Film Forum

Friday’s 7:30 show of George Stevens’ GIANT will be introduced by co-star Carroll Baker and George Stevens Jr. The evening will be hosted by author and film historian Foster Hirsch. 

Carroll Baker began her performance career as a magician’s assistant and dancer in vaudeville, before enrolling in the Actors Studio under Lee Strasberg in 1952, alongside fellow students James Dean, Mike Nichols, Rod Steiger, Shelley Winters, and Marilyn Monroe. Giant marked her first major film role, playing Luz Benedict II, the daughter of Hudson and Taylor’s Bick and Leslie Benedict. Later that year, she became a sensation as the title child bride in Elia Kazan’s Baby Doll, written by Tennessee Williams. She went on to appear in films like The Big Country, How the West Was Won, and The Greatest Story Every Told.

Son of director George Stevens, George Stevens Jr. served as a production assistant on his father’s A Place in the Sun, Shane, and Giant. Stevens Jr. went on to work as a second unit director, associate producer, and director for TV. In 1967, he became the founding director of the American Film Institute. During his time at AFI, Stevens spearheaded film preservation, launched the AFI Catalog of Motion Pictures, led initiatives for the training and support of young filmmakers, and created the AFI Life Achievement Award. For over a quarter-century, he was also the producer of the annual Kennedy Center Honors.

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