The upcoming world premiere of the 4K restoration of Giant, George Stevens' sweeping Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean-starrer which garnered ten Oscar nominations after its release in 1956, has just acquired another giant. (To introduce it, that is.) Stevens won his second Oscar for directing the family saga set during the days of the oil boom in Texas, adapted from Edna Ferber's controversial novel. The film is set to premiere at the 2022 TCM Classic Film Festival, to take place from April 21 through to April 24.
"Attendees will be treated to an extensive lineup of great movies, appearances by legendary stars and filmmakers, fascinating presentations and panel discussions, special events, and more," describes the press release. This year's theme is "All Together Now: Back to the Big Screen".
As part of TCM's expanding collaboration with The Film Foundation — the organization established by Martin Scorsese over thirty years ago, which has restored and released almost a thousand classic movies to date — board member Spielberg hand-picked Giant "as one of the group's latest restoration projects," reads a press statement. He collaborated with the archives team at Warner Bros. for a year to complete the restoration process.
Spielberg says:
"Anything that presumes to call itself Giant better have the goods to keep such a lofty promise. Both Edna Ferber and George Stevens far exceeded the title to bring such an epic American story to the big screen, and I’m proud to have been a small part of the restoration team of this classic motion picture.”
Stevens says:
"I was with my father during the writing of the Giant screenplay, and he measured films by how they stood ‘the test of time’. Giant has more than met that test, and he would be grateful that Steven, Marty, The Film Foundation and Warner Bros. have achieved this brilliant restoration, so a new generation can see Giant on the big screen, streaming and Blu-ray.”
A little more context on The Film Foundation is provided by a press statement:
"The Film Foundation is a nonprofit organization created by Martin Scorsese in 1990 to protect and preserve motion picture history. By working in partnership with archives and studios, the foundation has helped to restore over 925 films, which are made accessible to the public through programming at festivals, museums, and educational institutions world-wide. The Film Foundation's World Cinema Project has restored 47 films from 27 countries to date, representing the rich diversity of cinema from around the globe. The foundation's free educational curriculum, The Story of Movies, teaches young people - over 10 million to date - about film language and history."
The 4K restoration of Giant will premiere during the TMC Classic Film Festival at the TCL Chinese Theater in April.