Modern Screen (Jan-Nov 1956)

(Continued from page 66) to forget him. Oh, Mr. Saxon, we are counting on you — Please, Please don't let us down! Respectfully, Patti & members. I thank you wholeheartedly for doing proper justice to the great talent that was James Dean's by awarding him a posthumous award. Let's hope that the Modern Screen award is only the beginning of a long line to be climaxed by the presentation of the Academy Awards next March. . . . Richard Deres I saw the show Sunday night. Thanks for not forgetting James Dean. Even though he is gone, you make his wonderful spirit live in all of us. . . . . . . Gracie Lawlor . . . There is only one question in my mind though, what will become of the plaque given to Natalie Wood, for James Dean? Will she keep it or will it be given to his parents or what?? . . . Angie Micare Grace gives Natalie Jimmy's Audience Award. Dear Mr. Delacorte: I believe one of the longest hours that I've ever sat through, was the night Modern Screen was presenting their awards, at the Cocoanut Grove. I knew the program could never have ended unless Jimmy was mentioned. Mr. Dean and I would like to thank you and the people who made it possible, from the bottom of our hearts for our Jimmy's award. I do not know how these things are handled, but nothing could make us happier than to be able to have his award to treasure forever. Do you think this would be possible? Do you know who has it now? Sincerely, Mr. and Mrs. Winton A. Dean EDITOR'S NOTE: To Mr. and Mrs. Winton Dean and all our readers who asked what will be done, with Modern Screen's plaque: It is at present, with the Audience Award for best actor of 1955, in the Warner Brothers Trophy case, at the studio. We have requested that our plaque be sent to Mr. and Mrs. Dean. ... I don't know how to explain this but I have to get it off my chest. Deep down in my heart I believe that I loved James Dean. I know that this letter sounds like some kid that has a crush on some movie star. But not me. James Dean, when I first saw him in Rebel Without A Cause, had no special effect on me. But after a while I got to thinking and when I heard that he was dead I couldn't believe it. Yet I had to accept the fact. ... He may be dead bodily, but please, please keep him alive spiritually. . . . Keep alive what this boy strived for. . . . DEATH OF A REBEL I do not know, just how to write, the words that are unseen; Nor how to write the tragic tale, the death of Jimmy Dean. But I'll just write what?s in my heart, and what I know is true, And hope where Jimmy is today, he'll understand it, too. . . . Janie Hutcheson Dear Jimmy, This letter is meant to say, once and for all, how we feel about you. We love you. Yes, Jimmy, not in a possessive way, but in such a way that we only wanted you to be happy — to lose that inner torment which seemed to be a part of you. And besides this, we loved, and still love, each thing about you. The things we keep in a secret treasury and touch and count as if they were precious jewels — which they are. We love that shock of tawny, uncombed hair. We love your broad forehead and the tiny crease which showed itself between the brows when you were unhappy or perplexed (and we longed to comfort you). We love those quizzical dark brows that expressed a hundred things. We love your bewildered eyes — and the owlish dark-rimmed glasses. We love that beautiful insouciant nose. We love your expressive lips, kissing like no one else's; or half-open, searching for air as if the world smothered you; or twisted bitterly; or in the heartbreaking smile which should have come more often. We love your voice, in husky, mumbled words which laid you open to the depths; in sobs which tore us, too, apart; in the marvelous yet frightening anger which could pour out of you; in the wonderful, explosive laugh that convulsed your whole body as if you were helpless before it. We love the way you stood and sat and lay; the way you huddled into yourself, with arms crossed and head bent; the way you walked, as if you were throwing yourself carelessly at the world, asking nothing and receiving nothing from it. We love — oh, Jimmy, most of all, we love — your meteor spirit, lighting a dark sky too briefly. That spirit, courageous, rebellious, proud, and yet lost and gentle and lovable; the essence of tormented youth — of a generation to which we too belong and which we therefore can understand. Jimmy, there is only one more thing we want to tell you, and it is — that something that is loved can never die. . . . Retha Hodge, Mary Malone, Blanche Mayeo, Helen Gentry, Betty Anne Terry, Harriet Hope, and Jill Schlesinger. ... I must say that I was very pleased when I saw that James Dean received an award. You just don't know how happy it's made me to know that our so-called rude monster has some fans after all. But on the other hand you don't know how much it hurt me that James Dean couldn't receive the award himself. . . . I'm not going to deny that it knocked me for a loop, nor am I going to deny that I've cried every night since his death, seen his new pic Rebel Without A Cause twice and go to sleep on sixteen mags containing articles about him. I can't deny any of those things and under no circumstances will I ever. And now you know my feelings about Jimmy and you know now why I'm happy and sad. ... P. Kniess I don't know how much good a letter like this makes, but here goes — why don't they give the Oscar to James Dean's father? Jimmy deserved this award all the way and just because he was taken away doesn't mean a substitute should be made — there is no substitute for his talent. ... A. Ruzgevian Dear George Stevens: I read every story on Jim now I want to let out my feeling about him. He went out with girls who didn't understand him yet those girls were very lucky to be with such a wonderful guy. If I could have only been with him for a moment I would learn to understand him. He was a very lonely boy who felt he wasn't wanted. To me he isn't the late James Dean and never will be. I'll see him someday, where I don't know but I will. And when we do meet I won't like him for being an actor but for being himself and making him feel he's wanted and someone cares for him. I know this is asking too much of you but can you please ask Jimmy's father if I may have Jim's medal that he wore in some of the books. Thank you very much for trying to understand my letter. Let's just say that this is one of the last fan letters that he got. . . . G. D. . . . From us who feel so greatly this loss we say. Good night Jimmy, but not Good-bye. Peace! . . . God called James to a happier world . . . the one he left behind had nothing to offer him. James is loved by his mother once more, and no power on earth can ever take her from him again. . . . Anthony Giannone Mr. George Stevens: When someone with all your responsibilities takes time out to sit down and write a story such as "A Tenderness Lost" — he must be a pretty wonderful man. It's funny about James Dean — he had only appeared in a few movies, but in our high school group — he was the favorite — all the way around. We read in Miss Hedda Hopper's column that someone may start a "memorial" in Jimmy's honor. We think it would be wonderful and we'll get our groups together — to have dances, and record hops to help raise money for it. . . . "Jimmy's fans" A great many of my friends and I have seen James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause. We have also been following as many articles on him as possible and as yet we cannot recall one good one. We were and still are fans of Marlon Brando but we must admit that James Dean's acting in Rebel out did any performance Brando has ever given and we think he should receive some kind of worthy mention or award for it. You ask what we would like to read about in Modern Screen and now we would like to tell you. A large, truthful article on Jimmy