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Rebel Without a Cause (1955) ft. Peterson W. Hill

  • Writer: Thomas Duncan
    Thomas Duncan
  • Oct 15
  • 5 min read
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Guest:


Cast:

  • Nicholas Ray, Director

  • Stewart Stern and Irving Shulman, Writers

  • Ernest Haller, Cinematography

  • Leonard Rosenman, Music

  • James Dean as James "Jim" Stark

  • Natalie Wood as Judy

  • Sal Mineo as John "Plato" Crawford

  • Jim Backus as Frank Stark

  • Ann Doran as Carol Stark

  • Corey Allen as Buzz Gunderson

  • William Hopper as Judy's father

  • Rochelle Hudson as Judy's mother

  • Edward Platt as Inspector Ray Fremick

  • Marietta Canty as the Crawford family maid

  • Virginia Brissac as Grandma Stark

  • Dennis Hopper as Goon


Background:

  • Rebel Without a Cause was released on October 27, 1955.

  • On a reported budget of $1.5 million, Rebel Without a Cause would gross nearly $7.2 million.

  • The film was met with mixed reviews at the time, but almost universal acclaim for James Dean as Jim Stark.

  • Rebel was nominated for 3 Oscars: Best Supporting Actor (Mineo), Supporting Actress (Wood), and Story (Nicholas Ray).

  • Rebel Without a Cause is closely tied with the rise in youth culture during the mid-1950s, in which teenagers became seen as "a distinct social group". The box office successes of Rebel and Blackboard Jungle in 1955 caused a "chain reaction" in Hollywood where every studio started making films aimed as younger audiences.

  • Rebel has since been recognized by the AFI on the following lists:

    • 1998 AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies #59

    • 2005 AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes

      • "You're tearing me apart!" Nominated

  • In 2008, Empire Magazine ranked Rebel 477th on list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.

  • In 1990, Rebel Without a Cause was added to the Library of Congress's National Film Registry.

  • In other popular culture, Tommy Wiseau borrowed James Dean's line "You're tearing me apart" from Rebel Without a Cause, and used it in his 2003 cult film The Room, widely considered to be one of the worst films ever made. In the original script for Wiseau's movie, it was written as "You're taking me apart, Lisa", a reference to Dean's line.

  • Rebel Without a Cause currently holds a 93% on RT, an 89 score on Metacritic, and a 3.8/5 on Letterboxd.


Plot Summary: Rebel Without a Cause explores teenage rebellion and emotional confusion in 1950s America. The movie stars James Dean as Jim Stark, a troubled teenager who struggles to fit in after moving to a new town. His parents, played by Jim Backus and Ann Doran, constantly argue, leaving Jim feeling misunderstood and angry.


At his new high school, Jim quickly gets into trouble with a local gang led by Buzz Gunderson (played by Corey Allen). When a “chickie run” ends in tragedy with Buzz's death, Jim quickly becomes the enemy of the gang. Afterward, Jim finds himself drawn to Judy (Natalie Wood), Buzz’s girlfriend, who also feels neglected by her parents. The two bond over their shared loneliness and confusion about adulthood. They are joined by Plato (Sal Mineo), a shy and troubled boy who looks up to Jim as a father figure.


The three teens briefly imagine forming their own “family,” away from the chaos of their parents’ lives. But when the police close in on them, tragedy strikes again, showing how fragile and misunderstood young people can be when they have nowhere to turn.


Did You Know:

  • The exterior of the mansion where the main characters confront each other with guns, as well as the empty pool in which they sit and discuss their lives, previously appeared in Sunset Boulevard (1950). The pool had been built specially for the earlier film, as a condition of renting the property from its owner, Mrs. Jean Paul Getty.

  • James Dean was injured several times while shooting the switchblade fight, during which a real weapon was used. James Dean got angry when Nicholas Ray stopped the knife fight scene after noticing that Dean had been cut on the ear and was bleeding. Dean said, "Don't you ever cut a scene while I'm having a real moment."

  • The opening scene in the movie with Jim Stark and the toy monkey was improvised by James Dean after the production had been shooting for nearly 24 hours straight. He asked Nicholas Ray to roll the camera, that he wanted to do something. Ray obliged and the improvisation went on to become the famous opening scene.

  • Natalie Wood was first considered too young for the role of Judy. Even though she was the same age as the character, she was at least 5 years younger than all the other candidates except Margaret O'Brien. She adopted a mature woman's hairstyle, started wearing heavy eye makeup and eventually attracted the notice of director Nicholas Ray, 43, who began an affair with the 16-year-old and gave her the part.

  • The part where Jim and Judy find Plato wearing one blue sock and one red sock was not scripted. Sal Mineo actually put them on that way by mistake.

  • T-shirt sales soared after James Dean wore one in this film. Compare this to when Clark Gable had a shirtless scene in It Happened One Night (1934). T-shirt sales dropped 40%.


Best Performance: James Dean (Jim)

Best Secondary Performance: Jim Backus (Dad)/Sal Mineo (Plato)

Most Charismatic Award: Natalie Wood (Judy)/Nicholas Ray (Director)

Best Scene:

  • Police Station

  • Planetarium

  • Knife Fight

  • "Chickie Run"

  • Do the Right Thing

  • Plato's Demise

Favorite Scene: Police Station/Planetarium

Most Indelible Moment: Plato's Demise


In Memorium:


Best Lines/Funniest Lines:

Jim Stark: You're tearing me apart!


Jim Stark: I woke up this morning, you know... and the sun was shining, and it was nice, and all that type of stuff. And the first thing, I saw you, and, uh, I said, "Boy, this is gonna be one terrific day, so you better live it up, because tomorrow you'll be nothing." You see? And I almost was.


Jim Stark: 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?


Jim Stark: I've got the bullets!


Plato Crawford: Do you think the end of the world will come at nighttime?

Jim Stark: Uh-uh, at dawn.


Jim Stark: I'll bet you'd go to a hanging.

Plato Crawford: I guess it's just my morbid personality.


Jim Stark: I don't know what to do anymore. Except maybe die.


Jim Stark: [looking up at stars in a planetarium] Once you been up there you know you've been someplace.


Jim Stark: Nobody talks to children.

Judy: No, they just tell them.


Plato Crawford: If only you coulda been my dad. We could have breakfast in the morning.


Jim Stark: You're not listening to me!


The Stanley Rubric:

Legacy: 8.5

Impact/Significance: 8

Novelty: 8.17

Classic-ness: 8.83

Rewatchability: 5.17

Audience Score: 8.05 (73% Google, 88% RT)

Total: 46.72


Remaining Questions:

  • How did Frank Stark see the pictures of the car crash on the news that night?

  • Is Jim Stark actually a rebel?

  • Why is Judy upset with her parents?

  • Why don't you break the car when your sleeve is caught?

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