Rebel Without a Cause is a 1955 American drama film about confused middle-class teenagers. The film has since achieved landmark status for the acting of cultural icon James Dean, who died before the film's release, his most celebrated role.
In one of moviedom's most influential roles, James Dean plays Jim Stark, the new kid in town whose loneliness, frustration and anger mirrored those of postwar teens – and reverberate more than 40 years later. Natalie Wood (as Jim's girlfriend Judy) and Sal Mineo (in his screen debut as Jim's tag-along pal Plato) were Academy Award nominees for their achingly true performances. Director Nicholas Ray was also an Oscar nominee for this landmark film chosen as one of the Top-100 American Films by the American Film Institute.
Rebel Without a Cause has been digitally mastered from newly restored elements, so this DVD offers the movie's picture and sound in its most optimal presentation since its original theatrical release.
- Nominated for 3 Oscars (incl Best Actor) and 2 BAFTAs (incl Best Film).
Rebel Without a Cause Reviews
“A fine script, dynamic direction, doomed romantic idealism and telling performances make this the most timeless of Ray's gripping, socially aware dramas.” Empire Magazine
“Now a classic, it's easy to forget how radical this once was. Capturing the youth subculture like no one before, Rebel's tale of gangs, chicken races and the burgeoning sexuality of adolescence points a wagging finger of blame not at the kids but at society itself. As hormones rage out of control – in Jim's unspoken, homoerotic love for Plato and his lust for Wood's electric heroine – it seems there's nowhere for this rebel to go and Ray frames the final, inevitable act as grand tragedy. A movie for anyone who's ever been a teenager.” BBC.co.uk
“..this is still the teen angst melodrama to end them all, and Dean's performance established him as an icon, a legend and a myth.” Film4
“Profoundly romantic and lacerating in its despair.” Slant Magazine
“There are some excruciating flashes of accuracy and truth in this film.” New York Times
“Unlike many examples of cinema from an earlier generation, Rebel Without A Cause is dynamic edge-of-the-seat viewing many years on. James Dean is reported as saying "Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today.” Sadly he never lived to see the release of the film, but the dreams he created seem to live on." Eyeforfilm.co.uk
“The melodrama may be stilted, but the film still breathes like a hurt, brooding animal. It's an indelible vision of a pretty 1950s America with a searing crack in it.” SFgate.com