Giant

Texas cattlemen vs. oil prospectors, old money vs. new money, set in a time when cars could have license plates like "275." Back when scripts had dialogue that was as biting as it could be with a G rating, "Giant" tackles a surprising number of issues, from racism to sexism, especially primogeniture. It's an old-style big Hollywood production, with grand strings and horns and formulaic acting, which can be good, but is usually restricted to showing one emotion. The three main actors -- Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean -- were pretty good at showing their characters age over the course of three generations. They don't make movies like this anymore, thank Christ, but some of them, like this one, are still worth watching.