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.

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Plot Keywords:

juvenile delinquent | man wearing woman's apron | teen angst | switchblade | juvenile hall | 

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Taglines:

The overnight sensation of 'East of Eden' becomes the star of the year!

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Genres:

Drama

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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

The arguments Hopper and Ray had over their affairs with Natalie Wood resulted in most of Hopper's lines being cut. Ray wanted him fired but his contract with Warner Bros wouldn't allow it.

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Goofs

After Plato is shot at the observatory, he loses one of his shoes when he stumbles and falls to the ground. The remaining shoe alternates between being on his right foot (with the blue sock) and his left foot (with the red sock).

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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.

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Connections

Referenced in Spin City: Rebel Without a Chair (1999)

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Soundtracks

Five O'Clock Whistle
(1936) (uncredited)
Music by Gene Irwin and Josef Myrow
Played on the car radio after the dedication

User Reviews

Hard to believe this is a classic

I had high expectations for this "classic" and was sorely disappointed. The good: Nice to see some not-over-the-top fight/scuffle scenes (in today's movies the fight scenes usually involve each participant receiving at least a dozen lethal blows). Nice to see some familiar faces (Maria, Thurston Howell, The Chief) in their (relative) youth.

These tiny saving graces are greatly overwhelmed by the bad: Ridiculous, unconvincing plot. Bad dialog. Caricaturesque characters. I can forgive the movie for not having stood the test of time (few movies from the 50s do), but hard to believe it was even considered a good movie at the time. I can only attribute the stratospheric stature of the film to the untimely death of James Dean. Purple Haze would have been a great song had Hendrix not died... but Rebel Without A Cause would be as forgotten as Curtain Call at Cactus Creek had James Dean lived to be 90. Or maybe even 30.