1 00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:03,720 Speaker 1: Hollywood Land is a production of Double Elvis. 2 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:11,760 Speaker 2: And a. 3 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:25,479 Speaker 3: Niggy O Me Give Me the Monu. The stories about 4 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 3: James Dean are insane. He died in a high speed 5 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 3: car crash at just twenty four years old. His death 6 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 3: was foretold by a fellow movie star one week before 7 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:40,479 Speaker 3: it happened. Rumors he survived the deadly crash were spurred 8 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:43,800 Speaker 3: on and in some cases planted by a film studio 9 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:47,760 Speaker 3: with a financial stake in keeping his memory alive. The 10 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 3: car that killed him had a grizzly afterlife of its own, 11 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 3: taking two more lives before mysteriously disappearing forever. Unlike James Dean, 12 00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:01,640 Speaker 3: whose legend lives on because James Dean made movies now, 13 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:04,400 Speaker 3: although he only made three in his lifetime, he remains 14 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:07,320 Speaker 3: one of the greatest American actors in the history of film. 15 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:09,560 Speaker 3: Unlike that clip I played for you at the top 16 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:12,920 Speaker 3: of the show that wasn't from a great film, that 17 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 3: was a fair use sample from the Library of Congress 18 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 3: of Bessie Smith performing Haunted House Blues in nineteen twenty four. 19 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 3: I played you that clip because I can't afford the 20 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:26,440 Speaker 3: rights to a clip from Walt Disney's Lady in the tramp, 21 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 3: and why would I play you that particular slice of 22 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:32,040 Speaker 3: spaghetti sharing parmesan cheese? 23 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:33,040 Speaker 1: Could I afford it? 24 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 3: Because that was the number one movie in America on 25 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:40,920 Speaker 3: September thirtieth, nineteen fifty five, And that was the day 26 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:43,760 Speaker 3: that James Dean died in a brutal crash on a 27 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 3: California highway. On this episode, a death foretold a gruesome 28 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 3: publicity stunt, a haunted race car in James Dean. I'm 29 00:01:54,480 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 3: Jake Brennan, and this is Hollywood Land. There wasn't shit 30 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 3: to do. Once the sun went down. In Fayette, North Carolina, 31 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 3: the Army grounds bust in from Fort Bragg were looking 32 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 3: to fuck or fight, and this town had limited options 33 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:43,400 Speaker 3: for either. But they did find a lured poster plastered 34 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:45,480 Speaker 3: to a light post on what passed for the town's 35 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:50,880 Speaker 3: main drag Caracom's International Mystery Show. It read Ghosts will 36 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:54,320 Speaker 3: talk and sit with you, Vampires and zombies will attack you. 37 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:57,799 Speaker 3: Carracom was the stage name of a Polish immigrant who'd 38 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:00,760 Speaker 3: been working the scare show circuit in the US the forties. 39 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:03,919 Speaker 3: He had a thick mustache and wore a white tux 40 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,520 Speaker 3: and turbine. He touted the International mystery show as to 41 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 3: show that it baffled millions in Paris, London, Shanghai. The 42 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:14,919 Speaker 3: truth was Kara Coomb struggled to stand out among other 43 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 3: professional illusionists, but he had something the others didn't have. 44 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:24,800 Speaker 3: He could resurrect James Dean. It was nineteen fifty seven. 45 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,080 Speaker 3: Kara Coomb's act was one of the bloodier ones out there. 46 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 3: He called up volunteers from the audience and appeared to 47 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 3: cut off their heads with a meat cleaver. Then he 48 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 3: tossed the severed heads into the crowd. But it was 49 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:40,119 Speaker 3: the James Dean trick that put butts in seats. Teenagers, 50 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:43,440 Speaker 3: especially teeny bopper girls, desperate to see Jimmy Dean one 51 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:47,000 Speaker 3: more time. Boys in red jackets and perfectly styled hair, 52 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 3: trying their best to look like Dean's ghost. 53 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: The trick was simple. 54 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 3: Kara Kom brought out a life sized, high contrast negative 55 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:56,960 Speaker 3: of James Dean and invited the audience to focus their 56 00:03:57,080 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 3: energy on it. If they did that, they could summon 57 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 3: Dan back from the grave. Effectively, this meant the kids 58 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 3: were staring at an image which left an impression on 59 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 3: their retinas. Caracoon. Let this go on for a minute, 60 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 3: and then he suddenly shut off all the lights in the theater. 61 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:16,040 Speaker 3: There on stage, a ghostly image of James Dean replaced 62 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:19,920 Speaker 3: the picture of the audience was just looking at. Teenagers wept, 63 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 3: they fainted. They were overwhelmed by this mystical visitation of 64 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:25,160 Speaker 3: a man from the great beyond. 65 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:26,920 Speaker 1: But not all though. 66 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:29,840 Speaker 3: From the back of the theater, a group of angry 67 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:33,720 Speaker 3: teens started to heckle the show. This is bullshit, one 68 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 3: of them shouted, everyone knows James Dean never fucking. 69 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:38,960 Speaker 1: Died, died, died, died, died. 70 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:44,599 Speaker 3: When James Dean was killed in a car crash in 71 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:48,040 Speaker 3: nineteen fifty five at the age of twenty four, American 72 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 3: teenagers went into hysterical mourning. It didn't matter that they'd 73 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:55,000 Speaker 3: only seen him in one movie. The press build up 74 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 3: for Rebel Without a Cause, the follow up to his 75 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:01,280 Speaker 3: debut in East of Eden, successful Philly, established Dean as 76 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 3: one of the first teen idols, alongside Elvis Presley, who 77 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:06,880 Speaker 3: hit the top of the charts that same year. 78 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: And had his own movie in the works. 79 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 3: A network of fan clubs calling themselves the James Dean 80 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:16,359 Speaker 3: Memorial ring sprung up around the country. The population of 81 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 3: Dean's hometown of Fairmount, Indiana doubled when teenage mourners flooded 82 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:23,719 Speaker 3: in to watch Dean's ruined body get planted in the ground. 83 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 3: This collective grief was enough to blow up the box office. 84 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 3: When Rebel Without a Cause hit screens just one month 85 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 3: after Dean's death, Devoted fans in the Morbidly Curious Alike 86 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:36,600 Speaker 3: packed movie houses to see Dean rehearse his own car 87 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 3: crash fatality in the movie's legendary chicky run scene. Rebel 88 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:45,159 Speaker 3: Rode Dean's ghost a huge financial success, but Dean had 89 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:48,839 Speaker 3: completed shooting on another film before he died, a Western 90 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 3: epic called Giant. It would be a year before that 91 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 3: movie hit screens. Conventional wisdom in Hollywood said nobody paid 92 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:59,480 Speaker 3: to watch a dead actor. There was something too morbid 93 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:02,960 Speaker 3: about why a corpse walk around on screen in a 94 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:05,600 Speaker 3: room thick with cigar smoke and the smell of whiskey. 95 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:09,040 Speaker 3: Warner Brothers executives decided to write off the big budget 96 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:12,960 Speaker 3: epic as a loss. No point throwing good money after bad, 97 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:15,920 Speaker 3: and then one of the execs noticed a note someone 98 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 3: in the Warner Publicity department had passed them what. 99 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 1: If James Dean then wasn't dead. 100 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:27,279 Speaker 3: It was too blatant the stunt for a major company 101 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:30,760 Speaker 3: like Warner Brothers to even consider. If they released a 102 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 3: statement claiming that James Dean secretly survived the crash, it 103 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 3: would be seen as a ghoulish and transparent cash grab. 104 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 3: So Warners issued a press release that said the opposite, 105 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:45,040 Speaker 3: the studio vehemently denies any rumor that James Dean is alive, 106 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:49,680 Speaker 3: even though there were no such rumors, And then they 107 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 3: created the very rumors they were denying. The first step 108 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 3: was to engage the cult of mourning around James Dean. 109 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:59,600 Speaker 3: Warners hired a PR agent on the sly. He contacted 110 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 3: the president into the many chapters of the James Dan 111 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 3: memorial ring. 112 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:04,279 Speaker 1: He flew them to Hollywood. 113 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:06,520 Speaker 3: All expenses paid, of course, and he tore them around 114 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:10,120 Speaker 3: the Warner's lot, that sacred ground where their idol once walked, 115 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:12,560 Speaker 3: and told him they had to continue their vital work 116 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:16,280 Speaker 3: keeping the memory of James Dean alive. And they returned 117 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 3: to their hometown's starry eyed and full of purpose, they 118 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:23,640 Speaker 3: held monthly memorial services. They wore black armbands with Dean's 119 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,240 Speaker 3: face on them. They bought over priced replicas of the 120 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 3: red jacket from Rebel Without a Cause, and such ridiculous 121 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 3: numbers that every soda counter in the US looked like 122 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 3: a casting call for a James Dean biopic. And they 123 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 3: wrote letters begging the studio to send them any piece 124 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:42,680 Speaker 3: of James Dean that might still exist. They were true believers, 125 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:46,360 Speaker 3: and they wanted relics of their patrons, saying thousands of 126 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 3: letters addressed to James Dean poured into Warner's offices every month, 127 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 3: a fact the studio's publicity department dutifully reported to the press. 128 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:56,120 Speaker 1: Alive Dean was on his. 129 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:59,000 Speaker 3: Way to becoming a teen idol. Dead, he was an 130 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:02,680 Speaker 3: object of cult worship, an obsession. But nothing got to 131 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:05,480 Speaker 3: the core of the original pitch behind the viral pr campaign, 132 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:09,000 Speaker 3: the fan club, memorial services, the for profit of cult 133 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 3: shysters like Carracomb, even grieving co stars like Salminio alone 134 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 3: in his apartment trying to summon Dean's ghosts with a 135 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:19,120 Speaker 3: Ouiji board. These things were all built on the very 136 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:23,800 Speaker 3: correct presumption that James Dean was dead. The trick was 137 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:28,760 Speaker 3: to make James Dean come back to life. The first 138 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 3: story to make such a claim popped up on the 139 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:33,720 Speaker 3: other side of the country. A New York newspaper reported 140 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 3: that Hollywood was buzzing with the rumor the Dean had 141 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:38,960 Speaker 3: actually survived the crash, but he was so disfigured that 142 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 3: the studio was hiding him in an institution somewhere, and 143 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:45,360 Speaker 3: there was no such buzz. The story was planted by 144 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:48,920 Speaker 3: Warner's hired pr Hack. More New York papers ran with it, 145 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 3: and the hack copied the articles to set them to 146 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:54,320 Speaker 3: his network at James Dean fan clubs. Letters poured into 147 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:56,880 Speaker 3: the Warner Brothers offices addressed to Dean as if he 148 00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:00,360 Speaker 3: were alive, trapped and in need of rescue. I know 149 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:02,480 Speaker 3: you are not dead. Under the letters read, I will 150 00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:05,000 Speaker 3: leave my husband and my children, get good doctors and 151 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:08,599 Speaker 3: heal you. In another two women detailed their plan to 152 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:10,040 Speaker 3: set up a home where the three of them could 153 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:13,800 Speaker 3: live in polyamorous bliss. And in a third, a woman 154 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,560 Speaker 3: offered up skin from very sensitive parts of her body 155 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 3: as grass for Dean's wounds. Warners leaked these letters to 156 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:23,800 Speaker 3: the press. Rumors of her rum were expanded into a 157 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 3: bizarre cult of Bobby Soxsers who believed without any evidence, 158 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:30,160 Speaker 3: that James Dean had never died, and then they might 159 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 3: be the ones to find him and save him. It 160 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 3: was enough to keep James Dean's image in front of 161 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 3: a million eyes for the year between his death and 162 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 3: the release of Giant, and the movie was the top 163 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:43,599 Speaker 3: box officer that year, scoring James Dean a's second posthumous 164 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:48,120 Speaker 3: Oscar nomination. Once the film had earned its money back, 165 00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:52,000 Speaker 3: warners let the campaign die, but the rumors never entirely 166 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:55,960 Speaker 3: went away. Just like Elvis, James Dean was still alive. 167 00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:00,800 Speaker 3: Jackie Curtis, one of the superstars of Andy Warhol's Factory, 168 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:04,319 Speaker 3: claimed that Warhol was James Dean and that Warhol is 169 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:07,840 Speaker 3: so called acne scars Dean's burn injuries from the crash. 170 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:11,560 Speaker 3: But Jackie herself wound up the Warhol scenes their most 171 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:14,240 Speaker 3: linked with Dean after lou Reed wrote about her and 172 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:17,840 Speaker 3: walk on the wild Side, just speeding away thinking she 173 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:21,679 Speaker 3: was James Dean for a day, you could hardly blame 174 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:24,600 Speaker 3: people for thinking they'd seen James Dean set free from 175 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 3: his body. His image haunted the rest of the twentieth 176 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:29,000 Speaker 3: century in the body of every greaser. 177 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:31,200 Speaker 1: Rocker and punk. No one would ever. 178 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:34,360 Speaker 3: Be more associated with that rock and wal Mantra moved fast. 179 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:37,320 Speaker 3: Dian may have a good looking corpse than James Dean, 180 00:10:38,280 --> 00:11:02,640 Speaker 3: except there was nothing good looking about what happened to him. 181 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:05,520 Speaker 3: Alec Guinness stood at the intersection of Hollywood and Vine. 182 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:09,440 Speaker 3: It was late and he was starving, but every restaurant 183 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:12,680 Speaker 3: turned him away. Maybe if his dinner day was Grace Kelly, 184 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:15,120 Speaker 3: the American actress co starring with him in his first 185 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:17,840 Speaker 3: Hollywood film, he could have gotten on the table, But 186 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:20,640 Speaker 3: his lady friend was wearing trousers, and that was a 187 00:11:20,679 --> 00:11:22,240 Speaker 3: blatant violation of the dress code. 188 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:23,959 Speaker 1: He had every respectable Hollywood. 189 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:26,600 Speaker 3: Establishment, and it didn't matter that Guinness had a medal 190 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 3: from the Queen, or that he had a lifetime of 191 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:32,560 Speaker 3: success in the British film industry didn't mean shit here 192 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:37,040 Speaker 3: in America. He was a nobody, a very hungry nobody. 193 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:40,880 Speaker 3: Fuck it, He'd just go back to the hotel. Maybe 194 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:43,800 Speaker 3: room service could scare up a hamburger. Then he heard 195 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:47,400 Speaker 3: footsteps coming down Vine. Someone was running towards him, and 196 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:51,240 Speaker 3: the footsteps got faster and louder. Guinness panicked. Here he 197 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:53,439 Speaker 3: was starving and now he was about to get mugged 198 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:56,160 Speaker 3: to boot. He quickly turned around and saw a short, 199 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:59,240 Speaker 3: skinny boy running to catch up. The boys skidded to 200 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:02,679 Speaker 3: a stop and swept back his hair. He was undeniably gorgeous, 201 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 3: but Guinness didn't recognize him. The boy spoke, while trying 202 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:08,400 Speaker 3: to catch his breath. I saw you get turned away 203 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 3: at that Italian place up the street. My name's James Dean. 204 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 3: Do you want to come eat with me? Guinness recognized 205 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:16,920 Speaker 3: the name. There was buzz around Dean's performance. 206 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:17,199 Speaker 1: In East of Eden. 207 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:19,640 Speaker 3: In the publicity blitz leading up to Rebel without a 208 00:12:19,679 --> 00:12:22,360 Speaker 3: Cause was in full swing, but the press painted the 209 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:25,559 Speaker 3: young actor as cool and aloof, sometimes even rude or 210 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:28,480 Speaker 3: stand offish. The kid standing in front of Guinness now 211 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:31,400 Speaker 3: was none of those things. Honestly, it didn't matter if 212 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:34,480 Speaker 3: the kid was nice or not. Alec Guinness just needed 213 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:36,880 Speaker 3: to eat. He took James Dean up on his offer, 214 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:40,360 Speaker 3: but before they sat down, Dean had something he was 215 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:41,400 Speaker 3: dying to show off. 216 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:42,680 Speaker 1: His new car. 217 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:47,960 Speaker 3: Parked out front of the restaurant was a Porsche five 218 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:51,319 Speaker 3: point fifty Spider, a light weight loaded the ground speedzer 219 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:54,480 Speaker 3: with silver with bright red Tartan seats and the number 220 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:56,600 Speaker 3: one thirty custom painted in black on the hood, and 221 00:12:56,840 --> 00:13:01,080 Speaker 3: little Bastard and meat cursive on the trunk. Deep beamed 222 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:04,080 Speaker 3: the Porsche was this baby. He picked it up from 223 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 3: the detailing guy that afternoon. Alec Guinness wasn't much of 224 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:09,920 Speaker 3: a car guy, but he didn't want to be rude. 225 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:12,720 Speaker 3: How fast can he go in, then, he asked. Dean 226 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:15,439 Speaker 3: said he could go one hundred and fifty. Guinnis felt 227 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:17,400 Speaker 3: something like a cold hand on the back of his neck. 228 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 3: He heard himself speaking, but it didn't sound like his voice, 229 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:23,160 Speaker 3: and the words came from nowhere. Please don't get in 230 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:25,840 Speaker 3: that car, Guinnis said, If you get in that car 231 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:30,120 Speaker 3: by ten o'clock next Thursday, you'll be dead. Alec Guinness 232 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:33,000 Speaker 3: and James Dean stood on the sidewalk in awkward silence. 233 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 3: Dean began to laugh. Guinness's reputation as a comedic actor 234 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:39,880 Speaker 3: was well known, and Dean figured this was some weird gag, 235 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:43,640 Speaker 3: some kind of British humor. Guinness apologized he didn't know 236 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:45,840 Speaker 3: why he'd said that, didn't know where those words had 237 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:48,600 Speaker 3: even come from. And they went into the restaurant and 238 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:51,480 Speaker 3: had a pleasant meal and made promises to see each 239 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:57,000 Speaker 3: other again. A week later, a Thursday, James Dean crashed 240 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:08,960 Speaker 3: the Porsche and was dead. James Dean's obsession with speed 241 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:12,280 Speaker 3: went back to his childhood in Fairmount, Indiana, a nothing 242 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:14,960 Speaker 3: down in the middle of nowhere. Dean got his first 243 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:18,480 Speaker 3: motorcycle when he was fifteen, a little nineteen forty seven. 244 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 1: CZ one twenty five cc. It could hit fifty on 245 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:22,640 Speaker 1: the flat open planes. 246 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:25,000 Speaker 3: Dean and some of the other boys met up on 247 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:28,000 Speaker 3: the weekends at the local cycle shop. They shot the ship, 248 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:30,480 Speaker 3: fixed their bikes, and raced around the back lot. 249 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:32,920 Speaker 1: If the weather was too shitty. 250 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:35,520 Speaker 3: To race, Dean would dream up races, casting each of 251 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:39,440 Speaker 3: his biker friends in an imaginary competition. He grabbed the mic, 252 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:41,760 Speaker 3: plugged into the shop speaker system and gave the play 253 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:44,320 Speaker 3: by play in his head, and the other bikers sat 254 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:47,440 Speaker 3: listening as Dean narrated, holding their breath as they made 255 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:50,360 Speaker 3: a jump, wincing as their imaginary bikes crashed. 256 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:52,240 Speaker 1: Dean never crashed. 257 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:55,240 Speaker 3: Some of the hacked biographies that were rushed to press 258 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:57,880 Speaker 3: after he died claimed he knocked his two front teeth 259 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 3: out in a motorcycle accident. As a kid, Dean had 260 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:03,920 Speaker 3: knocked out his teeth. One of his favorite gags was 261 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:05,600 Speaker 3: the side of the bridge that held his two fake 262 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 3: teeth out of his mouth in the middle of a 263 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:10,240 Speaker 3: meal to shock his dates. But it wasn't a bike 264 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,120 Speaker 3: accident that costumes chompers just to fall in the high 265 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:14,320 Speaker 3: school basketball court. 266 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:16,400 Speaker 1: Maybe if Dean had. 267 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 3: Crashed his bike even once, he would have been a 268 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:20,880 Speaker 3: little more inclined to pump the brakes now and then. 269 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:25,720 Speaker 3: But James Dean was all gas when it was time 270 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:27,800 Speaker 3: for him to try his luck in New York. Dean 271 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:31,200 Speaker 3: upgraded to a Royal Infield with five hundred CC's, the 272 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:34,000 Speaker 3: kind of massive engine bike that the army used, and 273 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:36,320 Speaker 3: while he was a student at the Legendary Actors Studio, 274 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 3: Dean woke before dawn and rode around the empty Manhattan streets, 275 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:42,840 Speaker 3: listening to the sound of his engine echo in the 276 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:47,040 Speaker 3: canyon of the city's buildings. Fame and money brought better, 277 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:50,800 Speaker 3: faster bikes, and Dean bought a Triumph TR five, the 278 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:53,480 Speaker 3: same bike as hero Marlyn Brando rode in the Wild 279 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:56,800 Speaker 3: One Dean rode into a party at the Chateau Marmau. 280 00:15:57,360 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 3: He spotted Shelley Winter's driving with Marilyn and road to 281 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:02,520 Speaker 3: the same party. He circled their car on his bike. 282 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:05,160 Speaker 3: He weaved in and out of traffic, and then he 283 00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:08,200 Speaker 3: breaked hard right in front of him. Shelley Winters was 284 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:11,480 Speaker 3: not having it. She laid on the horn and Marilyn 285 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:14,880 Speaker 3: sat rigid in the passenger seat. Dean pulled in ahead 286 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:17,400 Speaker 3: of them at the Chateau Armand's parking lot and grinned 287 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:20,960 Speaker 3: like a little bastard. Shelley Winters wanted to deck him, 288 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:24,640 Speaker 3: and Marilyn wanted nothing to do with him. She refused 289 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:28,040 Speaker 3: to talk to him at the party. It was the 290 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:30,760 Speaker 3: only time the two icons ever spent in the same room, 291 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 3: and they spent it at opposite corners. James Dean's invite 292 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:38,640 Speaker 3: to the Chateau Marmaud had come from Nicholas Ray, who 293 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:42,000 Speaker 3: was directing him in Rebel Without a Cause. That film's 294 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:44,760 Speaker 3: the legendary chicky run scene where Dean and his rival 295 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:46,960 Speaker 3: race tore at a cliff and the first one to 296 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:49,840 Speaker 3: bail out of their car gets branded a chicken, was 297 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:52,760 Speaker 3: based on a supposedly true account of a race gonebat 298 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 3: and for the shoot, all precautions were taken to make 299 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:58,960 Speaker 3: sure no one actually got hurt. It was shot on 300 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:02,400 Speaker 3: a plateau at the Warner's Ranch, with the cars speeding 301 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 3: toward a shallow ravine rather than a cliff. Dean was 302 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:08,040 Speaker 3: body doubled for the stunt where he jumps out of 303 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:11,280 Speaker 3: the moving car. The last shot, where Dean and the 304 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:12,680 Speaker 3: rest of the kids look over the edge of the 305 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:15,520 Speaker 3: bluff onto the flaming wreckage, was shot on a sound 306 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:19,680 Speaker 3: stage with everyone staring at a black cloth. Dean devoured 307 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:22,720 Speaker 3: an apple and then spattered ketchup on the court. He 308 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:25,000 Speaker 3: threw it under the black cloth. That's a focus point, 309 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:31,639 Speaker 3: a dead body abstracted. Dean's speed fixation soon turned to 310 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:34,920 Speaker 3: race cars. His first one was a little MG with 311 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:37,679 Speaker 3: enough muscle to get him in an amateur race. He 312 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:40,479 Speaker 3: had no experience, no pick crew, just some guys who 313 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:42,280 Speaker 3: knew him from the studio a lot and jumped in 314 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:45,160 Speaker 3: to help him out. Dean bounced off haybills at every 315 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 3: hairpin turn, refusing to tap the brakes, but he won. 316 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:51,720 Speaker 3: He upgraded to a Porsche Speedster with the money he 317 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 3: got when he landed the role in Rebel. Nicholas Ray 318 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:56,360 Speaker 3: didn't even mine when Jimmy disappeared from the. 319 00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:57,720 Speaker 1: Set to compete. 320 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 3: Four days before the end of Shootingan was in a 321 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:04,480 Speaker 3: ten lap race in Santa Barbara. He clawed his way 322 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:07,800 Speaker 3: up from eighteenth to fourth place. On the fifth lap, 323 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:10,160 Speaker 3: he saw an opening and gunned the engine. 324 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:11,120 Speaker 1: It was too much. 325 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:14,480 Speaker 3: The car blew a piston and Dean didn't finish. But 326 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:18,600 Speaker 3: he was lucky he wasn't hurt. He never got hurt. 327 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:22,560 Speaker 1: The studio heard about the race and they were spooked. 328 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:25,040 Speaker 3: They couldn't have James Dean messing up that pretty face 329 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:27,280 Speaker 3: of his, and they banned him from racing while he 330 00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:30,840 Speaker 3: shot his next film, Giant, And that was fine. He 331 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:33,280 Speaker 3: registered himself in a race in Saliness that would take 332 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:36,119 Speaker 3: place immediately after shooting was set to wrap in September, 333 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:39,919 Speaker 3: and he bought a Porsche five point fifty Spider, the 334 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:42,240 Speaker 3: last car he ever rowned. 335 00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:52,320 Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this word. We're where. 336 00:18:56,880 --> 00:18:59,560 Speaker 3: James Dean stood in front of the Porsche dealership off 337 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,359 Speaker 3: Mahon and Drive and stared out at the open road. 338 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:05,159 Speaker 3: There was still a little of his last role in 339 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:08,800 Speaker 3: his blood, lingering like a cold he couldn't shake. When 340 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:12,480 Speaker 3: he was making Giant. Director George Stevens would ask Dean 341 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:16,400 Speaker 3: to stare into the distance just like this for take 342 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:19,679 Speaker 3: after take. It got to be a habit, but there 343 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:23,320 Speaker 3: was something comforting about it. The morning sun behind him 344 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:26,960 Speaker 3: cast his shadow along across the pavement. It looked to 345 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:31,560 Speaker 3: be a good day. In the garage, Ralph Wertherck made 346 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:35,560 Speaker 3: final tweaks to Dean's new Porsche five fifty Spider. Tomorrow 347 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 3: was the big day, the race and Salinas. Ralph was 348 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:42,960 Speaker 3: a former Nazi pilot, but he was also Dean's friend, 349 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:45,920 Speaker 3: a mechanic. The two of them bonded with their heads 350 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:50,240 Speaker 3: stuck under the hood of fast cars. Dean studied Ralph's movements, 351 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:54,960 Speaker 3: his accent, storing those details away. Sooner or later a 352 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:57,200 Speaker 3: studio would ask him to do a war film. 353 00:19:57,320 --> 00:19:59,720 Speaker 1: All the big actors eventually did a war film. 354 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,280 Speaker 3: Wouldn't it be something though, to flip it, do it 355 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:05,480 Speaker 3: different and play a German would give you an oscar 356 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,560 Speaker 3: if you could pull something like that off. Ralph came 357 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:10,560 Speaker 3: around from the back and gave the thumbs up. 358 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:12,119 Speaker 1: The Porsche was ready to go. 359 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:16,159 Speaker 3: Dean nodded. He caught his reflection in the showroom window. 360 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:19,080 Speaker 3: Hair and makeup had shaved his hairline back for the 361 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:22,320 Speaker 3: last act of Giant to age his character. He looked 362 00:20:22,359 --> 00:20:25,520 Speaker 3: at himself and smirked. He wondered if that was what 363 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:28,639 Speaker 3: he'd really looked like when he got old. Dean and 364 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:31,679 Speaker 3: Ralph hitched the trailer to Dean's Ford station wagon and 365 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:34,640 Speaker 3: drove off the lot. It was Ralph who convinced Dean 366 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:38,080 Speaker 3: to buy the Porsche, not that it took too much convincing. 367 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:42,600 Speaker 3: It was the newest, fastest model, only a few dozen 368 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:44,879 Speaker 3: were made. The fact that there was one on the 369 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:47,560 Speaker 3: lob when Dean happened to stop by, well, it had 370 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:51,159 Speaker 3: to be fate, didn't it. They had lunch with Dean's 371 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:54,280 Speaker 3: father and uncle Charlie at the Farmer's Market. Uncle Charlie 372 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:56,920 Speaker 3: taught Dean to ride his first motorcycle, and Dean wanted 373 00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:59,360 Speaker 3: him to come see the race, but the older men 374 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:01,520 Speaker 3: both had better things to do than haul their tired 375 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:04,480 Speaker 3: bones out to Selenas to watch cars was by Dean 376 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:07,600 Speaker 3: and Ralph kept moving. They stopped by the house of 377 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:10,560 Speaker 3: photographer Sandy Roth to pick up Roth and Bill Hickman, 378 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:13,919 Speaker 3: Dean's dialog coach from Giant, who are both set to 379 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:16,879 Speaker 3: come up to the race. Dean stared north toward an 380 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:19,240 Speaker 3: all day drive in perfect California weather. 381 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:21,639 Speaker 1: No fucking way did he want to be cooped up 382 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:23,399 Speaker 1: in the station wagon with three other guys. 383 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:26,879 Speaker 3: Besides, he hadn't really driven the car yet, except to 384 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:28,200 Speaker 3: show it off around Hollywood. 385 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:29,480 Speaker 1: He hadn't opened it up. 386 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:33,040 Speaker 3: Ralph always said he never wanted to enter a car 387 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:35,760 Speaker 3: or to a race. Raw put a thousand miles. 388 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:37,800 Speaker 1: On the engine to break it in, get it race ready. 389 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:41,119 Speaker 3: Ralph offered Rod Shotgun and the Porsche to Selenas so 390 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:44,119 Speaker 3: Dean could get used to the car, even though the car. 391 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:45,440 Speaker 1: Didn't have a passenger safety belt. 392 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:48,840 Speaker 3: They left LA at a quarter after one, the Porsche 393 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:51,320 Speaker 3: and the lead and the station wagons struggling to keep up, 394 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:54,800 Speaker 3: and they talked about the next day's races. Don't race 395 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:58,160 Speaker 3: to win, Rolph said, don't go too fast. He knew 396 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:01,560 Speaker 3: how Dean liked to race to the floor on the straightaways, 397 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:05,320 Speaker 3: no thought to what was up ahead, like the car's engine. 398 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:08,439 Speaker 3: Dean needed some mileage on him, a little breaking in, 399 00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:11,760 Speaker 3: and Dean laughed, who didn't race to win? What the 400 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:14,960 Speaker 3: fuck was too fast supposed to mean? Dean pulled off 401 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:17,000 Speaker 3: the road south of Bakersfield, so Rolfe. 402 00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:17,840 Speaker 1: Could check the engine. 403 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:21,399 Speaker 3: Ideally, you broke in a car under track conditions, smooth pavement, 404 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:24,720 Speaker 3: no josts or bumps. The highway was no place. 405 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:25,199 Speaker 1: For a car like this. 406 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:28,359 Speaker 3: Everything under the hood looked fine, and the pit stop 407 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:30,560 Speaker 3: gave the station wagon a chance to catch up, but 408 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,240 Speaker 3: we could barely keep you inside at sixty, Sandy Roth said, 409 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:34,560 Speaker 3: Dean smirked. 410 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:36,479 Speaker 1: They just have to go faster. 411 00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:40,320 Speaker 3: On the other side of Baker's Field, Dean got pulled 412 00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:43,080 Speaker 3: over by the California Highway Patrol doing sixty five and 413 00:22:43,119 --> 00:22:46,480 Speaker 3: a forty five. The station wagon got popped too, and 414 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:49,000 Speaker 3: their ticket was double because they were hauling the empty trailer. 415 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:52,160 Speaker 3: But nobody sweated it. They were riding with James Dean. 416 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:56,240 Speaker 3: Everything would be taken care of. Somewhere near Lost Hills 417 00:22:56,240 --> 00:23:00,040 Speaker 3: at around five o'clock, Dean caught a glimpse of a beautiful. 418 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 1: Car gas station and laid on the brakes. 419 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:04,680 Speaker 3: The owner of the Mercedes was headed to the same 420 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:07,320 Speaker 3: races at Selenas, and they took turns looking under each 421 00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:10,720 Speaker 3: other's hoods, a real honest to god dick measuring contest. 422 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:14,440 Speaker 3: Dean sweet took the guy, but grinned devilishly as he 423 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:16,960 Speaker 3: turned back to his crew. He was going to bury 424 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:23,680 Speaker 3: that fucking relic. Paso Robles was an hour west. Dean 425 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:26,080 Speaker 3: and Rool would meet the others there for dinner and 426 00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:28,520 Speaker 3: then power through the last one hundred miles to Selinas. 427 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:31,600 Speaker 3: Dean knew he could make it there well under an hour. 428 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:33,800 Speaker 3: He bought a bag of apples and jumped into the 429 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:36,960 Speaker 3: driver's seat next to Ralph, not bothering to buckle his belt. 430 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:39,680 Speaker 3: He bit into an apple and the juice ran down 431 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:42,040 Speaker 3: his chin. He turned the key and the engine roared 432 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:45,680 Speaker 3: to life, and the little car vibrated with promise. Dean 433 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:48,320 Speaker 3: left the station wagon in the dust. He blazed through 434 00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:51,040 Speaker 3: the desert into the setting sun west on Roote four 435 00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:53,760 Speaker 3: sixty six, and the engine hung a lullaby. 436 00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:57,760 Speaker 1: Ralph dozed in the heat. Dean nudge Rof awake. He 437 00:23:57,800 --> 00:23:58,879 Speaker 1: didn't want to be alone. 438 00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:02,240 Speaker 3: Down the road, a college student and a Ford sedan 439 00:24:02,359 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 3: came to the intersection of four to sixty six and 440 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:06,600 Speaker 3: we were forty one. He looked as far as he 441 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:09,360 Speaker 3: could along the flat expanse of highway. He didn't see 442 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:12,399 Speaker 3: anyone coming. He didn't see anything not even the lowest 443 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:15,480 Speaker 3: slung race car, so low and so fast that it 444 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:18,439 Speaker 3: melted into the pavement and the kid started into his 445 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:21,800 Speaker 3: left turn. Dean saw the Ford but didn't care. The 446 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:24,400 Speaker 3: kid driving the Sedan could worry about it. He'd see 447 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 3: Dean coming and get the hell out of the way. 448 00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:29,359 Speaker 3: It was one more chinky run. Just like in the movie, 449 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:32,040 Speaker 3: there would always be stunt doubles to execute the roll in, 450 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:34,960 Speaker 3: faked bodies to toss out of tumbling cars. When it 451 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,399 Speaker 3: was over, Dean could stare at an apple core in 452 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:40,399 Speaker 3: the abyss and pretend he saw a flaming wreck, and 453 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:44,840 Speaker 3: then they'd do it again. James Dean didn't break, he 454 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:48,359 Speaker 3: didn't swerve, and the Porsche Spider slammed into the Ford 455 00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:49,160 Speaker 3: at eighty five. 456 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:49,640 Speaker 1: Miles an hour. 457 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:53,000 Speaker 3: The light aluminum body of the Porsche crumpled like an 458 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:55,560 Speaker 3: empty candy wrapper against two tons of American steel. 459 00:24:56,359 --> 00:24:57,560 Speaker 1: Ralph was thrown clear. 460 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:00,480 Speaker 3: The Ford spun out for forty feet before slowing to 461 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:04,000 Speaker 3: a stop. Its driver opened the door and walked away unscathed. 462 00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:09,560 Speaker 3: James Dean meanwhile, was pinned in the Porsche. His neck snapped. 463 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:14,640 Speaker 3: Racers had a word for it, stretched as close as 464 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:16,960 Speaker 3: you can get to being decapitated while your head. 465 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:17,720 Speaker 1: Is still attached. 466 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:23,000 Speaker 3: Minutes later, James Dean was pronounced dead on arrival at Paso. 467 00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:24,720 Speaker 1: Robles War Memorial Hospital. 468 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:29,200 Speaker 3: His Porsche five point fifty Spider was still spewing smoke 469 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:48,560 Speaker 3: in the desert night. High school kids don't get riled 470 00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:52,320 Speaker 3: up over an auto safety demonstration. It beats math class, 471 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:55,000 Speaker 3: But who wants some donut munching member of the California 472 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:57,560 Speaker 3: Highway Patrol lecturing you about checking your rear view and 473 00:25:57,600 --> 00:26:00,760 Speaker 3: slowing the fuck down. But the demo this high school 474 00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:05,239 Speaker 3: in Sacramento is different. Kids there are buzzing. Then they 475 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:08,240 Speaker 3: wear their red jackets and they support their black armbands. 476 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:12,120 Speaker 3: They're about to see the car that killed James Dean. 477 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:16,119 Speaker 3: The line flies into the gymnasium and on the shitty 478 00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:18,480 Speaker 3: PA speaker, the cop talks about breaking. 479 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:20,400 Speaker 1: Distance and night visibility, but. 480 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,280 Speaker 3: The kids aren't listening, and they're focused on the hunk 481 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:26,240 Speaker 3: of twisted silver metal at the far end of the gym, 482 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:28,359 Speaker 3: and they wait for their chance to get close to 483 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:30,640 Speaker 3: it and maybe even touch it. At The cops who 484 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:33,679 Speaker 3: brought it aren't too busy being total cops, but the 485 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:36,200 Speaker 3: boy in the red jacket with the perfect hair. One 486 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:39,119 Speaker 3: of a dozen boys sporting the same look gets his chance. 487 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:42,440 Speaker 3: He approaches the car on the pedestal like he would 488 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:46,639 Speaker 3: a casket at a funeral, Only there's no body inside. 489 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:50,840 Speaker 3: He imagines James Dean sprawled backwards across the driver's seat 490 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:53,879 Speaker 3: like Christ on the Cross, his body broken but his 491 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:58,600 Speaker 3: face still perfect. The boy can almost see it. He 492 00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:02,480 Speaker 3: reaches out to touch Jane Dean. There's a sudden creak 493 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:06,040 Speaker 3: of metal as the pedestal holding the car bends and breaks. 494 00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:09,560 Speaker 3: The car tumbles forward, slow but intentional, as if it 495 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:13,120 Speaker 3: woke up hungry. It falls onto the boy. It shatters 496 00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:16,480 Speaker 3: his hip. It pins him to the gym floor. Everyone gasps, 497 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:19,080 Speaker 3: Everyone looks at him. This would be the way to go, 498 00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:21,040 Speaker 3: the boy thinks, as the cops struggled to pull the 499 00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:21,960 Speaker 3: wreck off of him. 500 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:25,400 Speaker 1: Everyone watching me, just like James Dean. 501 00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:34,480 Speaker 3: James Dean's Porsche five fifty Spider was a twisted wreck. 502 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:37,120 Speaker 3: It was towed off to a salvage yard in Burbank, 503 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:39,960 Speaker 3: where eventually another racer named doctor William S Rich bought 504 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:43,080 Speaker 3: it for parts. He dropped the Porsche's powerful engine into 505 00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:45,879 Speaker 3: his Lotus nine and sold the suspension to a friend 506 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:48,440 Speaker 3: and fellow racer, Troy McHenry, to fix up his own 507 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:51,480 Speaker 3: Porsche speedster. The two racers were scheduled to meet on 508 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:54,600 Speaker 3: the track at Pomona in August nineteen fifty six, and 509 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:57,000 Speaker 3: this is almost a year after James Dean's death. 510 00:27:57,200 --> 00:27:59,160 Speaker 1: At the height of the Idol worshiping. 511 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:02,760 Speaker 3: Death, cultsans and red jackets and black armbands crowded into 512 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,360 Speaker 3: the stands to see relics of James Dean face each 513 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:08,920 Speaker 3: other on the raceway. In the first lap, Troy McHenry 514 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:11,720 Speaker 3: lost control of his Porsche. It veered off the raceway 515 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:14,600 Speaker 3: and smashed into the only tree on the track. 516 00:28:15,119 --> 00:28:16,200 Speaker 1: He died instantly. 517 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:20,040 Speaker 3: Esrich sped past the wreck into another lap without any 518 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:23,159 Speaker 3: warning or apparent reason. His wheels locked up. As he 519 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:26,240 Speaker 3: approached the next turn. His Lotus nine flipped and the 520 00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:29,440 Speaker 3: little aluminum speedster bounced across the track like a dropped dime. 521 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:32,200 Speaker 3: It came to rest along the outer edge barricade in 522 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:35,320 Speaker 3: front of a crowd of shocked James Dean worshippers. Esrich 523 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:38,640 Speaker 3: was seriously injured, and when he recovered, a reporter asked 524 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 3: him if he thought the car that killed James Dean 525 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:41,120 Speaker 3: was cursed. 526 00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:45,200 Speaker 1: No, he said, these things just happened. 527 00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:48,080 Speaker 3: But his first order of business when he got home 528 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:50,320 Speaker 3: was to get the remains of James Dean's porsh the 529 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:55,040 Speaker 3: fuck out of his life. George Barris, who detailed the 530 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:57,680 Speaker 3: Porsche for Dean, bought it off Esritch for twenty five 531 00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:00,400 Speaker 3: hundred dollars. He claimed he was going to fix it up, 532 00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:03,760 Speaker 3: but there was no fixing a wreck like this. Barriss 533 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:06,280 Speaker 3: bought the Porsche intending to turn a morbid profit off 534 00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:07,000 Speaker 3: of it. 535 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:07,720 Speaker 1: It didn't work. 536 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:10,600 Speaker 3: While Barras's guys were loading it onto the truck to 537 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,680 Speaker 3: haul it out of Estatistic garage, the Porsche slipped off 538 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:17,800 Speaker 3: the trailer and broke a mechanic's leg. Classified ads for 539 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:21,000 Speaker 3: tiny aluminum scraps from the car that killed James Dean 540 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:24,080 Speaker 3: started showing up in newspapers and in mailings to James 541 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:27,640 Speaker 3: Dean fan clubs. The scraps were as real as splinters, 542 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:30,160 Speaker 3: claiming to be pieces of the true Cross, but that 543 00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:33,720 Speaker 3: didn't stop fans from paying for them. Barris decided to 544 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:36,560 Speaker 3: just rent the wreck out to the California Highway Patrol, 545 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:39,400 Speaker 3: his Council on Safety, who wanted to tour it around 546 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:42,959 Speaker 3: as a cautionary tale. They housed it in a police 547 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:46,280 Speaker 3: garage in Fresno, planning to display at an event the 548 00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:49,960 Speaker 3: next day, and the garage caught fire that night, and 549 00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:53,960 Speaker 3: the Porsche Spider was surprisingly unharmed. And then the Porsche 550 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:56,760 Speaker 3: harmed a student when it slipped off its stand and 551 00:29:56,800 --> 00:29:59,160 Speaker 3: broke a kid's hip at that driver's at event at 552 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:02,880 Speaker 3: a Sacramento high school. And then as it was being 553 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:05,840 Speaker 3: transported to a road safety show on a flatbed truck, 554 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:09,040 Speaker 3: the Porsche rolled off the trailer, flipped forward, and crushed 555 00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:09,640 Speaker 3: the truck. 556 00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:11,280 Speaker 1: Driver, killing him. 557 00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,680 Speaker 3: California Highway Patrol returned the Porsche to barras no particular 558 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:19,080 Speaker 3: reason given. Barris kept renting it out to other highway 559 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:22,400 Speaker 3: safety groups, not mentioning the gruesome afterlife of the car, 560 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:25,480 Speaker 3: certainly not using the words some people had started to 561 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:26,200 Speaker 3: mention when. 562 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:27,840 Speaker 1: Referring to it cursed. 563 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:33,280 Speaker 3: In nineteen sixty, the Porsche was supposedly on its way 564 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:36,120 Speaker 3: back to Barris from a safety expo in Miami when 565 00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:38,120 Speaker 3: it disappeared from a sealed box car. 566 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:40,080 Speaker 1: It was never found. 567 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:43,840 Speaker 3: In twenty twenty one, a transaxle was authenticated as the 568 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:47,040 Speaker 3: last surviving part of James Dean's Porsche five point fifty Spider. 569 00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:49,120 Speaker 1: It sold at auction for three. 570 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:52,040 Speaker 3: Hundred and eighty two grand to a paranormal investigator in 571 00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:55,240 Speaker 3: reality television Personality. He put it on display in his 572 00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:59,320 Speaker 3: Las Vegas Museum of Haunted Objects. He keeps it behind 573 00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:04,360 Speaker 3: glass so it can't hurt anybody else. It's a morbid 574 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:08,640 Speaker 3: shrine to a story that ought to be in pictures. 575 00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:27,320 Speaker 3: I'm Jake Brennan and this is hollywood Land. Hollywood Land 576 00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:29,840 Speaker 3: was created by Years Truly and is produced in. 577 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:31,320 Speaker 1: Partnership with Double Elvis. 578 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:34,800 Speaker 2: Follow like, rate, and review hollywood Land wherever you get 579 00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:36,840 Speaker 2: your podcasts, and get in touch with us on social 580 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:40,280 Speaker 2: media at double Elvis. If you like hollywood Land, check 581 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:43,200 Speaker 2: out my other show, the award winning Disgraceland, which looks 582 00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:45,360 Speaker 2: at the world of music through the lens of true crime. 583 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:48,320 Speaker 2: Just search for Disgraceland or wherever you get your podcasts. 584 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:54,200 Speaker 3: Good. 585 00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:55,440 Speaker 1: Here's a lot