James Dean Days

This month will mark the 50th anniversary of the death of James Dean.  Each year, his hometown of Fairmount, Indiana, hosts an annual celebration marking the date of his death: September 30, 1955.

I traveled to Fairmount a few years back.  It is a postage stamp-size town, with literally one stoplight.  It is probably similar to many small Indiana towns, and doesn't look like it's changed much since James Dean's time.

James Dean is still popular today, even though he made only three films, "East of Eden", "Rebel Without A Cause", and "Giant".  Extremely gifted, his life and his vast potential died on a California highway now fifty years ago.

It is hard to speculate what James Dean might have been had he lived.  It is all to easy to exaggerate what he could have accomplished.  One avenue for comparison is the life of one of Dean's contemporaries, Marlon Brando.  Brando was nominated for an Academy Award for four years in a row, 1951-1954 (winning in 1954), before James Dean burst onto the scene.  Through the years Brando had his ups and downs with bursts of great performances, like "The Godfather", but never maintained his consistency compared to the early 1950s.

Would James Dean been able to continue producing work at a high level?  I certainly hope so, as it is a more pleasurable story to tell.  His early death, while very tragic, should serve as reminder to us all to make the most we can from life.  As they say, stars either burn out or fade away.  James Dean unfortunately burnt out, while Brando faded away over the past couple decades.  Would Dean have faded if he lived?  We'll never know, and maybe it's better that way.