Rebel Without a Cause

Rebel Without a Cause is a 1955 film which tells the story of a rebellious teenager who comes to a new town, meets a girl, defies his parents and faces the local gang. It sought to portray the existing decay of youth in middle America, critiqued parental style, and exposed the rift that existed between two generations. The title refers to psychiatrist Robert Lindner's 1944 book Rebel Without A Cause: The Hypnoanalysis of a Criminal Psychopath.

Plot Summary

Cultural Legacy

The film is widely cited as having both described and represented teenaged angst of the early 1950s. It made the game of chicken emblematic of male machismo among American teens of the era and is largely responsible for the perception, widely held at the time, of Southern California as the crucible of youth culture. Although James Dean had already become a star with the release of East of Eden earlier in the year, Rebel Without a Cause is considered to have conferred on Dean his role as the voice of the generation. The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Trivia

In the book titled The Celluloid Closet and the subsequent documentary film of the same name, there are reports that original script of the film depicted Sal Mineo's character as more explicitly homosexual. However film historian Jerold Simmons notes that while a representative for the Production Code Administration was particularly concerned about the movie's potential effect on a teen audience, and posed questions about the relationship between Dean's and Mineo's characters, no script changes were made. According to Sam Kashner's Vanity Fair piece about Nicholas Ray and the making of Rebel, Mineo, Dean, and Ray all intended for Plato to be seen as gay^*. Kashner quotes Mineo as claiming that Plato was the first gay teenager on film, and Dean as instructing Mineo to "Look at me the way I look at Natalie." The writer of the film has said that if he were writing the script today (or in the 1990s) he would have made the Sal Mineo character's homosexuality more explicit.

A more serious reservation about possible hints at an incestuous relationship between Natalie Wood's character and her father was also dropped with no changes in either the script or the finished film.

The Griffith Observatory is featured prominently in the film, and is the site of the movie's climax.

All three of the main stars (James Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo) died relatively young under tragic circumstances. Dean was killed in a traffic accident on September 30, 1955, Wood drowned on November 29, 1981, and Mineo was murdered on February 12, 1976..

James Dean was said to have encouraged Sal Mineo's attraction toward him during filming and asked Mineo to react to him the way he would with Natalie Wood. Mineo later recalled being in love with Dean but was too young to realize it.

The project kicked around Hollywood for nearly a decade before the film was finally produced. Marlon Brando even filmed a five-minute screen test for the Jim Stark role in 1947 (included on the special edition DVD of A Streetcar Named Desire) and was apparently offered the part, but finally turned it down for unknown reasons.

The pop band Jim Stärk is named after the film's main character.

The 80's pop group The Smiths quote a line from the movie for the song Strech Out And Wait: "As we lie, you say : Will the world end in the night time ? (I really don't know) Or will the world end in the day time ? (I really don't know) And is there any point ever having children ? Oh, I don't know. What I do know is we're Here and it's Now".

Primary cast:

James Dean (Jim Stark)
Natalie Wood (Judy)
Sal Mineo (John "Plato" Crawford)
Jim Backus (Frank Stark)
Ann Doran (Mrs. Stark)
Corey Allen (Buzz Gunderson)
William Hopper (Judy's Father)
Rochelle Hudson (Judy's Mother)
Edward Platt (Ray Fremick)
Nick Adams (Chick)
Dennis Hopper (Goon)
Jack Grinnage (Moose)

Award nominations:

Famous dialogue from the film

Nobody talks to children.

No, they just tell them.

If I had one day when I didn't have to be all confused and I didn't have to feel that I was ashamed of everything. If I felt that I belonged someplace. You know?

You're tearing me apart!

What would he know about 'man alone'

Wanna' see a monkey?

Jim, do you think the end of the world will come at nighttime? Which is referenced in the Tiger Army song, "Last Night".

References

Frascella, Lawrence and Weisel, Al : Live Fast, Die Young: The Wild Ride of Making Rebel Without a Cause. Touchstone, 2005. ISBN 0743260821

External links

Rebel Without a Cause Movie Information at filmreference.com
Classic Movies: Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
All Time Rebel {1955-2005: 50th Anniversary}
Jack Grinnage's Homepage (he played "Moose")
Behind the Scenes of 'Rebel Without a Cause': James Dean, Sal Mineo, Natalie Wood—Living Fast, Dying Young, in Life and Onscreen
IMDB
Review by Jonathan Dunder
Filming Location
"The Making of Rebel Without a Cause" by Sam Kashner A Vanity Fair piece about Nicholas Ray with a particular focus on Rebel.