How ironic that over the next couple of weeks students in the Dublin, Cork, Galway and Derry regions will be piling into coaches, filing into darkened rooms and watching Rebel Without a Cause. Not far into the film, they'll see how dangerous such a school trip can be: the messing that begins under cover of darkness in a planetarium degenerates into a knife-fight outside, setting off a violent sequence of events that leaves at least two teenagers dead. Irish teens and their teachers, we trust, will be more careful. Of course, Nicholas Ray's 1955 American classic is a melodramatic, over-the-top vision of teen concerns and conflicts. Nonetheless, for 43 years now, millions of viewers have been able to identify with Jim, Judy and Plato, staring up at the stars projected on the planetarium's ceiling, trying to figure out their place in an indifferent universe.
from good families
Rebel Without a Cause was released in prosperous times in the United States, the mid-1950s; but US society was concerned about the increasing independence of teenagers and worried about what they were getting up to: the term "juvenile delinquent" was getting lots of exposure in the media. The publicity campaign for Nicholas Ray's film played into these worries: "And they came from `good families'!" the lurid poster roared.
However, Rebel is unquestionably on the side of the teenagers, showing up the "good families" as hypocritical and cold institutions, unable to give the young characters the love and support they need. In fact, there is only one significant adult who comes close to understanding; ironically, he is an authority figure, Officer Ray (note that he shares a name with the film's director).
All this is established very quickly. Jim (James Dean) has been dragged into a police station after being found drunk in the gutter - his parents arrive and bicker; Judy (Natalie Wood), dressed to kill, has been picked up walking the streets - her father is evidently uncomfortable with her blossoming sexuality; Plato (Sal Mineo) is the most seriously unhinged, found shooting puppies after his divorced parents failed to turn up for his birthday.
The next day, we learn that Judy, at least, fits in with her peer group - even if it's a rather dodgy one: she's the girlfriend of hard man Buzz. Jim, a new kid in school, and troubled young Plato have no such luck. When Jim is rejected by Buzz's crowd, Plato - who is a bit puppy-like himself - offers his loyal affection.
A film that sometimes explodes in heightened emotion and fast-paced action reaches its peak of activity near the middle. Dramatic music and rapid-fire editing accompany the "chikierun", as Jim and Buzz drive towards a deadly cliff, competing to see who is the "chicken".
The tragic consequences throw Judy and Jim together, completing the central trio of characters and setting the film towards its denouement.
not an action hero
Rebel Without a Cause contains some explosive sequences, and Jim handles weapons as diverse as knife, gun and automobile.
However, the film's director, Nicholas Ray, seems more interested in exploring character's motivations and the general alienation of teenagers than in exploiting Jim as an action hero. Jim is capable of action, but he'd rather be tender and reflective. (The violence would have, of course, made the film more commercially appealing, same as in the 1990s.) The plot is really quite simple: once you've seen the film, you can probably outline it in a minute or two. At key moments, when Ray must advance the plot, he does so with speed and clarity. The genre of the teen movie, which really took off with Rebel, can combine with other genres: Grease is also a musical; Dangerous Minds is an intense urban drama; I Know What You Did Last Summer is a horror film; Back to the Future is a science-fiction comedy. However, the vulnerability of the central characters in most teen films makes them unsuitable as action men in the Bruce Willis mode.
Instead, teen movies deal with themes relevant to teenagers. Sometimes they are aimed at a teen audience, a group that began to emerge clearly as consumers in the 1950s; sometimes (e.g. American Graffiti) the intended viewer is a nostalgic adult. Unlike westerns or action films, credibility is all-important for most teen movies. Rebel, for all its melodrama, achieves this with its sensitive portrayal of interesting, developing characters. Like subsequent teen movies, it sets them in a credible world of teen concerns, where they are poised tensely between childhood and adulthood. The teenager, who scarcely existed as a distinct media personality earlier in this century, has emerged in films, TV shows and literature as the great confused hero of our time. It's all there in Rebel: school, clothes, gangs, smoke, drink and those frustrating parents. Does this version of California in 1955 sound anything like your life?
This page is written by Harry Browne, based on superb (and longer) study notes by Cormac Deane and Tony Tracy of the Film Institute, available to teachers unable to attend screenings (tel: (01) 679 5744; fax: (01) 677 8755).
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Clothing and colours play an important part in - and not just James Dean's legendary red jacket. When we first see Jim, in fact, he is flat on his face in a suit he may have used to look older and buy drink. While red is the right colour for Jim, it's too much for Judy: her red coat and lipstick mark her out as a bit of a bad girl. As she grows toward an attachment with Jim, she takes on more demure pink colours. Buzz's gang, meanwhile, are the stuff of adult 1950s' nightmares: boots, black jackets, suede, leather. Jim's clothes are similar, but the red jacket suggests that he is a rebel, too, in this teen world.
