Before James Dean's rise to fame in feature films, he toiled on the small screen working to hone his craft. Here are rare examples of James Dean's early work in television before becoming famous.

PEPSI COMMERCIAL 1950
U.S. TV commercial. Dec-13-50. This is James Dean's first TV appearance and his first paying job as an actor.

SOMETHING FOR AN EMPTY BRIEFCASE 1953
U.S. TV play. Campbell Playhouse. James plays a thieving ex-con whose life is changed by a beautiful woman and the book she recommends. "Buy the book that Joe buys...the book that can change your life."

The influence of Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift can be seen in Dean's performance. James Dean, Susan Douglas Rubes, Don Hanmer, Robert Middleton, Frank Maxwell, Peter Gumeny.

THE UNLIGHTED ROAD 1955
U.S. TV play. This series was sponsored by the Schlitz Brewing Company and broadcast on the CBS Network. In James Dean's own words: "This play is the story of a young man named Jeffery Latham, who opened the door of a very ordinary, innocent-looking roadside diner, and he saw his whole life change."

Dean plays a Korean veteran hitchhiking at night until he comes upon a small diner. He's offered a job, meets a girl, get involved with criminals and inadvertently kills a cop. He should have kept on hitchhiking! James Dean, Jeffrey Latham, Patricia Hardy, Murvyn Vye, Edgar Stehli, Charles Wagenheim, Voltaire Perkins.

I'M A FOOL 1954
U.S. TV play. General Electric Theater. One of James Dean's most famous pre-East of Eden TV appearances also features Natalie Wood who performs exceedingly well with Dean, and they look fantastic together!

A "nobody" boy falls in love with the prettiest girl in town, but he knows she's already dating boys with lots of money. He attempts to impress her by pretending to be more than he is. When it's too late he realizes he would have been better off simply being "himself." Eddie Albert, James Dean, Natalie Wood, Roy Glenn, Eve March, Leon Tyler, Gloria Castillo, Fiona Hale.

EAST OF EDEN – FILM TRAILER 1955
U.S. film trailer. James Dean had his first starring role in Elia Kazan's movie version of John Steinbeck's novel.

EAST OF EDEN - FILM OUTTAKES 1955
U.S. film outtake. Rarely seen film outtakes.

REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE – FILM TRAILER 1955
U.S. film trailer. Directed by Nicholas Ray. Dean portrays an alienated teenager.

JAMES DEAN HIGHWAY SAFETY PSA 1955
U.S. film short. During a break in filming on the set of Giant, Gig Young interviews Dean to get his thoughts on speeding on the highway. A couple of months later Dean died in a terrible car wreck in his Porsche 550 Spyder. He had received a speeding ticket earlier that same day!

JAMES DEAN AT THE RACETRACK 1955
Home movie footage. Rare footage of James Dean at the racetrack driving, working, talking and hanging around having a good time. A big greaser has his arm around Dean.

GIANT – FILM TRAILER 1956
U.S. film trailer. Dean's final film directed by George Stevens features James as a Texan who becomes a wealthy oilman.

RARE JAMES DEAN 1950-1956 on DVD

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