Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

Rebel Without a Cause
Directed by Nicholas Ray
Written by Stewart Stern and Irving Schulman from a story by Nicholas Ray
1955/USA
Warner Bros.
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
#296 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Jim Stark: I don’t know what to do anymore. Except maybe die.[/box]

It was James Dean’s year and this was the most iconic of the few roles he played.

Jim Stark (Dean) is the new kid in town.  His parents move any time he gets in trouble which happens when anyone calls him “chicken”.  As the film begins he is in trouble for public drunkenness.  His parents come to bail him out of jail and it becomes evident why he would want an escape from their bickering.  At the police station, he also first meets the equally troubled Judy (Natalie Wood) and Plato (Sal Mineo).  Both are fleeing from their own family dysfunction.

On Jim’s first day at school, he is noticed and picked on by the in-crowd.  The teenagers zero in on Jim’s weak spot immediately and challenge him to a game of “Chickie Run”. This involves driving stolen cars off a cliff.  The one who leaps from the car last wins. Fortunately for Jim, he loses but now the surviving gang members are after him for keeps. He spends the night with Judy and Plato playing house in a deserted mansion.  Young love blooms before the inevitable confrontation.  With Jim Backus as Jim’s father and Dennis Hopper and Nick Adams as gang members.

This movie is well acted and beautifully shot by Ray.  I don’t think it has aged particularly well.  It is a real product of a specific time – the birth of a youth culture with its catch phrases and teenage angst.  I have a hard time with the sexual politics in which Jim’s father is seen as weak because he helps with the housework.  Finally, Dean isn’t too believable as an outcast.  He would have been the coolest member of any group he happened to be in.  At any rate, this is a must-see.

Rebel Without a Cause was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Supporting Actor (Mineo); Best Supporting Actress (Wood); and Best Writing, Motion Picture Story.

Trailer