46:57I would
46:58you know
46:59I had to have everything
47:00you know
47:01magnets
47:02little doodads
47:03pens
47:04writing pens
47:05you name it
47:06you know
47:07buttons
47:08right up to clothing
47:09that he owned
47:10and wore
47:11and drawings
47:12and paintings
47:13that he did
47:14can be measured in dollars
47:15and which perpetuates
47:16the image
47:17with new generations
47:18of Dean fans
47:19appearing all the time
47:20the James Dean business
47:21has a healthy future
47:23as the agent
47:24who manages his image
47:25can confirm
47:26we're talking about a property
47:28that is really a brand
47:31it's really no different
47:32than a Ralph Lauren
47:34Tommy Hilfinger
47:35or something like that
47:37James Dean's very big in Asia
47:39he's very big in Europe
47:41South America
47:43and so we're talking about
47:45hundreds of different companies
47:47and obviously selling
47:50many many many millions of dollars
47:53worth of products
47:54on the marketplace
47:55it's hard to estimate exactly
47:57how many hundreds of millions
47:58these products generate
47:59but the machine is well oiled
48:01and ticks over by itself
48:02those products
48:04do help perpetuate
48:06the legend of James Dean
48:08and he's been deceased now
48:11for 52 years
48:13and that's several generations
48:15of young people
48:16that continue to adore
48:21and want to buy products
48:24associated with James Dean
48:34for the past 52 years
48:47the Fairmount Cemetery
48:49has hosted a commemoration ceremony
48:51on September 30th
48:53fans from around the world
48:55from Indiana or Japan
48:56come to celebrate their icon
48:58a lot of the same people
48:59keep coming back
49:00year after year
49:01event after event
49:02and it's really turned into a community
49:05they make it a goal
49:06of being there
49:07at death day
49:08at birthdays
49:11special events
49:12like the premiere of a famous movie
49:14they do it religiously
49:32I have seen people at the ceremony
49:38at the cemetery
49:40when Marcus Windlow Jr. arrives
49:42I have literally seen people
49:44approach him
49:45and go like this
49:47just to touch him
49:50you know
49:51I've even seen people
49:52with one finger
49:53the same way they do
49:54on the grave
49:55on the stone itself
49:57usually when someone dies
50:21you're kind of allowed to
50:25silently mourn their death
50:30or whatever
50:31and you never forget them
50:34but as time goes on
50:36they get further and further
50:38back in your mind
50:39but with Jimmy
50:40because of his popularity
50:42and because of the people
50:44that he's inspired
50:45and so forth
50:46there's not
50:47hardly a day goes by
50:48that you don't
50:49you aren't reminded of him somehow
50:51just within the past
50:53couple years
50:54they've released all his
50:55old movies on DVDs
50:57and
50:58you know
50:59there's talk of
51:00putting his TV shows
51:02on DVDs
51:03and so forth
51:04and
51:05James Dean's gonna be
51:09around for a long, long time
51:11for a long time
51:41at the end
51:43the day
51:44they're not
51:45the end
51:46that night
51:47she's never
51:48gonna be
51:50that night
51:51she knows
51:52she knows
51:53what she's still
51:54there
51:55and she's not
51:56gonna be
51:57that night
51:58she knew
51:59the night
52:00she was
52:01she knew
52:02it
52:03she knew
52:05how her
52:06she was
52:07she knew