Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

Directed by Nicholas Ray

Screenplay by Stewart Stern

Runtime: 1 hr, 51 min

Despite never having seen a James Dean film, the Dean persona was still ingrained in my head.  The image of the handsome, troubled young man in a red jacket may just a part of the American collective unconscious now, or it could be that the image is just widely disseminated throughout culture.  Given that Dean has had that great an impact with that small a body of work, I thought it only just to give one of his films a look.  And what better film to review that the one that made him a star soon after his death: 1955’s Rebel Without a Cause.

Dean plays Jim Stark, a teenager with a whole mess of issues but a heart of gold.  His parents have relocated every time he gets into trouble, but have made no attempts to understand their son’s plight.  On a field trip to Griffith Observatory, he draws the attention of the local bad boys, led by Buzz (Corey Allen), who tries to rough him up.  At the same time, Jim becomes friends with Plato (Sal Mineo), who idolizes Jim as a father figure.  Jim also develops a relationship with Buzz’s girl Judy (Natalie Wood), despite her initial cold attitude.

Through all of these interactions, Dean is pitch-perfect as the angst-ridden Jim.  He tends to be quiet throughout, only raises his voice in frustration (including the famous “You’re tearing me apart!” bit).  Sometimes, this quiet persona is philosophical, while at other points Jim seems on the edge of tears.  More importantly, it gives the impression that Dean’s character does not know why he does the things he does.  He wants answers, especially from his weak-willed father (Jim Backus), but he also seems aware he won’t get them.

Indeed, the unanswerable “Why?”, I think, drives the turning point of the film.  To prove to Buzz’s gang that he not chicken, Jim and Buzz participate in a “chickie race”.  Long story short, Jim jumps out of his car first, while Buzz ends up crashing over a bluff into water.  There are some many questions: Why does Jim have the compulsive need to not be a chicken?  Why is everyone on board with a stunt so mind-meltingly dangerous?  Why does Judy take Buzz’s death so calmly?  So many questions and so little answers.

Then again, that’s kind of the point.  Rebel Without a Cause attempts to understand what it means to be a teenager.  It may be stereotypical to say so, but one’s teenage years are rife with confusion—pure, unadulterated confusion.  It’s the sort of confusion which leads to the film’s opening sequence at the police station: Jim was drinking, Judy was walking the streets at one in the morning, and Plato was shooting puppies.  Despite all of this, the authorities, except for one officer (Edward Platt), make little effort to get to the bottom of their actions.

Not that getting to that point would be easy.  I’ve already mentioned the well-meaning mess that is Jim, but Judy and Plato are no less complicated.  Judy hides behind a wall of insincerity which only gradually gets lowered.  Her father’s treatment of her carries some incestuous undertones, which no doubt can’t be healthy.  Plato, meanwhile, essentially has no parents, and tries to make Jim and Judy his surrogate family.  Plato is kind-hearted, but is obviously unstable, from the puppy shooting to his general shaky demeanor.

It’s not just the story and characters that demonstrate the confusion of the teenage years.  It’s also Ernest Haller’s cinematography. This is most evident in Jim’s argument with his parents after Buzz’s death.  As Jim and his folks flip back and forth between idealism and pragmatism, between respectability and honor, the camera moves from POV shots to long takes with sudden shifts into slight Dutch angles.  It’s about as uneasy as the shouting match taking place on the stairwell, and it provides for a marvelous effect.

Finally, it appears that the events in Rebel Without a Cause are an exercise in futility.  Jim wonders aloud why he isn’t able to do anything right.  Given how events unfold, that may not be all his fault.  This is especially true in Jim’s dealings with the cops after Buzz’s death.  He tries to tell the cops what happened on the bluff, but they won’t listen and Jim’s not very articulate.  And that doesn’t even touch the tragic ending, in which a lack of communication ends up costing a life.  Sometimes, one just can’t do the right thing.

All of this combines to make Rebel Without a Cause one of the best movies that I’ve seen since starting this blog.  I’ll say that it handily surpasses Blackboard Jungle for the best “teenager” film that I’ve done, and that it makes want to devour the rest of James Dean’s oeuvre—I’ve been meaning to watch Giant at some point, and I can easily throw East of Eden on the to-do list as well.  If you’re like me and you’ve been waiting to watch this movie, do yourself a favor and get straight on doing that.