Rebel Without a Cause (1955) User Reviews

A Tale Of Three Misfits

[bkoganbing · 9/10 · 16 April 2008]

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.

First American Teenager

[humdinger · 9/10 · 28 June 2003]

"East of Eden" and "Giant" are both great, don't get me wrong. But this is the James Dean that set the archetype for not only the cool Fifties American teenager but perhaps every teenager since. Dean has his white t-shirt, sleeve rolled up for his smokes. He has his red jacket and blue jeans, he's ready to drag and he's ready to fight. From the first moment we see Dean, drunk on a school night, busted by the cops, he's amazingly both personally secretive and universally accessible at once. He's hurt, lonely and looking for kicks - and no one understands him except, maybe, just maybe, that one person in the audience...

Sure, this movie has it's faults. The parents are cartoonish, some of the kids are hip in only a stilted sense and a lot of the movie is unrealistic. There's something disturbingly hokey and amateurish in this portrayal of a typical American town with it's typical American high school. Yet, Dean, Mineo and Wood put on performances that let the viewer suspend reality all the way through..each of these three put on the performance of their lives!

Sal Mineo plays a mousey misfit named Plato (whose homosexuality is thinly veiled). Natalie Wood plays a young women named Judy, part of the in-crowd, who deep down is at wit's end. Both of these characters are amazingly believable, even fifty years later. Mineo's never been as enigmatic or as compelling as he is here as Plato. Then there's Wood - as cynical and alone in her world as Judy feels, we realize quickly she likes James Dean, she needs James Dean - and Dean can dig her.

In retrospect, it's not surprising that the jacketed juvenile delinquent that Dean plays here would become a role model for both young gay men and young straight men alike. He's comfortable being intimate with Plato, his words, his expressions are all too much, too overly emotional (for a straight man). But, the kids, the town itself, quickly learn Dean's no pushover. He yells, he fights and he's afraid of nothing that other people are afraid of - staring down death is just a way for him to kill time. But, he's afraid, something just isn't right with his life. And most importantly, even if he never really does connect with this "typical town" filled with "typical people", Dean does indeed connect - to anyone whose ever been young - and alone.....

Are we really tearing em apart?

[Fella_shibby · 9/10 · 9 April 2020]

I first saw this as a teen in the early 90s on a vhs. Revisited it recently with my teen son. The film portrayed the decay of confused teens n the differences and conflicts between teens n parents.

The film deals with the three main teens : 1)Jim - who is fed with his parents' bickering n his father's timid attitude.

2)Judy - who feels her father ignores n calls her names due to her clothes n lipstick.

3)Plato - a lonely kid whose father abandoned him when he was a toddler and his mother is always away.

All three of em James Dean, Sal Mineo, and Natalie Wood gave lovely performances. James Dean with his red jacket, blue jeans n white tshirt is the epitome of cool aft McQueen. We also have Dennis Hopper in a tiny role as a blue eyed goon who gets pushed aside.

Well you gotta do SOMETHIN'.

[Evan-29 · 18 May 2000]

I'm getting really sick of people on here saying "this film is not relevant today, because kids don't face the same problems, blah blah..." when these are ADULTS saying this, who wouldn't know the first thing about the problems kids face today because they aren't one. Well I'm 16 and I can say that this film is every bit as involving and affecting as it was the day it came out. I mean, name one thing in Rebel that isn't a part of teen life now. Drag racing: that's the only thing.

But anyway, the movie. I'm a hard-core film buff and have seem many many many many movies in my 16 years. Only two of them have accurately depicted teen life: Rebel Without a Cause and a beautiful Japanese anime film called Whisper of the Heart. Rebel on a whole is a bit exaggerated, but it's only fitting - a teen exaggerates everything that happens to them. In fact, some of the images and themes - kids and adults seem to be speaking different languages, a group of outcasts living in a secluded house - would be right at home in a Bunuel film. That house of outcasts in particular is very touching...I think all teens would want to live away from the real world once in a awhile.

The three principal characters are all like people I know. Sal Mineo as the troubled kid who wants nothing more than a friend. Natalie Wood as the girl who just goes along with what other people do because she wants to fit in. And of course, the ultra-cool James Dean as the kid who may have a rough-and-tumble exterior, but who is really a big softie at heart. Dean was a bit of a revelation to me. I'd never seen one of his movies before, so I assumed that, like Marilyn Monroe, it was the image that people grieved over and not the talent. Boy was I wrong. The guy could act. When he howls "You're tearing me apart!" at the beginning, you know what you're in store for.

The depiction of the parents also must have been a revelation for 1955 audiences. Juvenile delinquents had been (and are continuing to be) depicted as either overall bad seeds or having abusive parents. This film was the first to acknowledge that something as simple as a lack of communication and an unwillingness to pay attention to your child can do just as much damage.

Nicholas Ray's direction was also excellent. Besides coming up with the idea for Jim's red jacket to "make him stick out more" you have Plato's mismatched socks, and I was also surprised by the frequently-titled camera. I didn't know they did that back then! It certainly added more to the disjointed feeling and wasn't just there for style purposes like todays movies.

The only point at which the film falters is the pat resolution between Jim and his parents at the end. But the ending is great otherwise, with a wonderfully framed shot of the observatory, proving Jim's theory that the world will end at dawn.

Just so far ahead of its time....

[wisewebwoman · 9/10 · 7 December 2004]

This film bears watching once every 5 years or so. It is astonishing on many levels, not least of which is the exploration of the underbelly of the happy suburban post-war years in middle class America.

Yes, we all rave about the beautiful and sadly short lived life of James Dean who died before this movie opened. To die also in a manner highlit in this movie - he was co-incidentally a promo for it. Fast driving and fast cars. Poor James.

What I enjoy most though in all of it is the afore-mentioned exploration of hitherto fairly underdeveloped film themes in the America of the fifties. For one, there is the underlying homosexual element to the Sal Mineo character and his obsession with James. And here James is allowed to indulge and return this love, not overtly, but it is there, the tolerance and acknowledgment of it.

The character of Judy, played by Natalie Wood is also of tremendous interest. Here there is an incestuous component in her relationship to her father. It seems to me that the father is terrified of his attraction to his gorgeous daughter and keeps pushing her away to the degree that at one point he slaps her as she tries to kiss him. She escapes from home at every chance seeking male attention from wherever she can get it.

James' parents are a little overblown and too quickly resolved at the end. But the appearance of an "emasculated" Jim Backus (he wears an apron in case we don't quite get it!) is a sight for sore eyes. A little dated in the world of today but so far ahead of its time in 1955.

9 out 10. Satisfying on many levels.

A misfit young man gets mixed up with some tough guys and two sensitive, troubled friends

[ma-cortes · 8/10 · 9 July 2012]

Trending picture about maladjusted teenagers excellently directed by Nicholas Ray , being his most popular and influential film . A rebellious adolescent named Jim Stark (James Dean) with a troubled past comes to a new town, finding friends and enemies. He is alienated from both his peers and parents (Anna Doran , Jim Backus) . He finds underdog youth as Plato (Sal Mineo) and Judy (Natalie Wood , to whom Ray was rumored to have made advances) in a Police Station and soon later they befriend turning into three outcast friends .

Good film dealing with adolescence problems from the 50s , being magnificent played by a group of splendid young men . Many memorable set-pieces , including the ¨chickie run¨ between James Dean and black leather-jacketed Corey Allen . James Dean's most important screen appearance in the second of his three movies , following ¨East of Eden¨ and his final was ¨Giant¨. Director Ray touches upon his favorite theme: two lovers searching for a quiet place to live in peace that also used in former picture titled "Lovers of the Night (1945)", one of his few totally controlled pieces of work . Awesome support cast formed by newcomers who would have an acceptable and uneven career as Dennis Hooper , Corey Allen , Nick Adams and special mention to Sal Mineo as lone and feeble Plato . Ray, screenwriter Stewart Stern, costar James Dean, and Sal Mineo himself all intended for Mineo's character Plato to be subtly but definitely understood as gay , although the Production Code was still very much in force and forbade any mention of homosexuality, all worked together to insert restrained references to Plato's homosexuality and attraction to Jim, including the pinup photo of Alan Ladd on Plato's locker door, Plato's adoring looks at Jim, his loaded talk with Jim in the old mansion, and even the name "Plato," which is a reference to the Classical Greek philosopher ; for that mansion scene, Dean suggested to Mineo that Plato should "look at me the way I look at Natalie." Furthermore , the film packs a colorful and glimmer cinematography in Technicolor by Ernest Haller . Moving as well as thrilling musical score by Leonard Rosenman .

The motion picture was very well directed by Nicholas Ray who researched L. A. gangs by riding around with them for several nights. In September of 1954, Ray wrote a treatment to "The Blind Run," about three troubled adolescents who create a new family in each other. This would form the basis for this picture . After some re-writes, Ray started shopping for a lead actor. After a trip to the Strasberg Institute in New York proved fruitless, he learned that Elia Kazan had recently discovered a New York stage actor for his latest film, but he wasn't recommending him; even after Ray saw a rough cut of this actor's latest film he still wasn't sure. It was only when Ray met 24 year old James Dean at a party did he realize that this hot new talent would be perfect for the role of Jim Stark, a troubled youth whose world is unraveled in a 24-hour period. Ray and Dean formed a very close bond during filming, with Ray allowing Dean to improvise and even direct to his liking. The rest of the cast came together with the talents of two fifteen-year-old : Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo; as well as smaller roles, which Ray cast based on weeks of bizarre, improvised auditions as well as interviews with the actors. The three superb young stars carry this in-the-gut tale of teens . However , all three leads met with real-life tragic end , Dean dead by a car crash , Natalie by drowning and Mineo was killed . Filming was a wild ride, but it paid off; Mineo and Wood were both Oscar-nominated in the supporting acting categories, and Ray received his only Oscar nomination, for the screenplay. Ray and Dean planned to make more movies after this, but Dean's death would never make that possible, and at least they left movie audiences with one great film. Rating : two thumbs up , extraordinary , top-drawer material . Indispensable and essential watching this classic movie .

A bombshell at the time - dated and hysterical today.

[Pedro_H · 6/10 · 12 October 2011]

A teenage boy (Jim Stark played by James Dean) seem fated to get in to trouble and his family have to keep moving hoping that he will grow up and settle down. This proves to be a futile hope as things slide from bad to worse one fateful night.

Despite the sometimes over-the-top script and acting, there is something very special about James Dean on screen. However three films are not enough to judge him as an actor. Two of which are basically the same part.

Acting wise he was very Brando-lite, but more than that he had the vulnerable look and the fashion haircut. Not tall - barely 5'6 - but well proportioned and without an once of fat. A fashion trend-setter. The red jacket he wears here is worth several times his salary for making the film.

Sadly Dean's role as the world's "first teenager" is rather spoilt by the fact that he is - in fact - 24. Not even a particularly young looking 24 at that!

Strangely co-star Natalie Wood (Judy Hopper) is closer to the real age of her teenage character and yet - side by side - they look of a similar age. Her "middle aged" bomb-proof hairstyle making her look older than her years.

Best acting is actually Sal Mineo (Plato) as the homosexual hanger-on and social misfit, fresh from a psychiatrist's couch. More sad than bad. Despite what happens later.

I am not going to take this script seriously. Nor should you. Wood would need to be a psychopath to behave like she does on the "big night." How strange it seems to Europeans to see "children" driving and having their own car! So incredibly convenient for storming out the house after a chewing-the-curtains drama queen session with your folks.

Sad to think that all three of the above came to tragic early ends. Such is the fickle candle of life. Wood went on to West Side Story, which despite its fame didn't really take her in to orbit. Never scoring her "great role." Here she works well with Dean because he is trying too hard while she is trying too little to compensate.

Not perfect, but still extraordinary

[zetes · 9/10 · 17 July 2000]

I was quite impressed with _Rebel Without a Cause_. I expected it to be quite standard, having only gathered its reputation because of the tragedy surrounding James Deans' death. Fortunately, it stood up on its own quite well. Its superficial situations are somewhat dated, which was inevitable, but its themes remain potent after many decades.

The major theme is the burgeoning relationship between adults and their teenage children. All three of the main characters are at different stages in this process. Jim (James Dean) is surprisingly at the earliest stage of this. His mother is pretty distanced and unresponsive already, but he still seems to communicate well with his father (Jim Backus, who is amazing. His character's relationship with his wife also provides an interesting view into 1950s gender politics; in one scene, Backus is wearing a cooking apron, which is very obviously meant for a woman). Judy (Natalie Wood, whom I didn't even recognize here) is almost completely rejected by her father, who feels that her affection is out of place in her teenage years. Worst of all is Plato, both of whose parents have left him alone in the world. He tries desperately to make Jim and Judy his parents (although from this vantage point in time, Plato seems resoundingly sexually attracted to Jim, and he sees Judy as a threat to their relationship. Although the writer/director has denied that forever, no human being can watch it nowadays without that thought constantly crossing their mind).

The reason that I say this film is flawed lies in the actions of Plato near the end of the film. I felt his escalating insanity was kind of a cop-out. Instead of actually delving into Plato's true character and motives by having intelligent and realistic dialogue and actions, he is just made to go batty, wherein he spouts off his thoughts as if he were some eight year old or man-child. Plato may have been sycophantic throughout the film, but he was anything but a moron. His actions provide an easy way for the director/writer to answer all questions about his character, and then to facilitate an ending which is tragic, but more than a little contrived.

Despite what I feel is a cop-out ending, _Rebel Without a Cause remains a thoroughly powerful film. I liked it, and I'll never forget it. 9/10

James Dean.

[AaronCapenBanner · 6/10 · 8 November 2013]

Nicholas Ray directed this popular and influential film that stars James Dean as Jim Stark, who has just moved to a new town, and tries to make a good impression on his high schoolmates, but they prove reluctant, and instead challenge him to a switchblade fight, then a "chicken run" with their cars. Natalie Wood plays Judy, who comes over to Jim's side, and they fall in love. Sal Mineo plays their friend nicknamed "Plato", who idolizes them, which leads to near-tragic consequences. Jim Backus & Ann Doran play Jim's baffled parents, and William Hopper plays Judy's disinterested father. Good direction and acting compensate for sometimes cornball & overly stylized story that nonetheless appealed to its generation.

My favorite Nick Ray film

[philfromno · 10/10 · 8 September 2002]

Nicholas Ray may be the most distinctive American director of the 1950s, and certainly the most deeply romantic. His career was marked by indiosyncratic stories about characters driven by deep internal conflicts, inward violence and outward sexual confusion. Rebel Without A Cause is the film where all of his themes meet, and slightly edges out Johnny Guitar and In A Lonely Place as my favorite Ray film.

Some people will certainly find the dialogue here to be rather stilted, and the performances melodramatic. I won't argue. Ray's films in general opposed 'realism' (that most unreal of artistic concepts) in favor of the mythic.

What's particularly satisfying about the film is its cohesiveness, binding together its many disparate events and characters with highly parallel themes and motifs. All of its central characters seem caught in psychosexual conflicts rife with familial gender conflict. Jim (James Dean) is caught between a weakling, effeminated father and a domineering but inneffectual mother. Judy (Natalie Wood) and her father are seperated by his uncomfortable relation to her sexuality. Plato (Sal Mineo), worst of all, is a practical orphan, who suffers all the more for his just under the surface homosexuality. (It's interesting to note here that Plato may be Hollywood's first sympathetic of a gay character.) All of them are driven by internal demons springing from these conflicts.

As usual, Ray is a remarkably sensitive photographer. And here he proves himself a master of color. There are too many beautiful scenes to mention here, but the planetarium scene (with the recorded voiceover about human loneliness) beginning of the 'chickie run' are both stunning.

The film seems divided between claustrophobic nightmares and utopian fantasies. The skewed camera angles of Jim's scenes with his parents contrast with the heavenly dream of teenage paradise in the abandoned house. The staircase motif seems to mark several of these transitions.

In any case, this is a stunning film by a consummate artist, and should certainly be viewed apart from the distorting lens of the James Dean myth. Dean, for his part, is remarkable here, although, as I stated above, the performances here are in a style far removed from what today's audiences are accustomed to.

It's quite silly to say, as several people have here, that this film's themes are 'dated'. They seem to be the constant themes of youth: idealism vs. cynicism, the turmoil of sexual awakening, the desire to fit in, and the internal violence that constantly threatens to become external. To say that these no longer apply because these kids have never heard of ecstasy or the crips is like saying that "Hamlet" no longer rings true because nobody swordfights anymore.

My one complaint about this film is with the title. Certainly quite dramatic, it sounds more like a marketing tagline than any kind of description of the goings on of this film. Jim seems less like a rebel than a young man caught in an inescapable turmoil, and his reaction to the final tragedy belies his lack of a cause. But this is a minor complaint, and I can recommend this film without reservation.

Dreamy-tragic teen angst...

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 27 May 2006]

Director Nicholas Ray's "Rebel Without a Cause" was an influential picture for young adults circa 1955, and it still looks good today, what with cigarette-smoking high school misfit James Dean sauntering through in a white tee-shirt and blue jeans, topped with an iconic red windbreaker. However, the picture itself is a melodramatic wallow, something more for moony-eyed 12 or 13-year-olds to embrace rather than audiences over 21. Dean's Jim Stark wrestles with an overwrought mother and a spineless father while trying to fit in with the kids at his new school in Los Angeles; in the popular clique, pretty Natalie Wood longs for a little danger in her life (she has parent-problems, too, including a father who disdains affection). Ray wades through the romantic boy-girl stuff, though he gets riveting moments from Dean, particularly in his scenes with jellyfish-dad Jim Backus. The j.d. Stuff (knife fights, chicken races, etc.) may have been fresh at the time but now seems rote, while Sal Mineo's character of a Stark-smitten juvenile with absentee folks is a writer's conceit (his gooey, over-the-top sincerity borders on caricature). Dean is the whole picture, really; was Ray, who also originated the story later adapted by Irving Shulman and written by Stewart Stern, really attuned to these directionless young people or just playing things by ear? There's so much movie-magazine gloss sticking to the film's surface, it's difficult to tell. Three Oscar nominations, including Best Motion Picture Story for Ray, and for Mineo and Wood in the supporting categories. **1/2 from ****

Indelible James Dean

[Lechuguilla · 9/10 · 5 September 2009]

With short, slicked-back hair, blue eyes and thick red lips, and dressed in a white T-shirt, blue jeans, and bright red jacket, James Dean creates a lasting visual impression as youthful Jim Stark, the prototype high school outsider, alone and troubled. Dean's on-screen persona, together with his vivid, intense performance, overwhelms all other elements in this film about 1950s teenage confusion and angst.

Newly arrived in town, Jim Stark finds himself trapped in a typically hostile high school, and confronted by an in-crowd of leather-jacketed hoods with names like "Buzz", "Crunch", and "Goon". They challenge Jim's honor by calling him "chicken". What to do? Jim asks his weak, mealy-mouthed father (well played by Jim Backus). But his father is no help. Indeed, the film conveys a grim view of adults: self-indulgent, weak, insensitive, unobservant, and inept.

Then there's "Plato" (Sal Mineo), the high school kid who has always been alone, with no apparent father or mother. In Jim Stark, Plato has finally found a friend. Eventually, another student joins Jim and Plato. Judy (Natalie Wood) changes her caddy behavior toward Jim after an event changes her life. But it's still a hostile world, and the bond that these three young people form, as substitute family, is fleeting, en route to a poignant ending.

The film's characters and thematic tone are representative of a Cold War era in America when the threat of nuclear annihilation hovered over everyone and everything like the sword of Damocles. And thus, the story's astronomy motif amplifies a sense of loneliness, insignificance, isolation, and helplessness, so characteristic of the 1950s.

There are things about this film I do not care for. The compressed widescreen projection in "CinemaScope" is annoying. The music, which varies from jazz to rhythm and blues to nondescript noise, is too loud and too manipulative. And there's something vaguely contradictory about a macho James Dean in the role of Jim Stark, whom bullies pick on.

But none of these irritations can diminish the thematic depth of the story. Nor can they diminish the overpowering presence of James Dean, the actor, the perfect Hollywood symbol of youthful "cool", whom actors subsequently looked to as a model of acting excellence and cinematic charisma.

Overrated

[Bored_Dragon · 6/10 · 9 November 2016]

Why is this movie considered to be one of the best movies of all time?! Is it bad? No, it is pretty good. But excellent?! I can understand all the euphoria in its own time because premiere were just a month after the death of the rising star James Dean. That death made a cult out of this film. But being legendary does not make it a masterpiece. This movie is OK and nothing more than OK.

6/10

I'm a bad boy 'cause I don't really like this classic film

[cricketbat · 4/10 · 27 December 2018]

I'm going to go out on the unpopular limb here and say that the reason Rebel Without a Cause is such an iconic movie is because of the tragic death of James Dean just before the film was released. It's not that great of a movie. The story seems thrown together, the characters are difficult to relate to and the young actors, especially James Dean, are overly dramatic and chew the scenery at every opportunity. That's right, I'm a bad boy 'cause I don't really like this classic film.

Powerful

[Trumpy · 17 April 1999]

I agree with most of the reviewers. This movie is just as powerful as it was 44 years ago. Inside the cheesy braggadocio of an angry gangster is a confused kid. I can't think of a single person that did not feel alienated as a teenager. James Dean represents what every teenager would want to be. Individualistic: has a set of values and sticks to them Brave: engages in activities most of us would never consider (esp. chicky run) Kind: caring to Plato and Judy

James Dean is perfect in his role as Jim Stark. More is said in this movie through gestures than words. One lift of his eyebrow, one syllable can say so much. When he does speak, you know that he believes what he is saying. The shot of Jim rolling out of the speeding car is amazing. I can think of few modern action films that have had me riveted to the seat as I was during the switchblade fight.

Natalie Wood is superb in her role as well. Judy is looking for attention that isn't there. This is perfectly summed up when she says "I love somebody, all this time I was looking for someone to love me, but now I love somebody." She desperately looks for acceptance and acknowledgment in the wrong places because her father does not want to see her as a young woman.

Even though Dennis Hopper's role is rather small, you can see that he knows what he is doing. He portrays in my mind, someone easily pushed around when he tries to fit in. He seems different than the rest of Buzz' gang and even looks more boyish. He timidly tries to interject a comment in front of Buzz and is just brushed off.

I don't think that this movie is strictly an us versus them type of scenario. Trying to take care of Plato and to protect him, Jim realizes that being a parent is not as straightforward as he thought. His parents are more than just caricatures of the nagging wife and emasculated husband. Everyone in the film is confused about how they fit in to the big picture. The movie is simply told in the self centered manner any teenager would view it as. This can account for the sequences which many would see as over the top. I think the central theme of the cosmos presented in the planetarium show demonstrates how teenagers view themselves as the center of the universe. Thus all the scenes concerning each of the three teens conflicts are equally dramatic.

James Dean Cult-Classic about "misunderstood" teens in 1950s

[mdm-11 · 9/10 · 23 May 2005]

Brilliant cast of well-known Hollywood icons in hard-hitting treatment of story that focuses on the hopelessness exhibited by many middle-class teenagers who were too young to recall the pains of WWII, but saw daily reminders of the threat of "the bomb", as well as inequities around them.

James Dean stands out as the troubled kid whose parents keep "moving" to escape their community's effects of their son's strange behavior. Equally great are the performances of Natalie Wood as a "wanna-be-bad-girl" who is hurt by her parents' implications that she is a "tramp"; and the child-like Sal Mineo, who lives in a mansion with a maid, but feels the pains of neglect from never-present parents.

The trio first meet at a police station, where they all see a well-meaning officer who is genuinely interested in getting these troubled kids back on the right track rather than throwing the book at them. He does seem to reach James Dean, who seeks help after getting into more trouble.

The relationship between the James Dean character and that of Sal Mineo is somewhat elusive. At times a more than friendly association is suggested, then the appearance of Natalie Wood makes it look like an odd threesome. 1950s America was definitely unprepared for any "spelling out" of suggested terms, so for nearly 50 years now anyone's guess as to what was going on here is as good as the next.

The supporting cast include Jim Backus as James Dean's well-to-do yet wimpish and henpecked father as well as a young Dennis Hopper as a member of a greaser gang. The parade of big name stars in itself is eye-candy of the highest caliber! References to scientific findings are still awe-inspiring today. Showing young college students' reactions to film footage during a lecture shows that humans can't fully grasp the insignificance of earthly life compared to the vastness of the universe. Carefully watch the final scene as the end credits are shown, when this "point" is driven home.

Rebel Without A Cause is one of the great classics with a sociological impact that has seldom been reached by any film, and likely never surpassed. This film is a ceaseless source of discussions. I recommend this film also for high school History, Sociology or Language Arts classes.

James Dean is the Movie

[jmillerdp · 7/10 · 3 January 2015]

This film is notable for being one of the few James Dean ever got to do. Which is most certainly too bad, since he gives an excellent performance. His training at The Actor's Studio most certainly provided him with the chops to deliver a very emotional and nuanced performance.

Natalie Wood co-stars as a girl who gets off on violence. You can see the sheer joy in her face as Dean and another boy face off in a knife fight. And, she's thrilled to be the flag girl at a near-suicidal death race. And so, when she sees that Dean has engaged in violence himself, she immediately latches on to him.

Nicholas Ray was always an interesting director. And, he wrote the story for this too. He directed what I consider the best-overall story about Jesus, "King of Kings." And so, here he does very well too.

The story takes many interesting turns as it works its way to its ending. But, in the end, it's James Dean who is front and center here. His performance needs to be watched if you are a film fan.

******* (7 Out of 10 Stars)

A Classic; the Best-ever Film about Adolescence

[JamesHitchcock · 10/10 · 15 August 2004]

Contains spoilers

Films about juvenile delinquency were not new in 1955, but earlier films on the subject, such as 'Angels with Dirty Faces' from the late thirties, and even others from the same period, such as 'Blackboard Jungle' which also came out in 1955, had tended to locate the problem among the urban poor of the slums. 'Rebel Without a Cause' is different in that it focuses on delinquency among the teenagers of an affluent middle-class community.

The film starts with a teenage boy named Jim Stark being arrested by the police for being drunk and disorderly and taken to the police station. His parents have recently moved to the area, and he is depressed because his parents move house frequently and he finds it difficult to make new friends. The school which he attends is dominated by a culture of swaggering masculine bravado and aggression. A premium is placed on displays of physical courage and on proving one's worth by fighting; the worst insult in this society is 'chicken'. Boys are expected to fit in with the prevailing ethos in order to gain the respect of their peers and to stand a chance of getting a girlfriend. Although Jim longs for friendship and acceptance, he is also skeptical of this ethos, which makes him something of an outsider. He quarrels with Buzz, the leader of the 'in-crowd', who accuses him of being a 'chicken'. Jim feels forced to prove his courage against Buzz, first in a knife-fight, and then in a 'Chickie Run', a ritualised test of nerve which involves driving stolen cars as close as possible to the edge of a cliff before jumping out. During the latter Buzz is killed when he is unable to escape from his car in time; it is Jim's feelings of guilt arising from this incident, and the desire of Buzz's friends for revenge, which provoke the film's tragic climax.

Although much of the comment about this film has concentrated on the charismatic figure of Dean, the film is not just about Jim. It has at its heart a triangular relationship between Jim and two other teenagers, Judy and Plato, all of whom can be seen as a rebels- 'without a cause' in the sense that they are not motivated by any political or social ideal, but also 'with a cause' in the sense that there is a reason why they act as they do. Nevertheless, in each case the cause of their revolt is subtly different. Each has been brought up in a different way. Jim's parents are kindly and liberal, but are too indulgent. His father, in particular, is well-meaning but weak, unable to provide his son with intelligent advice or with a role-model of manliness.

Plato (whose real name is John, but who prefers to be called by his nickname, which suggests his intellectual nature) is a strange, lonely boy. Our first view of him is at the police station, where he has been arrested for shooting some puppies. We do not learn any more about this incident, but what we hear is enough to suggest that Plato is emotionally disturbed. Plato's parents are separated; he never sees his father and his mother is frequently absent, leaving him to be brought up by an elderly maidservant. The shy, bookish Plato makes no attempt to fit in with the other students, who look down on him, but he sees Jim as a fellow-outsider and befriends him. I felt that there were hints that Plato is sexually attracted to Jim and jealous of his growing friendship with Judy, but in the moral climate of the fifties these hints could not be fully developed. (If my theory is correct, Plato's nickname may also have ironic overtones, Plato being the philosopher who advocated sexless 'platonic' love between males).

Whereas Jim's parents are over-liberal and Plato's absent, Judy's are cold and authoritarian. Unlike the boys, she starts off as a member of the 'in-crowd', as she is Buzz's girlfriend, but after Buzz's death a romance develops between Jim and herself.

The main theme of the film is the choice between the desire to conform to accepted values and the desire to rebel by finding one's own individual ones, a choice that seems particularly acute in one's teenage years. The film suggests that this choice is more complex than might be thought. Although the students are rebellious in the sense that they scorn the more peaceful values of adult life, they are also deeply conformist in the sense that they will tolerate no deviation from their own values. Jim, Judy and Plato can be seen as rebels against not only the older generation but also against the values of their contemporaries. Even Buzz, as much as Jim or Plato, can be seen as a victim of the students' system of values. A more attractive side to his character is shown in the scenes before the fateful 'chickie run' where he and Jim discover a respect, even a liking for one another; certainly, neither wishes any harm to befall the other, but for reasons of honour neither feels able to withdraw from their ritual duel.

Throughout the film there is an atmosphere of heightened emotion- it has not one, but two, emotional climaxes, the 'chickie run' and the final scene where Jim, Judy and Plato are hiding in the planetarium from Buzz's friends and from the police. It is a film that needs fine acting, both to convey this emotional atmosphere and to do justice to its ambitious theme. Fortunately, all three leads are equal to the task. Sal Mineo as Plato and Natalie Wood as Judy are both good, but James Dean is better than good, making the anguished figure of Jim come vividly alive. Although Dean was twenty-four at the time, several years older than the supposed age of his character, he was brilliant at portraying a tormented adolescent. It is strange that he did not receive a 'Best Actor' Oscar nomination. He was, of course, nominated for his role in 'East of Eden'. (Is there a rule which prevents the same actor from being nominated twice in one year?) Some of the supporting cast are also excellent, particularly Jim Backus as Jim's weak but well-meaning father, and Corey Allen, who resists the temptation to play Buzz simply as an arrogant hooligan.

'Rebel Without a Cause' is, in my view, one of the best films of the fifties and probably the best-ever film about adolescence and 'coming of age'. I am surprised it has not made your top 250 films and that it was not nominated for 'Best Picture'. 10/10.

Mixed bag

[Pimilli · 6/10 · 25 October 2022]

The older I get the more I connect with the father and son dynamic and having a mother who makes a father seem small. In my early 20s I didn't connect with Rebel as much as East of Eden of Giant. What I appreciate was that Dean's character was actually strong. He didn't need validation from these kids. He was a leader. It did feel overwrought and overly melodramatic. There's lots of real struggle in the world, even in LA kids. And what? You're bored? Go speak to Black and Mexican kids about their concerns bucko.

Here's the thing that never made sense. The whole thing happens in about 24 hours. Within one (1) day.

Natalie Wood's boyfriend car careens off a cliff. And boyfriend blows up in a fiery death. And.....what.....15 minutes later Natalie Wood tells James Dean that....she loves him.....? Anyone would take months or years to recover from that. Dean too. ALL the highschoolers.

Stark's mother wants to move to another town again after 1 day.

The toughs want to go through that level of effort for what?

Sal Mineo is chasing behind Dean as his friend. He just met him 4 minutes ago. Ok that could be explained as he was a bit troubled.

Why does Dean give him the gun back empty or not? Why does Mineo run out of the building into the lights and not into the building? Why does Dean not yell out something anything to Mineo to drop the gun when running through the woods?

An Uncomprosing Film That Takes The Side Of Its Rebels

[barrygermansky-1 · 10/10 · 25 July 2009]

Rebel Without a Cause contains James Deans' most influential performance. He plays the deeply tormented teen Jim Stark, who cannot stand living in a superficial society that refuses to show him any love. Of course, Jim's social criticisms are as true to life today as they were when the film was originally released. This is what maintains the film's elemental power. Writer/director Nicholas Ray shows how sometimes rebellious teens understand the world better than their clueless parents.

Nicolas Ray's use of color is nothing short of spectacular. Each character is dressed in clothes that express their heartfelt emotions. Jim's immortal red jacket is the perfect symbol of his fragile nerves and restless heart, which spends the entire movie searching for love and acceptance.

As is the case with his other two films, East of Eden and Giant, James Dean is the movie. He posses the rarest of acting gifts - you simply can't take your eyes off of him. How many young actors today can even hope to have the same affect on audiences?

not my favorite Nick Ray film by far, but it's worth viewing as a "essential" from the 50s

[Quinoa1984 · 7/10 · 4 December 2006]

I put quotations around the words "essential" in that one line because, really, I'm not totally sure what essential means really when it comes to seeing films from that decade. The general consensus- on which one might dub a film like Rebel Without a Cause overrated- is that this film is THE film on teenage angst and dislocation from the adults of the period, and that it's essential because of James Dean, or that it might be considered director Nicholas Ray's best film. For me though, "essential" is a very subjective term, and one person's essential being this film is another one's essential being Bigger Than Life or In a Lonely Place, films that get some notice in the film circles but not enough when placed against a film like the one here. It's the kind of picture I end up recommending, but not exactly under the terminology of how I would find it to be essential or not, because I don't really. It's not a sort of seminal, staggeringly entertaining and artistically satisfying work about being an outsider in the 50s like On the Waterfront or even one most people wouldn't think of like Ikiru. From a historical perspective, however, and for the significance of James Dean, it is worth a viewing, at least once, if you want to know at least what the industry leaned towards in the 50s.

Now, on to the actual film- it's the story of Jim Stark, who is disaffected and with a sort of glow about him (if glow is the word, maybe just, um, malaise), and its more of a reflection on his parents (Jim Backus, who is actually quite good here, and Ann Doran as his mother) than on society as a whole. Not that society doesn't have a part in Jim's emotional downward spiral. He's a kid who ends up getting connected to violence ('Don't call me chicken' is coined famously, and maybe unintentionally amusingly, by Dean in this film), and all the while Dean plays him very calmly and coolly, with his big emotional bursts strong and piercing. But as I've yet to see his other two big cinematic roles in East of Eden or Giant, I can't compare one to the other or not. On its own, his turn today almost borders on being too melodramatic, even too stuck in the period (Brando, as mentioned before, had the 'normalcy of detachment and cool' down to a T unlike Dean here who is good if not great). He's followed along by compelling supporting work by Sal Mineo and Natalie Wood, as equally disaffected youth, but in different ways that end up clinging the three of them together.

The story, as much as it tries to, isn't really as convincing as it tries to be, and unfortunately to me doesn't hold up like it should. The convincing bits are still there, and some scenes are revelatory into the little things about teenagers, like the trip inside the planetarium- no matter how tough they think they are or act or anything, they can still be amazed by some things, the unknown that is. And the fight that happens after-wards- along with the 'chickie' drag race at night that leads to a tragic turn of events- are classic Ray-directed moments. But the classically trained style of film-making by Ray, with the level of subversion still there under the surface of the immediate context, isn't as fulfilling when given to the story and characters and acting. Some characters are just outright silly or so one-dimensional that you can't believe someone like Dean's character would have to deal with them at all. Even an emotionally complex scene like the "it's tearing me apart" speech doesn't hit quite as hard as it might have in 1955. By the end of it all, I knew Rebel Without a Cause was worth viewing, but as an immediate masterwork of the Hollywood system? I'm not really sure on that, and certainly not if one's talking about essentials from the director. B+

Still a powerful film 59 years later

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 15 August 2014]

Not just a powerful film but also a very, very good one where it is very easy to see why it's considered a classic. It is a well-made film with the observatory shot at the end deserving a big mention and it is wonderfully directed by Nicholas Ray in terms of technical control and his ability in how to make the characters and their relationships compelling. Leonard Rosenman's music captures the 50s beautifully- just like the film's atmosphere does- as well, while the dialogue is thoughtful, treats the subject matter sympathetically without over-idealising and still packs a punch. Some have had that they consider how the characters act and speak outdated, not to me, for the time it was very ahead of its time(Jim's actions and what he said wouldn't dared to be have done and said before then, and the depiction of the parents was different to before too) and I still related to the characters' actions and the way they spoke. The story explores the theme of a teenager alienated by family and society struggling to fit in, and(at least personally) no other film has explored this theme and issue as powerfully and movingly- certainly not as realistically either- as Rebel Without a Cause, and in a way where you identify every step of the way with the characters and what they say and act. And despite what you may think the issue is very much relevant now, as well as important and something a lot of people still feel strongly about, speaking from personal experience in secondary school. The characters are the sort that are easy to relate to and that you can see yourselves in them, Jim Stark is somewhat of an icon now and unsurprisingly, and the film is beautifully played. Aside from the film's subject matter Rebel Without a Cause is remembered most for the performance of James Dean, and there is good reason for that because it is a superb performance and very heartfelt, makes one very sad of how such a promising young talent have their life and career cut short and tragically. Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo both give great supporting turns that are among their best, she charming and compassionate and he bringing an equally troubled character to affecting life. Everybody acquits themselves very well though. It is a shame that the ending is a cop-out and wraps things up too easily, but Rebel Without a Cause is otherwise a must see for particularly James Dean's performance and as a textbook example as to how to make a film with the teenager-struggling-to-fit-in theme. 9/10 Bethany Cox

James Dean, the icon eponym

[p-stepien · 6/10 · 26 September 2011]

Growing up can be a time of epic but simultaneously pointless inner turmoil. Jim Stark (played naturally by James Dean) is a troubled youth, moved from town to town by his parents, the dictatorial mother Carol (Ann Doran) and her gutless husband Frank (Jim Backus). On the first night of their move Jim gets wasted and finds himself hauled to the police station, where he meets Ray Fremick (Edward Platt), a mentorial figure, which quickly influences Jim's mindset. Even the best intentions to behave are fraught with risks, as wildboy Buzz and his school gang don't intend to make the new kids stay easy...

An unspeakably influential and prototypical movie "Rebel without a cause" is at times a captivating experience, but nonetheless were it not for the unsurmountable screen presence of James Dean it should have never been anything more than a B-movie outing. Nonetheless James Dean imprints himself on viewers from the word go with movement and facial expression, which seem way ahead of his time. Capable of selling even the most corny lines with some pizazz it is no wonder why the actor gained such cult status given his measly amount of film credits. The beginning of the movie seems also infinitely better scripted and acted by the whole crew, while Jim's and Ray's first encounter is absolutely riveting stuff. Nonetheless the mood of the movie quickly dissipates into cardboard characterisation, implausibilities (pronouncing love after several hours of a relationship) and idiosyncrasies, which make it hard for you to really accept the movie as groundbreaking or meaningful. In the end it feels well-meant, but badly written.

The whole Plato character (Sal Mineo) - a rich kid, who hardly has contact with either parents, incessantly feels as if poorly portrayed and scripted. Given he is key to the drama of the final third of the movie "Rebel Without a Cause" fails to keep up the tone set out in the first act. The whole rebellion thing is covered by a very thin layer of build-up, making it an initially well-thought out concept, but one that fails to make a sale. After hitting a couple of notes right the whole affair rings fake and overly orchestrated.

Nonetheless he experience of experiencing James Dean is sole reason, why the movie is worth a decent, if not overtly critical, look.

I think I missed something here

[Itchload · 5/10 · 13 December 2002]

Of all the "classic" movies I've seen, I'd have to say Rebel Without a Cause is the most overrated. James Dean is a good actor, but honestly, aside from him, everyone else is over the top.

Let me first list a few things that seemed completely implausible to me: The people in James Dean's new town hate him immediately, without him even doing anything. A highschooler gets his shirt caught in a car door, flies screaming off the edge of a cliff to a explosive firey death, and no one cares. These first two problems wouldn't be that bad if the movie didn't appear to be going for an element of realism. If the whole thing was played as little surreal, or as some sort of social black comedy, I could accept these events, but I'm pretty sure that's not the case.

The character of Plato is atrocious, both acting wise and thematically wise. And yet he becomes the focal point of the movie. My biggest problem is that the themes are literally batted over the audience's head. It becomes immediately clear that James Dean is serving as a replacement father figure for Plato. Plato has mentioned he has no father and no friends, it just becomes very obvious. Does he really need to say things like "yeah, I'm hoping we can go on fishing trips like my dad used to take me on." I refuse to believe audiences were that dumb in the 1950s. (as an aside, the person who argued that Plato was gay, I agree that this is intentional, [how else would he be so attracted to James Dean after only knowing him 3 seconds] and the movie does get some points for slyly tackling a taboo thing like that). However, I desperately wanted Plato to fall victim to a flail of gunfire by the final scene.

Maybe my hopes were too high, It could be that all the themes in this movie have been re-done in more audience-trusting fashion. Still, James Dean was a much better teen idol than we have nowadays.