Red lipstick kisses are sun-baked into James Dean's pink granite gravestone, testifying to the enduring allure of the man who, 50 years after his death, remains a symbol of rebellious, misunderstood youth.

Frozen in time by death - forever handsome, sullen and projecting a cool nonchalance - Dean is winning new fans with his legacy of cinematic magic, sex appeal and tragedy.

His three big films have been digitally restored and were released Tuesday as a DVD box set. Film crews from around the world are visiting his hometown for documentaries.

And starting Friday, up to 100,000 people - including Martin Sheen and Dennis Hopper - are expected to converge on Fairmount, Ind., his birthplace, for a three-day festival featuring outdoor screenings of "East of Eden," "Rebel Without a Cause" and "Giant" on a huge screen at Marion's airport.

The former Indiana farm boy's lasting appeal stems in part from the era in which he made his big, but brief, splash, said San Francisco-based film historian David Thomson.

Posted by: Lawrenkm at 07:35 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 182 words, total size 1 kb.