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Page 2 April 13 - 19, 2015 Luke Bryan, Reba and many more celebrate ACM Awards' 50th By Jay Bobbin © Zap2it The Academy of Country Music clearly knows how sig- nificant the number 50 is. Not only are many of the genre's top stars helping the organization mark a half-cen- tury of its honors, the event is adding 30 minutes to its usual three hours ... and is being moved from an audito - rium to an even larger venue. For the third consecutive year, Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan team as hosts as CBS televises The 50th Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday, April 19, from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. With four nominations himself, including entertainer of the year and male vocalist of the year, Bryan has good reason to be central to the milestone ceremony. Two of his first awards were ACMs, for top new artist and top new solo vocalist in 2010. "The ACM Awards are an amazing time," says "Crash My Party" and "Play It Again" hit-maker Bryan. "They're so fun, and they represent coun - try music in such a positive way. The opportunity to host is always an honor, and it's something I don't take lightly; it's kind of your opportunity to leave your mark. The 50th will be a big night that will cap a big, busy week for me, but it's certainly a labor of love." That "big, busy week" also has involved Bryan's taping of an ACM-related "Superstar Duets!" special that CBS will broadcast May 15, and his hosting duet with Shelton at the awards continues to please him. "Blake obviously is such a big character," he muses, "just somebody who's an amazing figure to have in country music. The fact that I get to be a part of this show with him ... he and I have a blast doing it, and we certainly enjoy seeing each other, catching up and doing our best to put on the show. I think we'll be doing it for some while." Among the numerous other country talents to be on hand for The 50th ACM Awards, several will receive special Milestone Awards for their respective achievements over the his - tory of the honors: Brooks & Dunn, Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire, George Strait and Taylor Swift. With her newest album "Love Somebody" just out, McEntire has earned the most ACM awards (seven) for female vocalist of the year, and 13 overall. Set to perform a combination of familiar hits and newer mate - rial on the special, she notes that she's "gotten to host that show 14 times, with different people or by myself, and it was the very first award I was ever nominated for — so it's really special to me. "To put it in a stadium and fill that out, that's talkin' big stuff there," adds McEntire, making her first ACM Awards appearance in five years. "I let it go the year I did (the ABC sitcom) 'Malibu Country,' and that's when Luke and Blake took it over. And they've been doing a great job." The mother-in-law of fel - low singing star Kelly Clark- son, McEntire notes she's kept tabs on new country tal- ent even when she hasn't at- tended the ACMs: "I've been associated with it through Narvel (Blackstock, McEn- tire's husband and manager), who is also the manager to Blake and Kelly, so I still get to stay in the swing of things and see what's going on. And now that I've got the new music out, it's like jump - ing right into the deep end of the swimming pool. It's a lot of fun to go back." One of the major movies of 1956 truly was "Giant," in many ways – particularly for the residents of Marfa, Texas. Director George Stevens earned his second Oscar in bringing a cast that included Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and (in what would be his final film) James Dean to the town to make the sweeping version of Edna Ferber's novel, which dealt in part with Mexican-American relations. Stevens' producer-director son, George Jr., and others discuss the impact of the filming on all concerned in filmmaker Hector Galan's documentary "Children of Giant," the first Season 4 offering of PBS' Latino arts and culture series "Voces" Friday, April 17 (check local listings). "It gave a lot of (local) people employment," recalls Stevens Jr., an assistant to his father on the Warner Bros. picture, "and of course, it filled the hotels, and many of the cast and crew stayed in peoples' houses. My father had this notion that he really wanted the town to be part of the picture, and it was an open set. The people from town, if they wanted to come out and watch shooting, they were welcome. So from my perspective, it was a wonderful place to make that film, and I'm sure it informed the film with some of the spirit of the people who lived there." Shown often on Turner Classic Movies, "Giant" weaves the saga of wealthy Texas rancher Bick Benedict (Hudson), his wife Leslie (Taylor) and maverick ranch hand – and later oil tycoon – Jett Rink (Dean). Mexican actress Elsa Cardenas made her Hollywood debut as Juana, who married into the Benedict family; also featured in "Children of Giant," she was present when word came of Dean's car-accident death on Sept. 30, 1955. "The phone rang, and Mr. Stevens answered the phone," she says. "The lights were off, and he told us what had happened. It was around 7:00 (p.m.), and it was horrible news for us. Elizabeth was very sentimental and she started crying. All of us, we were very, very upset. The next day, we were all like we didn't want to talk. We didn't want to say anything." Also in both "Giant" and "Children of Giant" is veteran actor Earl Holliman ("Police Woman"), whose character Bob Dace also joined the Benedict clan via marriage. He expresses pride for having been in the film, and also for being part of an atmosphere that was "always mixed" in ethnic terms. "It was always Mexican, always American," he notes. "Everybody was laughing. It was like the circus had come to town. It was a festival for all the time I was there. It was glorious, what was happening in Marfa." James Dean in "Giant" PBS documentary recalls a 'Giant' movie BY GEORGE DICKIE Reba McEntire performs and is honored at The 50th Academy of Country Music Awards Sunday on CBS.

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