The Giant That Put Marfa on the Map

by

Words by William Ennis

What happens to a sleepy Texas town when the likes of Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, and James Dean descend upon it to create the epic western movie 'Giant'?

Marfa grew up around a watering hole for the steam train circa 1880. Water tanks were spaced across the length of the railroad to fill up the water tank used by the locomotive to produce steam, and people naturally gravitated to these places. The train had to stop there, so thus, it was a chance for passengers to embark. Also, there was water available for stock, so homes and businesses naturally developed.

Marfa is located in the high desert country of Western Texas. During the war years, the defence built several landing strips, some with several runways near Marfa. It was great country for teaching young men how to fly, and there were several places to land in case of engine problems. Several thousand pilots got their wings there, including some on multiple engine bombers. It would have been very noisy country during those years and the town of Marfa probably did a monster business. After 1945, storage buildings and hangars were torn down or sold for scrap. People left Marfa, so it began to shrink back to its quiet beginnings.

Welcome Hollywood, or at least welcome to the producer and actors to town. The open cowboy ranching country was just what the producer of 1956 Giant was looking for. Here was a place with good lighting for filming, lots of rolling land, and a backdrop of blue coloured mountains to the north. Once summer arrives it gets hot and dry, and once the spring greenness has turned brown, it's not very attractive to look at. Those of us who travel through here as snowbirds know that.

The moviemakers rented the Ryan Ranch, just to the west of town, for the location shots. Riata, the home, was built in the studio, sent to Marfa by train and erected. It was just a false empty frame, which you can still see with difficulty from the highway if you look southward. All that's left are the poles that held it up.

Little Riata, where James Dean spent a lot of time is to the north, across Hwy 90, and you can see the windmill frames where he climbed, and the entrance sign to his place.

The arrival of celebrated movie stars into this little town would certainly have created a lot of interest among the local citizens. They were allowed to watch the filming and some were used as extras on the set.

Not only was the ranch part of the rental deal, but also the cattle herd and horses. These cows had to be on call when needed, and that meant the cowboys held them close-by on cattle filming days and then ran them by the cameras, again and again, until the director was happy with the scene.

How do you get a bucking horse to do the scene the way the director wants it? You put a bunch of cowboys on bucking horses, one at a time until it happens the right way. That's a lot of bouncing and sore muscles just to satisfy the director.

The actors had to adjust to their new temporary homes. They left the hustle and bustle of Hollywood to arrive at a contradictory atmosphere. At the end of a hot day, they returned from the set at the Evans Ranch to their hotel in Marfa. Then the reality must have set in. "What do I do now?" When they walked out to see the sights, all they had to do was stop on the doorstep and look both directions. Once the "Wow" interest of the citizen faded, the streets would mainly be empty. It didn't help, that the summer they arrived was during a several years' drought, and the temperature was riding near 38 degrees Celsius (100F.) Evening entertainment was quiet in Marfa and sometimes the cast drove down to Mexico to sample tequila and margaritas.

Most of the talent stayed at the Hotel Paisano and that is where you can find some of the memorabilia relating to the movie Giant. Elizabeth Taylor, and possibly others, took up private houses. A few other movies have used Marfa in the shots, but you'll find that Giant is the main one associated with Marfa. Marfa is Giant.

The movie's plot was focused on a rich rancher with some 600,000 acres of land. A labourer, named Jett, played by James Dean, inherits a small parcel of land from the ranch and won’t sell it back to the owner of the big ranch, and tensions rise. Then Jett puts up a drill rig and finds oil and becomes richer, and tempers rise. It's a long movie but it would be worth watching before visiting Marfa.

Today, Marfa has become a place where artists, and would be, artists, go. There are several shops along the main street with all sorts of artistic creations.

The trend to art forms began back in the 1980s when a man named Judd, from New York, took a liking to the empty look of the lands, and its wilderness appeal. Then he proceeded to change it. He purchased the old army base to use the buildings for his art. He also built what looks like large rectangular culverts, his idea of art, in the empty space. After he died, the property has been looked after by the Chinati Foundation.

When you visit Marfa, expect to drive down a neatly groomed main street with a view of the beautiful County Courthouse at the end. It's a quiet town, with some striking architecture, such as the Presidio County Courthouse and the Hotel Paisano. It's a pleasant town in which to stroll along the sidewalk looking in the windows of the stores and shops, and searching for references to the movie, 'Giant'.

After the excitement of the production of Giant, it looks like the town returned to the former sleepy Texan town it has mostly been. Without Giant, its decline may have happened quicker. Giant, although produced in the 1950s, is still drawing people to Marfa, and they are enjoying it.