The age-old theme of teenage violence and delinquency is given distinctive insight by the well-cast Dean-Wood-Mineo trio. Perhaps the best teen-age drama of the 1950s. Academy Award Nominations: Best Supporting Actor--Sal Mineo, Best Supporting Actress--Natalie Wood, Best Motion Picture Story.
The classic film about alienated and rebellious youth that made James Dean an indelible icon.
"Rebel without a Cause" focuses on a teenage social outcast searching for his identity. His dysfunctional parents (a milquetoast father and a cantankerous mom) can't help him and he shuns any form of authority. The young man only finds solace in the company of two fellow teenage misfits, but even they aren't able to prevent tragedy from befalling this reckless and uncontrollable anti-hero.
Theatrical release: October 1955.
REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1990.
REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE marked Dennis Hopper's film acting debut.
The film was originally to be shot in black and white, but after Jack Warner viewed the dailies from the first three days of shooting, he decided the film should be in color.
DVD Features:
2-Disc Set
Region [unknown]
Keep Case
Special Edition
Widescreen - 2.55
Audio:
Dolby Surround 5.1 English
Mono 1.0 French
Distributor Notes: In one of the most influential performances in movie history, James Dean plays the new kid in town whose loneliness, frustration and anger mirrored those of postwar teens - and still reverberate 50 years later. Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo were Academy Award nominees* for their achingly true performances. Director Nicholas Ray was also an Oscar nominee for this landmark chosen as one of the all-time Top 100 American Film by the American Film Institute.
Source: Warner Home Video
Director of Photography
Ernest Haller:
Writer
Stewart Stern: American Screenwriter
Production Designer
William Wallace: Actor/Producer
Review 1:
"The film that consecrated James Dean's teen-idol image..."
Source: Sight and Sound
p.86 07/01/2005
Review 2:
"...[An] early Scope masterpiece....The third Oscar-winner for cinematography..."
Source: USA Today
p.5D 06/23/1993
Review 3:
"James Dean's good looks and devilish charm were trumped only by his affinity for fast living..."
Source: Entertainment Weekly
p.29 01/11/2002
Review 4:
"...With Dean's frowning charisma intact as misunderstood new kid Jim Stark, REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE has life in it yet..."
Source: Total Film
p.120 03/01/2001
Review 5:
"REBEL was remarkable in telling its story from the point of view of the kids, exploding the image of the juvenile delinquent."
Source: Premiere
p.9 12/01/2003
Review 6:
"All three compelling core performances, director Nicholas Ray's symbolic, vivid use of colour and the film's pace make REBEL a still-cogent depiction of alienated kids and dysfunctional families."
Source: Uncut
p.142 06/01/2005