Rock Hudson was born in Illinois just over 100 years ago and became one of the leading men among Hollywood actors.
Elizabeth Taylor was born in London to a prominent American couple, grew up in Los Angeles, became a film star at an early age and eventually married U.S. Sen. John Warner, among others.
It was about 70 years ago that Hudson and Taylor, along with other actors, converged on a small town in Albemarle County to film the movie “Giant,” based on a novel that was published in 1952.
The movie opens with a bucolic scene of horses roaming through the countryside as a train, with Hudson on board, arrives at the station in Keswick, located just a few miles east of Charlottesville. The old station in rural Albemarle County was standing in for Ardmore, an unincorporated part of Prince George’s County, Maryland, that was part of the novel.
“The majestic, rolling green-hilled pastures of the area (with white picket fences) were lovingly viewed as his train pulled into the station at Ardmore,” according to filmsite.org of the movie, which also starred James Dean.
Jordan “Bick” Benedict Jr. (Hudson), after being picked up at the station, is the passenger in a car when he spots socialite Leslie Lynnton (Taylor) riding one of the horses through the countryside. He is smitten (for Taylor, and maybe the horse, who knows) and turns out the driver of the car is the father of Taylor’s character.
“That sure is a beautiful animal,” says Hudson.
The building in Keswick is no longer a train station, but has been used in the past as a school. It closed as a train station in 1967, according to piedmontsub.com.
The plot of the movie is that Hudson’s character is a rich farmer in Texas who comes to Maryland to buy a prized horse – and he meets the Taylor character on the trip. They marry, move back to a large ranch in Texas, where minority workers are not treated well and all kinds of drama ensues.
The movie was released on Oct. 10, 1956, in New York City. (On the same day, the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in Brooklyn in the seventh and deciding game of the World Series.)
The film, in 2005, was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally historically or aesthetically significant.”
The other huge star in the movie was Indiana native Dean (the “Rebel Without a Cause” star), who died in a car accident at the age of 24 in California just a few months after filming and prior to the release of “Giant.” Another star was Dennis Hopper, who was also a filmmaker and photographer.
One of the minor actors was Jane Withers, who was born in Atlanta nearly 100 years ago – on April 12, 1926. She passed in 2021, while New York City native Sal Mineo, who also appeared in “Giant,” died about 50 years ago, on Feb. 12, 1976.
Amazingly, some of the less-known actors in the film are still alive, according to Wikipedia: Carroll Baker, 94, who was born in 1931 in Johnstown, Pa., and Elsa Cardenas, 93, who was born in Mexico.
“Carroll Baker was born into a Catholic family, the daughter of Edith Gertrude (née Duffy) and William Watson Baker, a traveling salesman,” according to mabumbe.com. “Of Irish and Polish descent, Baker faced early challenges when her parents separated when she was eight years old, leading her, her mother, and younger sister to relocate to Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania. Despite financial hardships, Baker was active in her school’s debate team, marching band, and musicals during her time at Greensburg Salem High School. At 18, the family moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, where she attended St. Petersburg Junior College. Her early experiences as a magician’s assistant and professional dancer laid the foundation for her future in the performing arts.”
Soon after, she moved to New York City to launch her career.