Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

A rebellious young man with a troubled past comes to a new town, finding friends and enemies.

Director:

Nicholas Ray

Writers:

Stewart Stern (screen play), Irving Shulman (adaptation)

Stars:

James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Dean	...	Jim Stark
Natalie Wood	...	Judy
Sal Mineo	...	John 'Plato' Crawford
Jim Backus	...	Frank Stark
Ann Doran	...	Mrs. Carol Stark
Corey Allen	...	Buzz Gunderson
William Hopper	...	Judy's Father
Rochelle Hudson	...	Judy's Mother
Dennis Hopper	...	Goon
Edward Platt	...	Ray Fremick
Steffi Sidney	...	Mil
Marietta Canty	...	Crawford Family Maid
Virginia Brissac	...	Mrs. Stark - Jim's Grandmother
Beverly Long	...	Helen
Ian Wolfe	...	Dr. Minton

Storyline

Jim Stark is the new kid in town. He has been in trouble elsewhere; that's why his family has had to move before. Here he hopes to find the love he doesn't get from his middle-class family. Though he finds some of this in his relation with Judy, and a form of it in both Plato's adulation and Ray's real concern for him, Jim must still prove himself to his peers in switchblade knife fights and "chickie" games in which cars race toward a seaside cliff.

---

Plot Keywords:

juvenile delinquent | teen angst | juvenile delinquency | coming of age | cliff | 

---

Taglines:

The bad boy from a good family.

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 October 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rebelde sin causa

Filming Locations:

7529 Franklin Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (optical prints) 4-Track Stereo (RCA Sound Recording) (magnetic prints) Dolby Digital (DVD version)

Color:

Color (WarnerColor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

James Whitmore, Peter Gray, Richard Crane, George Reeves and Walter Reed were considered for the role of Ray Fremeck, eventually played by Edward Platt.

---

Goofs

When Plato shoots at Jim, Jim's words don't match up with his mouth. And when Jim tackles him a moment later Plato's words don't match up either.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
First police officer: Get up, get up. Mixed up in that beating on 12th street, huh?
Second police officer: No. Plain drunkenness.

---

Alternate Versions

To receive a UK cinema certificate the film was extensively cut by the BBFC. The entire knife fight scene between Jim & Buzz was removed, and heavy edits were made to the chicken race scene, shots of Jim attempting to throttle his father, and the fight between Jim and probation officer Fremick. Although the distributors initially wanted an 'A' certificate they were told that further cuts would have to be made, so the above print was released as an 'X'. All later UK releases were fully uncut and since 1986 the film has been PG rated.

---

Connections

Referenced in One Pair of Eyes: Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles (1972)

---

Soundtracks

Ride of the Valkyries
(1856) (uncredited)
from "Die Walküre"
Music by Richard Wagner
Hummed by Jim in the police station

User Reviews

A Tale Of Three Misfits

In his three film trilogy James Dean worked with three of the best directors around, George Stevens in Giant, Elia Kazan in East of Eden, and Nicholas Ray for Rebel Without A Cause. The first two films came from the inspiration of two of the best American writers of the last century, Edna Ferber and John Steinbeck. But in Rebel Without A Cause the inspiration was director Nicholas Ray himself who wrote was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Story for the screen.

The Fifties was certainly the era for those rebel type films, but Rebel Without A Cause is unique because it deals with these bored upper middle class kids. It's as different a film as The Wild One with Marlon Brando and those working class biker types or the urban school kids of The Blackboard Jungle as you can get. The problems of this crowd just don't seem as serious as those in the other two films.

But because of the quality performances of James Dean, Natalie Wood, and Sal Mineo you do sort of feel for these kids. Dean is a misfit like he was in East of Eden, in fact his parents have just moved because of trouble he'd gotten into in his previous school. Unlike in East of Eden where Dean had this almost godlike father in Raymond Massey who he felt he couldn't measure up to, in Rebel Without A Cause he's dealing with Jim Backus who's an ineffectual henpecked sort with Ann Doran and her mother, Virginia Brissac. Dean himself was raised by an aunt and uncle in Indiana so he could identify with both Cal Trask and Jim Stark. Come to think of it you could include Jett Rink in there as well.

Natalie Wood also has father problems, William Hopper who just doesn't know how to deal with the fact that 'daddy's little girl' is blossoming into womanhood. Her mother, Rochelle Hudson, is one of those who looks like she's suffering a permanent headache and has abandoned the family ship to dear old dad. It's more an absence of mother and Hopper trying to do both roles which he just can't handle.

But Dean and Wood have parents. Sal Mineo is being raised by the maid in his very wealthy home. He's got all the material things, but he's a rather geeky kid who just doesn't fit in. He's also experiencing latent homosexuality in an age where that was the worst thing on the planet to be and no visible gay community to tell you it wasn't. By the way Marietta Canty as the maid is outstanding in this film, she's miles away from the maid roles of Louise Beavers and Hattie McDaniel.

So these three find each other and find a gang of kids who race their expensive automobiles against each other for speed and against each other for daring in the famous 'chicken run' scene. When the gang leader Corey Allen is killed racing against Dean, he becomes a kind of martyr to them and trouble brews for our three misfits.

Both Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo were nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor. Wood lost to Jo Van Fleet from that other James Dean classic East of Eden and Mineo lost to Jack Lemmon in Mr. Roberts. As for Dean he was up that year posthumously for East of Eden.

It wasn't only James Dean's tragic death that made him a legend. He was getting acclaim for his performance in East of Eden when he was killed on September 30, 1955. His stunning impact came after his death as fans were mesmerized by the promise of things to come in Rebel Without A Cause which came out about four weeks later and with Giant which Dean had just wrapped shooting on. This dead actor had film fans talking everywhere right up to the Oscars of 1957 ceremony where he was nominated for 1956's Giant. If ever a player left the scene with fans begging for more it was James Dean.

Seen today over 50 years later Rebel Without A Cause still remains the ultimate film in teen angst. I think it's destined to be so for generations to come.