{"id":5513,"date":"2008-05-15T09:16:20","date_gmt":"2008-05-15T16:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5513"},"modified":"2021-01-04T12:05:47","modified_gmt":"2021-01-04T19:05:47","slug":"rebel-without-a-cause-1955","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5513","title":{"rendered":"Rebel Without a Cause (1955)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;You&#8217;re tearing me apart! You say one thing, he says another, and everybody changes back again!&#8221;<\/strong> <\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/Rebel-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/Rebel-Poster-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-22929\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/Rebel-Poster-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/Rebel-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/Rebel-Poster.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nDisaffected teen Jim Stark (James Dean) moves to a new town and hopes to befriend his pretty neighbor, Judy (Natalie Wood), who hangs out with a group of toughs (led by Corey Allen). When a &#8220;chicky run&#8221; contest between Jim and Buzz (Allen) results in Buzz&#8217;s tragic death, Dean runs away with Judy and a troubled boy named Plato (Sal Mineo), who looks up to him as a father figure.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dennis Hopper Films<\/li>\n<li>Family Problems<\/li>\n<li>Generation Gap<\/li>\n<li>James Dean Films<\/li>\n<li>Juvenile Deliquents<\/li>\n<li>Natalie Wood Films<\/li>\n<li>Nicholas Ray Films<\/li>\n<li>Sal Mineo Films<\/li>\n<li>Teenagers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nAs Peary notes, this &#8220;great, emotionally charged youth film&#8221; (directed by Nicholas Ray) remains an enduring cult favorite, in large part because &#8220;generations of young men [and women] have identified with the misunderstood Jim Stark.&#8221; Method actor James Dean &#8212; who made only three films before his tragic death in a car accident at the age of 24 &#8212; plays a &#8220;vulnerable, self-destructive character [who] fits his off-screen image&#8221;; indeed, he perfectly captures the edginess of alienated teens everywhere who long for acceptance and love. Equally impressive are both Natalie Wood (a former child star who &#8220;aged&#8221; beautifully into teenagehood) as a guarded young &#8220;hood&#8221; who gradually reveals her vulnerability to Dean, and Sal Mineo as Jim&#8217;s tragic young protege &#8220;Plato&#8221;, whose intense desire for a father figure (and latent homosexual longings) cause him to latch onto Jim with unwise desperation. Other supporting actors throughout the film are fine as well; I&#8217;m particularly fond of Jim Backus (Thurston Howell on &#8220;Gilligan&#8217;s Island&#8221;) as Dean&#8217;s &#8220;emasculated&#8221; father, who clearly wants the best for his son but simply doesn&#8217;t understand what Jim needs (surely <em>many<\/em> parents of teens can relate to this dilemma!). <\/p>\n<p>Several critics (see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1563dean.html\">DVD Savant&#8217;s review<\/a>, for instance) have pointed out that <em>Rebel<\/em>&#8216;s screenplay is undeniably dated, with its abundant Freudian overtones &#8212; <em>all<\/em> troubles ultimately rest on the follies of inadequate parental figures &#8212; coming across as terribly heavy-handed. With that said, I believe the film&#8217;s melodramatic structure and tone ultimately work in its favor: the spiraling series of events depicted in the film (Jim&#8217;s &#8220;arrest&#8221;, his first day at a new high school, the fatal chicky run, and the climactic shoot-out) all take place within one 24-hour period, and are meant to demonstrate the fact that teenage angst not only <em>feels<\/em> all-consuming, but can quickly lead to unexpectedly grave consequences. While <em>Rebel Without a Cause<\/em> is undeniably a downer (those final scenes are tough to watch), its status as a culturally iconic movie makes it must-see viewing for all film fanatics; and &#8212; thanks to Dean&#8217;s charismatic presence &#8212; it will likely continue to endure as a cult favorite. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>James Dean as Jim Stark<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/rebel-dean.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/rebel-dean.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5564\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Natalie Wood as Judy<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/rebel-wood.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/rebel-wood.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5565\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Sal Mineo as Plato<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/rebel-mineo.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/rebel-mineo.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5566\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Jim Backus as Jim&#8217;s well-meaning but &#8220;emasculated&#8221; father<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/rebel-backus.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/rebel-backus.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5563\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>The infamous &#8220;chicky run&#8221; scene<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/rebel-chicky-run.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/rebel-chicky-run.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5567\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Good use of Los Angeles locales, such as the Griffith Observatory<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/rebel-observatory.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/rebel-observatory.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5568\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Effective use of symbolic colors (particularly red)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/rebel-red.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/rebel-red.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5569\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes. This undisputed classic of &#8217;50s cinema should be seen at least once by every film fanatic. Discussed at length in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=5986\">Peary&#8217;s <em>Cult Movies<\/em> (1981)<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cult Movie<\/li>\n<li>Genuine Classic<\/li>\n<li>Important Director<\/li>\n<li>Noteworthy Performance(s)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0048545\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1955\/10\/27\/archives\/the-screen-delinquency-rebel-without-cause-has-debut-at-astor.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1563dean.html\">DVD Savant Review (scroll down to second review)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/great-movie-rebel-without-a-cause-1955\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/16115\/rebel-without-a-cause#articles-reviews\">TCM Articles<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmsite.org\/rebel.html\">FilmSite.org Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/rLYDixVMwk0\">Tired Old Queen at the Movies Video Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re tearing me apart! You say one thing, he says another, and everybody changes back again!&#8221; Synopsis: Disaffected teen Jim Stark (James Dean) moves to a new town and hopes to befriend his pretty neighbor, Judy (Natalie Wood), who hangs out with a group of toughs (led by Corey Allen). When a &#8220;chicky run&#8221; contest between Jim and Buzz (Allen) results in Buzz&#8217;s tragic death, Dean runs away with Judy and a troubled boy named Plato (Sal Mineo), who looks&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5513\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5513"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61538,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5513\/revisions\/61538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}