Plato, Jim, and Judy invent an imaginary family life, relieving their angst for a few carefree moments. Frank Stark is a well-meaning but ineffectual parent. Whyd you get drunk? At school he meets a group of young toughs who challenge him to a game of chicken. with updates on movies, TV shows, Rotten Tomatoes podcast and more. At the end, tearful Jim is lifted to his feet by his father, who holds him and assures him he will stand by him as he has never done before (Peary 285). There are several iconic scenes early on that show his ability - imitating the siren at the police station after being picked up for public drunkenness, yelling "you're tearing me apart!" As police approach, the gang flees, leaving Judy behind, but Jim patiently persuades her to leave with him and Plato. He was best known for his role as John "Plato" Crawford in the drama film Rebel Without a Cause (1955), which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at age 17, making him the fifth-youngest nominee in the category. Conflict occurs between father and son when they cannot engage in the kinds of activities that will bring them emotionally closer. Synopsis. A couple of officers rush forward to take Jim. Rebel Without a Cause Summary. I dont know! In one of the most influential performances in movie history, James Dean plays Jim, the new kid in town whose loneliness, frustration and anger mirrored thos. However, Hays Code censors soon put the kibosh on the kiss via a warning memo sent to a Rebel Without A Cause producers Warner Bros that stated, It is of course vital that there be no inference of a questionable or homosexual relationship between Plato and Jim.. he mumbled when he thought no one was listening and started his sentences over, louder and clearer, when he discovered with surprise that he was being heard. I have a feeling were going to stay here (Stern 19); and so forth. Ray wanted to focus on disillusionment and anger among even teens from seemingly comfortable, stable homes. When he is reprimanded by a police officer he asks: Want me to imitate a stupid cop? (Stern 7); Buzz and Judy act like they are in love, when there is no real affection between the popular couple; and so forth. Why are we moving? Ray: You were getting a good start in the wrong direction back there. . As the title states, their causes are impossible to define. Mother: Jimmy, youre very youngand a foolish decision now could wreck your whole life. This is a film about juvenile delinquency, but from this poster we see immediately that director Ray is on the side of all kidswho have all sorts of problems to contend with (including diseases that usually strike the young). While "Rebel Without a Cause" has a very familiar story, with predictable climax's and obvious character arcs, this James Dean film is not one to miss. [21][22] Rebel was also banned in Spain, where it had to be smuggled into the country for private screenings, and wasn't officially released there until 1964. Rating: One way this is illustrated is in their uniform attitude: Their clothing is not uniformit is the air they assume . Dean played Jim, a troubled but sensitive teenager who, although rejecting his elders values, desperately wants to belong and have purpose in his life. 1h 51m. Im going to smash somebody-I know it (Stern 15); it is a problem for Jim that he and his family never have stayed in one place long enough for him to make friends. When his mother, father and grandmother arrive at the police station to retrieve him, conflicts in Jim's family situation are introduced as he explains to the arresting officer. The father stares down at Jim for a moment. The film taps into this sense of teenage isolation, and there is clearly a plea to be listened to, loved, and understood. Privacy Policy Verified reviews are considered more trustworthy by fellow moviegoers. Franks structured explanations make problems for Jim. Rebel Without a Cause, American film drama, released in 1955, that is a classic tale of teenage rebellion and angst. With Stern on board, the films key influences emerged. Rather than focusing on poor kids from an inner city, he envisioned a Romeo and Juliet-style tale about affluent teenagers who couldnt relate to the lives of their parents, and who were looking for any outlet to release their disillusionment and anger. Changes have happened to them. . Some things in the movie may not have aged that well, but it still pulses with youthful energy and impresses with the psychological complexity of its characters - and it should always be remembered for James Dean's iconic looks and performance that spoke to a generation. . Frank recollects his own drunken antics as a teen, as a way to excuse his sons: I guess I cut pretty loose in my day too (Stern 12). When the juvenile officer refuses the gift, Frank continues to press him until his wife drags him away in embarrassment. His rare talent and appealing personality even shine through this turgid melodrama. The 1949 Mercury two-door sedan James Dean drove in the movie is part of the permanent collection at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada. Ray and Stern both believed that the film should be shot like a B movie, with a grittier style that was perfectly suited to black-and-white, and Ray even began production by shooting this way. Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary, the webmaster's page for free fun content, a reed before the wind lives on(, while mighty oaks do fall), a riddle wrapped in a mystery wrapped in an enigma, a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma, A Red Indian Thought He Might Eat Tomatoes in Church. He found the acting of James Dean, Natalie Wood, and Sal Mineo to be "extraordinarily good", and the direction by Nicholas Ray to be "outstanding". Judy is convinced that her father ignores her because she is no longer a little girl, so she dresses up in racy clothes to get attention, which only causes her father to call her a "dirty tramp". (reaches out, gently, but firmly) You did everything a man could do. Jim demands immediate and straight forward answers to his problems, and his fathers theorizing gets him nowhere. Franks lack of confidence keeps him from being the kind of man his family can respect. One of the teens, Judy, is picked up aimlessly walking around at 1:00 AM. After moving to a new town, troublemaking teen Jim Stark is supposed to have a clean slate, although being the new kid in town brings its own problems. Under those circumstances, only a dangerous test of valour can sort out the men from the boys, while, suddenly, the equally persecuted pariah, Plato, and Stark's charming next-door neighbour, Judy, become Jim's unusual alternative family: the only refuge from their seemingly callous parents. Cinemark Yet, as he begins to understand that Jim is in trouble, his basic drive to protect his son takes over. Yet he skirts the issue, and his waffling sends Jim right out the door. He gave us our lines; he dominated the entire thing, Ann Doran, who played Jims mother, later recalled. Where trailers from the past, from recent to long ago, from a time before YouTube, can be enjoyed by all. To meet the story requirement of becoming, parents must come to the realization that their children are growing up in a much different time than they did, and respect the difficulties these times engender. This was the only film during Dean's lifetime in which he received top billing. You crazy, crazy nut! Buzz's gang find and wake up Plato, who, frightened and distraught, shoots and wounds one of the gang. 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. As an example of how he does not serve his sons needs, he relies on his experiences that are inappropriate as guidelines, and instead of dealing directly with Jims requests for immediate answers, assures his son once he gains his own experiences his present problems will seem insignificant. Perhaps most importantly, though, both Ray and Stern drew on their own lives, and Stern in particular took inspiration from his own relationship with his parents. swaggering, self-conscious, piratical (Stern 22); Buzz and Judy are big wheels on campus; Jim and Judy pretend to be married and Plato pretends to be their real estate broker; Plato wants Jim and Judy to be his family; Judys father ponders the complexity of being a father to a sixteen year-old girl, when it appears so easy to be a father to a little boy; Jim and Frank act buddy buddy; Jims grandmother puts on an act at the police station that everything is all right with Jim: Hes always been a lovely boy (Stern 17); Jim confronts his mother when she acts as if their family is not involved with the tragedy of Buzzs death: A boy was killed! [Ray] had terrible pangs of conscience about himself as a father, and I had terrible fury about myself as a son, and we both knew that that was a stream that was both shared in different ways, Stern recalled. At the beginning of Rebel Without a Cause, it is clear that father and son love each other, yet they cannot relate to one another. William Zinsser, however, wrote a scathing review of Rebel in his New York Herald Tribune column, concluding his summary of the film's plot with the words, All this takes two hours, but it seems more like two days. According to a Vanity Fair article, star James Dean instructed Mineo to Look at me the way I look at Natalie while the actors were filming a particularly intense scene between their characters. The critical consensus reads, "Rebel Without a Cause is a searing melodrama featuring keen insight into '50s juvenile attitude and James Dean's cool, iconic performance. we could . While in delirium, Wood overheard the doctor murmuring and calling her a "goddamn juvenile delinquent"; she soon yelled to Ray, "Did you hear what he called me, Nick?! Crunch, Goon, and Moose find the mansion. May 31, 2005, Runtime: Watch 'Rebel Without a Cause' | Anniversary Mashup, In celebration of the 65th anniversary of, 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. Jim: Dad? that jacket . All three lead actors met untimely deaths. Jim tends to use the technique of binary reasoning to problem solve. While on a night out with friends, she got into a car accident. I dont see how we can get out of that by pretending it didnt happen (Stern 72); Judy sobs to the juvenile officer: Helen loves a good movie musical too and has probably watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Hedwig And The Angry Inch, The Blues Brothers and Little Shop Of Horrors more times than is healthy. Jimmy gets furious and grabs Nick and says Dont ever, ever say cut. When Carol declares they are moving again, Jim protests and pleads with Frank to stand up for him; but when Frank refuses, Jim attacks him in frustration, then storms off to the police station to confess, only to be turned away by the desk sergeant. Upon meeting Jim, Platoa friendless misfitimmediately looks up to him as a father figure. At the station he crosses paths with John "Plato" Crawford, who was brought in for killing a litter of puppies, and Judy, who was brought in for curfew violation. 1950's cool, still cool today. At the time she was cast in Rebel Without a Cause, Wood was romantically involved with Hopper, who was also set to co-star in the film. Coming Soon. Nicholas Ray, For the Stark family to be a happy, functional family, Frank must overcome his weaknesses and become a real father to Jim; to be part of a peer group family, one must first become friends with the gang; and so forth. It stopped. Additional Sources:Rebel Without a Cause: Defiant Innocents (2005), 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Of course, this version of Rebel never entered production, so Brando would have to wait for his big film break. [16], Wanda Hale of the New York Daily News found fault with Rebel's depiction, in her view, of its adults as cardboard figures and of its middle-class teenagers as hoodlums, arguing that it lacked credibility and that "[a]s an honest purposeful drama of juvenile hardness and violence the film just doesn't measure up." (Stern 58). He also looks at problems in terms of cause and effect. When some of the teenagers go after Jim thinking he might go to the police, tragedy ensues. He has no time for reminiscences; he needs immediate responses to his difficult questions, however, Frank is not able to give him that. Upon hearing this, Ray rushed to the hospital. the Terms and Policies, and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes. As Jim involves himself in dangerous and illegal activities, Frank must overcome his ineffectualness to be the man Jim needs to lean on. This realization occurs at the planetarium when he witnesses his sons emotional and physical vulnerabilities: Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Maybe next summer hes going to take me hunting with himand fishing. Speaking to Boze Hadleigh, he said, "[It m]akes sense [that Plato was killed off]: he was, in a way, the first gay teenager in films. 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