"[23], The switchblade James Dean's character used in the fight scene at Griffith Observatory was offered at auction on September 30, 2015, by Profiles in History with an estimated value of US$12,000 to $15,000; the winning bid was US$12,000. You've reached the "hub" for any and all Dramatica analysis of Rebel Without a Cause. Thanks to East of Edens success that spring and early screenings of Rebel Without a Cause, by September of 1955 James Dean was on the verge of mega-stardom. Rebel Without A Cause (1955) Composer (s): Leonard Rosenman Released in: 1955 Country: United States Genre: Drama Other Resources: Buy poster from Other information Total number of members who have this title in their: Collection: 168 Wish list: 14 There are 3 labels for this title. IT'S BASED ON A REAL TEEN CRIMINAL. Now I want to do one thing right and Im not letting you run away. I had to go or I would never have been able to face any of those kids again (Stern 71). After a field trip to Griffith Observatory, Buzz provokes and challenges Jim to a knife fight. He described Rebel as a "fairly exciting, suspenseful and provocative, if also occasionally far-fetched, melodrama of unhappy youth on another delinquency kick." (Stern 52). The father stares down at Jim for a moment. Warner Bros. went through several drafts of this early version of Rebel Without a Cause between from 1946 through 1949, and while the film never got off the ground during that period, the studio did at one point feel they were far enough along in the development process to consider a star for the project. The more Frank taps into his basic desire to protect his son, the faster he is able to respond to Jims problems. Copyright Fandango. It also taps into a feeling of existentialism, of meaninglessness on a larger scale, with an outstanding scene in the planetarium where Dean's class listen to the lecturer say "to the infinite reaches of space, the problems of man seem trivial and naive indeed. As an example, he demands yes or no answers from his parents. Whatever comes well face it together, I swear (Stern 116). She apologizes for her prior treatment of him due to peer pressure, and the two begin to fall in love. As an example of the future as the forewarning for the consequence of doing, the chances Buzz takes and his disregard for authority forewarn the likelihood that he will always engage in actions that garner negative attention. Buzz: (still quiet) We got to do something. The former film earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, and the latter was good enough to convince Warner Bros. to offer him a long-term contract to lock his star power down. Frank contemplates that the boy with the gun in the planetarium may be his son. An example of an unessential restriction put on the requirement of becoming is illustrated by Platos desire to be part of a happy family with Jim as his father: As the film plays out, we see Wood has problems with her parents too - her dad, apparently uncomfortable with her budding sexuality, slaps her across the face for giving him a kiss as she would have when smaller. The movie begins with Jim in a police station drunk and his parents arguing about his drinking. 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. The goal of common concern to all the objective characters is to be part of a happy, functional family, whether their own or as part of a peer group. According to a biography of Natalie Wood, she almost did not get the role of Judy because Nicholas Ray thought that she did not fit the role of the wild teen character. They steal Plato's address book and go off after Jim; Plato retrieves his mother's gun and leaves to warn Jim and Judy, finding them at the mansion. Now do I get the part?!"[8][9]. More that any other film, in fact, Rebel sympathizes with youth. That, the story goes, is why Hopper played Goon instead of Crunch (Mazzolas eventual role) in the film. When tragedy occurs at the chickie race between Jim and Buzz, Jim, Judy, and Platoa misfit Jim has befriendedband together. As an example of how attention is focused on expectation in the objective story, Jim expects the same kind of amused reaction from the kids when he moos at the planetarium lecturers discussion of the Taurus bull that Buzz received when he imitated the Cancer crab; Judy anticipates the same kind of affection from her father as a teen that she had always received as a little girl; Jims family expects he will make friends if he can stay out of trouble; and so forth. The plot of the film essentially traces Jim's desire as a teenage boy to become a respectable man, despite the fact that he seems to lack a suitable role model for doing so. . Seemingly unimpressed by Jim at first, she declines and is instead picked up by her "friends", a gang of delinquents led by Buzz Gunderson. While searching for some stability, Stark forms a bond with a disturbed classmate, Plato (Sal Mineo), and falls for local girl Judy (Natalie Wood). All rights reserved. Jim lacks the experience necessary to deal with the problems facing him. . 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. Because Jim has determined his castrating mother and grandmother are why his father is a chicken, he makes every effort not to turn out the same way. Frank fails to set meaningful boundaries for Jim every time his son tests him. Jim: Im not hungry. . After a warning from the gang, Plato takes his mother's gun and rushes to the mansion to protect Jim. For example, when hes called a chicken, he puts his fists up; his concern for Plato compels him to run into the planetarium at the risk of being shot (by the police or by Plato); interestingly, he tries to change his tendency to fight first and reflect later by stalling when he is challenged by the gang I dont want trouble (Stern 41) but when backed against the wall he fights All rightyou want it, you got it (Stern 43). Buzz considers Jim a worthy enough opponent to challenge him to a chickie race which accelerates the process he must go through to be accepted into the gang; after Buzzs death, Plato goes berserk when thinks his father and mother have abandoned him; Buzzs rebel friends thinking Jim has ratted to the police is the catalyst that brings the objective story to its climactic moment. An example of how the conflict between desire and ability is explored in the objective story can be found in how the kids interact with each other and their parents. Father: I dont know what to do. Things you can do: A rebellious young man with a troubled past comes to a new town, finding friends and enemies. When the juvenile officer refuses the gift, Frank continues to press him until his wife drags him away in embarrassment. He is intelligent enough to question potential trouble, and looks to his father for advice. You crazy, crazy nut! Warner Brothers tried to make the movie for years. In the police station at the beginning of Rebel we see a March of Dimes poster on a pole. The three act as a family and find a few moments of peace. Dean is provoked into a knife fight at one point, and then into a frightening game of 'Chickie Run', with drivers meant to jump out of their cars speeding towards the edge of a cliff at the last minute. When Frank falters, Jim demands: You better give me something, Dad. Rebel Without A Cause is essentially a sociological case study in American masculinityits attractions, its limitations, its pathologies, its postures, and its obstacles. When Jack L. Warner realized James Dean was a rising star and a hot property, filming was switched to color stock, and many scenes had to be reshot in color. Though the studio apparently considered Tab Hunter for the role of Jim at one point, Ray was intrigued by James Dean, who had yet to make his mark on Hollywood but had already shot his role as Caleb in East of Eden, which Ray saw early screenings of. Although he admitted that there are moments of accuracy and truth in the film, he found these "excruciating", and discerned a "pictorial slickness" in the production's use of the CinemaScope process and its filming in the widescreen format, a slickness he declared was at odds with the realism of Ray's directing. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Jims father stands up as a man and turns to help his son stand up, assuring Jim he can trust him; Jim introduces Judy to his parents as his friend; and so forth. [18][19] Most of the knife fight was excised and not shown on British screens until 1967. By todays standards, thesubtle gay subtext in Rebel Without A Cause is restrained. if you could only have been my father . Starring James Dean, Sal Mineo, and Natalie Wood, among other big names of the day, Rebel Without a Cause is a film that defines a generation, and kicked off an entire subgenre of angsty suburban . . For example, Jim comes home to find his father wearing a frilly apron while cleaning up a tray of dinner he has dropped en route to serving his wife: Jim and Judy hide out in the deserted mansion that Plato had told Jim about. Ray asked him if he could provide an example of real gang life, and Mazzola knew just where to look. Author/co-author of numerous books about the cinema and is regarded as one of the foremost James Bond scholars. I want him to teach me how and I bet he wont get mad if I goof. You better give me something fast. Its just the age . PG-13 (Thematic Elements|Some Violence), Genre: Frank fails to provide Jim with the parental instincts his son requires. As the writing process for the Rebel Without a Cause screenplay (the studio ultimately insisted on that title instead of Rays preferred The Blind Run) got underway, Ray and Warner Bros. butted heads over who should collaborate with him on the project. When Buzz violently confronts Jim and challenges him to a drag race, the new kid's real troubles begin. In 1947, they took a chance and screen tested a young New York theater actor to play the rebel at the heart of the story, then envisioned as a much more psychopathic criminal than the disillusioned teen that Jim Stark ultimately became in Rays film. Cinemark Rebel Without A Cause (1955) Presented by TMC: Fathom Events Trailer. The entire knife fight scene between Jim & Buzz was removed, and heavy edits were made to the chicken race scene, shots of Jim attempting to throttle his father, and the fight between Jim and probation officer Fremick. Jim wants to do the right thing and report his involvement in Buzzs untimely end to the police, much to his parents dismay. A benefit accrued by Jim and Judy on the way to the goal of being part of a functional family is their developing romance; Jim feels confident enough in the way things are going, such as his interest in Judy, to remark to his parents: You know something? Dawson High School, the school in the film, was actually Santa Monica High School, located in Santa Monica, California. Misfit Jim has befriendedband together Without a Cause I want to do one thing right and Im not letting run! The chickie race between Jim and challenges him to teach me how and I bet he wont get mad I... 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