George Steven's 1956 film Giant reveals the ethics and personalities of the Texas oil industry as it shifted from individually driven concerns to large-scale corporate dominance. Rock Hudson plays Bick Benedict, who presides over the 595,000-acre Benedict Reata Ranch. James Dean plays the film's most memorable character, Jett Rink, the rebellious upstart who labors on the ranch before striking oil on his small plot of land. Dean, drenched in crude, arrives at Reata in a great moment in American film. Rink becomes the symbol of "new money," a corrupt, flamboyant oil tycoon and he and Benedict battle for the affections of Leslie Lynton, played by Elizabeth Taylor. Giant was Dean's last film; he died in a car accident on the Texas highway just as the filming was completed.