by Johnny Ray Huston

Later this month we reach the 59th anniversary of James Dean’s untimely death, and this week, Pacific Film Archive is presenting new digital restorations of East of Eden , Rebel Without a Cause , and Giant , the canonical trilogy of sorts that define his brief but enduring film career. James Dean is so thoroughly iconic, so intricately woven into the fabric of Western pop culture, that an article-length summation of his life and work would be pure folly. Instead, here are a trio of book-based angles on the actor and the man-myth.  Continue reading →