Rusty James, an absent-minded street thug struggles to live up to his legendary older brother's reputation, and longs for the days when gang warfare was going on.
Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1965. Fourteen-year-old Ponyboy Curtis is the youngest of three orphaned brothers who live on the north side of town, the "wrong side" of the tracks. Sensitive Ponyboy used to have a good relationship with his oldest brother Darrel, but since Darrel became the household caregiver, he is always on Ponyboy's case. Caught in the middle is third brother Sodapop, who dropped out of school to work full time. They all belong to The Greasers, a gang of boys from the north side also from working class families, often broken. Ponyboy's main concern is that any problem they may encounter, especially in their Greaser activities, will lead to the authorities splitting up their family. He also believes Darrel would have outgrown them and become something in his life if it wasn't for his loyalty to the gang, and the need to take care of the family. The rest of the world sees the Greasers as all the same, the face being Dallas Winston, the most volatile one who has just been released...Written by
Huggo
The convenience store, in which Dallas pulls out a gun on the store clerk, is a U-tote-M. The chain originated in the Houston, Texas metro area. It was acquired by Leroy Melcher in 1950 when it operated ten stores. U-tote-M expanded to one thousand stores when Melcher became the President and CEO. A sister company, U-tote-M of San Antonio, Texas, later evolved to become National Convenience Stores. U-tote-M was acquired by the Circle K Corporation on December 29, 1983, where the nine hundred sixty U-Tote-M chain was re-branded as Circle K. Circle K was later acquired by Canadian convenience store chain Alimentation Couche-Tard; as of 2013, the U-Tote-M brand name and trademark (after the Circle K purchase) has been declared abandoned. The main building of the University of Houston's C.T. Bauer College of Business was named Melcher Hall in 1986 in honor of Leroy Melcher, an alumnus of the university. See more »
Goofs
The movie is set in 1965. However, when Dallas is reading the magazine, just before he robs the convenience store, comic books from DC Comics and Charlton Comics are shown with logos that were introduced in 1977 and 1973 respectively. Three comics can be clearly seen: Detective Comics #521, Fightin' Marines #166 and Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew #10. All three comics were originally published in December 1982. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Ponyboy:
[voicecover]
When I stepped out into the bright sunlight, from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman, and a ride home.
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Crazy Credits
Closing dedication: This film is dedicated to the people who first suggested that it be made... Librarian Jo Ellen Misakian and the students of the Lone Star School in Fresno, California. See more »
Alternate Versions
The 2005 special edition contains a re-edited cut of the film, a new soundtrack and 22 minutes of additional footage, including:
an extended opening scene where Ponyboy is attacked by the Socs when walking home from a Paul Newman movie. The principle Greasers are also introduced. Later, Ponyboy and Sodapop talk to each other in their bedroom.
a scene where Ponyboy asks some farmers how to reach Jay Mountain. He claims that he's playing "army" and "needs to report to base."
an alternate scene in the church where Ponyboy imagines that both Sodapop and Darry are present.
a short scene where Ponyboy splashes some water on his face outside the church while Johnny is out buying supplies.
a scene in the church where Ponyboy and Johnny become emotional over the events of the past 24 hours.
extended reading of "Gone With the Wind" in the church.
a short scene where Ponyboy finds Tim sitting on his couch in the morning.
a small extension to Ponyboy and Two-Bit at the hospital where a doctor allows them access to Johnny's room after being denied entrance by a nurse.
a short scene where Two-Bit and Ponyboy encounter Johnny's mother at the hospital.
Following the death of Dally, Darry lashes out at the cops while Ponyboy faints. Later, we see Sodapop and Darry caring for him in bed while Ponyboy asks if someone is sick, not realizing that he is.
A courtroom scene where Cherry, Randy, and Ponyboy all make statements. In the end, Ponyboy is acquitted and left in the custody of Darry.
A scene where Ponyboy runs into Cherry at school, but she walks away from him. Ponyboy's teacher also informs him that he is flunking, but allows him to write a paper on a personal experience in order to raise his grade.
A dinner scene where Sodapop becomes angry that he's always stuck in the middle between Ponyboy and Darry's tug of war and runs away. When they eventually catch him, they agree to stop fighting all the time.
I had to read the book in seventh grade and we also watched the movie. I though both of them were fabulous. Francis Ford Coppola has adapted almost every detail of the book into this movie. I thought the acting was great and the plot was good for teenagers, which is the movie's, as well as the book's, target audience. I was surprised on how many stars were in this movie (seven) and it was much better than I thought it would be. It didn't seem cheesy and small but you felt like you were watching a real film. Even though the Greasers seem to be born into undesirable lives, watching this movie makes you want to go back to 1967 in the Southwest and be a Greaser, too. Fabulous movie and perfect for teenagers.
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I had to read the book in seventh grade and we also watched the movie. I though both of them were fabulous. Francis Ford Coppola has adapted almost every detail of the book into this movie. I thought the acting was great and the plot was good for teenagers, which is the movie's, as well as the book's, target audience. I was surprised on how many stars were in this movie (seven) and it was much better than I thought it would be. It didn't seem cheesy and small but you felt like you were watching a real film. Even though the Greasers seem to be born into undesirable lives, watching this movie makes you want to go back to 1967 in the Southwest and be a Greaser, too. Fabulous movie and perfect for teenagers.