Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

• Year: 1955
• Released: 29 Oct 1955
• Country: United States
• Adwords: Nominated for 3 Oscars. 3 wins & 7 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048545/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/Rebel_Without_a_Cause
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/rebel-without-a-cause
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: PG-13
• Genre: Drama
• Runtime: 111 min
• Writer: Stewart Stern, Irving Shulman, Nicholas Ray
• Director: Nicholas Ray
• Cast: James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo
• Keywords: parent child relationship, coming of age, based on short story, street gang, car race,

	7.6/10
	89/100
	93% – Critics
	88% – Audience

Rebel Without a Cause Storyline

Perpetually sullen, Dawson High’s careworn new student, Jim Stark, braces himself for yet another fresh start in a new town, after an unpleasant brush with the law earlier the same morning. Masking a profound but unfocused teenage angst, Jim, once more, will find himself neck-deep in trouble when he catches the eye of the school’s brazen delinquent, Buzz, after a field trip to Los Angeles’ Griffith Observatory. Under those circumstances, only a dangerous test of valour can sort out the men from the boys, while, suddenly, the equally persecuted pariah, Plato, and Stark’s charming next-door neighbour, Judy, become Jim’s unusual alternative family: the only refuge from their seemingly callous parents. Now, the wheel of estrangement and teenage defiance has come full circle, and the petulant trio will have to go back to where it all began. Does life always give second chances?

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Rebel Without a Cause Movie Reviews

A misfit young man gets mixed up with some tough guys and two sensitive, troubled friends

Trending picture about maladjusted teenagers excellently directed by Nicholas Ray , being his most popular and influential film . A rebellious adolescent named Jim Stark (James Dean) with a troubled past comes to a new town, finding friends and enemies. He is alienated from both his peers and parents (Anna Doran , Jim Backus) . He finds underdog youth as Plato (Sal Mineo) and Judy (Natalie Wood , to whom Ray was rumored to have made advances) in a Police Station and soon later they befriend turning into three outcast friends .

Good film dealing with adolescence problems from the 50s , being magnificent played by a group of splendid young men . Many memorable set-pieces , including the ¨chickie run¨ between James Dean and black leather-jacketed Corey Allen . James Dean’s most important screen appearance in the second of his three movies , following ¨East of Eden¨ and his final was ¨Giant¨. Director Ray touches upon his favorite theme: two lovers searching for a quiet place to live in peace that also used in former picture titled “Lovers of the Night (1945)”, one of his few totally controlled pieces of work . Awesome support cast formed by newcomers who would have an acceptable and uneven career as Dennis Hooper , Corey Allen , Nick Adams and special mention to Sal Mineo as lone and feeble Plato . Ray, screenwriter Stewart Stern, costar James Dean, and Sal Mineo himself all intended for Mineo’s character Plato to be subtly but definitely understood as gay , although the Production Code was still very much in force and forbade any mention of homosexuality, all worked together to insert restrained references to Plato’s homosexuality and attraction to Jim, including the pinup photo of Alan Ladd on Plato’s locker door, Plato’s adoring looks at Jim, his loaded talk with Jim in the old mansion, and even the name “Plato,” which is a reference to the Classical Greek philosopher ; for that mansion scene, Dean suggested to Mineo that Plato should “look at me the way I look at Natalie.” Furthermore , the film packs a colorful and glimmer cinematography in Technicolor by Ernest Haller . Moving as well as thrilling musical score by Leonard Rosenman .

The motion picture was very well directed by Nicholas Ray who researched L. A. gangs by riding around with them for several nights. In September of 1954, Ray wrote a treatment to “The Blind Run,” about three troubled adolescents who create a new family in each other. This would form the basis for this picture . After some re-writes, Ray started shopping for a lead actor. After a trip to the Strasberg Institute in New York proved fruitless, he learned that Elia Kazan had recently discovered a New York stage actor for his latest film, but he wasn’t recommending him; even after Ray saw a rough cut of this actor’s latest film he still wasn’t sure. It was only when Ray met 24 year old James Dean at a party did he realize that this hot new talent would be perfect for the role of Jim Stark, a troubled youth whose world is unraveled in a 24-hour period. Ray and Dean formed a very close bond during filming, with Ray allowing Dean to improvise and even direct to his liking. The rest of the cast came together with the talents of two fifteen-year-old : Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo; as well as smaller roles, which Ray cast based on weeks of bizarre, improvised auditions as well as interviews with the actors. The three superb young stars carry this in-the-gut tale of teens . However , all three leads met with real-life tragic end , Dean dead by a car crash , Natalie by drowning and Mineo was killed . Filming was a wild ride, but it paid off; Mineo and Wood were both Oscar-nominated in the supporting acting categories, and Ray received his only Oscar nomination, for the screenplay. Ray and Dean planned to make more movies after this, but Dean’s death would never make that possible, and at least they left movie audiences with one great film. Rating : two thumbs up , extraordinary , top-drawer material . Indispensable and essential watching this classic movie .

He shot puppies!

Like many teen movies of the age, most of the disaffected teens in the film are old enough to start thinking about social security! Dean is 24 and a few of the tough thugs are clearly about 25-30! You just have to ignore this, as this was the norm for juvenile delinquent films of the 50s. Plus, at least Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo were teenagers! While the opening scene involving James Dean was pretty famous, the part of the film that struck me in the first few minutes of the film was not Dean but when Mineo was being interviewed by the Police. Apparently, for kicks, he’d been out shooting puppies!!! Wow…now that’s pretty cold and this small scene, for me, overshadowed Dean’s performance in the police station–though Dean was good as the angry, hurt teen. Puppies…that boy was crazy! And, in fact, I found Mineo’s character the most interesting throughout the film–with a strong gay subtext (it sure seems to be there in spades).

As far as Dean’s anger and rebelliousness, it soon becomes obvious in the police station that his parents were much of the problem. While it’s often too easy to blame parents (and very typical for psychologists of this time), in this case this is at least a large part of the problem. The parents don’t agree about anything–there is a nosy grandmother who needs to butt out and the father (Jim Backus) seems much more concerned with making excuses and being his son’s pal than being a parent. And, in many ways, the parents seem to be in denial as the police send him home. And, in many ways, the film seems like a great example of the Oedipal Complex in a modern American family.

A weird part of the film is Natalie Wood and the very, very disturbed relationship with her father (William Hopper). While not explicitly stated, it sure seemed as if there was sexual tension boiling within her Dad. He pushes her away and is nasty with her as a result of these unacceptable impulses! Pretty sick stuff! And, speaking of sick stuff, Backus’ problems seem far deeper than trying to be his son’s friend. He is a walking caricature of a castrated man–with a mother who dominates him and a wife and son who don’t respect him. The image of seeing Backus running around the house wearing a very frilly women’s apron sure drove that point home! With both Backus and Hopper, it sure seemed as if the writers had consulted with some Freudian psychoanalysts!! Later in the film, I halfway expected to see everyone sitting around eating hot dogs.

The rest of the film is the usual stuff you might expect to see in any rebellious teenagers film but with a few exceptions. The biggest difference is that most of the films in this genre were ultra-cheap films made with horrible production values. “Rebel Without a Cause” is a larger budget film made by Warner Brothers–not some two-bit studio. In addition, there are many great moments that stick in your mind that you just would never find in a typical film of this type–such as the crazy scene where Dean and the gang leader play Chicken on the edge of a cliff, Sal Mineo’s pink frilly bedroom, the knife fight, the confrontation at the old house and observatory, etcetera. This is a very well-made and entertaining film from start to finish and clearly the best in the glutted genre (boy, did they make a LOT of these sort of movies). Excellent acting and direction throughout.

Still a powerful film 59 years later

Not just a powerful film but also a very, very good one where it is very easy to see why it’s considered a classic. It is a well-made film with the observatory shot at the end deserving a big mention and it is wonderfully directed by Nicholas Ray in terms of technical control and his ability in how to make the characters and their relationships compelling. Leonard Rosenman’s music captures the 50s beautifully- just like the film’s atmosphere does- as well, while the dialogue is thoughtful, treats the subject matter sympathetically without over-idealising and still packs a punch. Some have had that they consider how the characters act and speak outdated, not to me, for the time it was very ahead of its time(Jim’s actions and what he said wouldn’t dared to be have done and said before then, and the depiction of the parents was different to before too) and I still related to the characters’ actions and the way they spoke. The story explores the theme of a teenager alienated by family and society struggling to fit in, and(at least personally) no other film has explored this theme and issue as powerfully and movingly- certainly not as realistically either- as Rebel Without a Cause, and in a way where you identify every step of the way with the characters and what they say and act. And despite what you may think the issue is very much relevant now, as well as important and something a lot of people still feel strongly about, speaking from personal experience in secondary school. The characters are the sort that are easy to relate to and that you can see yourselves in them, Jim Stark is somewhat of an icon now and unsurprisingly, and the film is beautifully played. Aside from the film’s subject matter Rebel Without a Cause is remembered most for the performance of James Dean, and there is good reason for that because it is a superb performance and very heartfelt, makes one very sad of how such a promising young talent have their life and career cut short and tragically. Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo both give great supporting turns that are among their best, she charming and compassionate and he bringing an equally troubled character to affecting life. Everybody acquits themselves very well though. It is a shame that the ending is a cop-out and wraps things up too easily, but Rebel Without a Cause is otherwise a must see for particularly James Dean’s performance and as a textbook example as to how to make a film with the teenager-struggling-to-fit-in theme. 9/10 Bethany Cox