Rebel Without a Cause

Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

Timing: 1:51 (111 min)

7.54/10
1565

7.516/10
11229

7.6/10
103000

All about film

Video 6

Photo 69

Actors and characters

Release date

1955-10-27

Country

United States

Production

Warner Bros. Pictures

Genre

Drama

Budget

$1 500 000

Revenue

$199 963

Website

Director

Nicholas Ray

Actors

James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Jim Backus, Ann Doran, Corey Allen, William Hopper, Rochelle Hudson, Dennis Hopper, Edward Platt
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

David Weisbart

Operator

Ernest Haller

Composer

Leonard Rosenman

Artist

Audition

Editing

William H. Ziegler
All team (21)

• The film's title is based on the title of a 1944 scientific paper by Dr. Robert M. Lindner, dedicated to the problems of hypnoanalysis of juvenile delinquents (“Rebel Without A Cause: The Hypnoanalysis of a Criminal Psychopath”).
• The film was originally intended to be in black and white, and several scenes had already been shot, when Warner Bros. decided to make it a color film for prestige. The studio was encouraged by the enormous box office success of Elia Kazan's "East of Eden" (1955) – the previous film starring James Dean. Ray was particularly happy to shoot the film in color, as he already had several vivid symbols prepared. Practically every color (from Jim's red jacket to his blue jeans) had its own symbolism.
• Jim imitates the voice of the cartoon character Mr. Magoo. The irony is that Jim's father is played by actor Jim Backus, who also voiced this character. Backus even taught Dean how to properly speak in Magoo's voice.
• According to a poll conducted by the British multiplex chain UCI Cinemas, the film was recognized as the most stylish film in the history of cinema.
• The entire film takes place over 24 hours.
• Ray was initially reluctant to give the role of Judy to Natalie Wood, as he considered her too naive and inexperienced. Wood quickly learned to smoke and changed her outlook on life, proving she was capable of being mature and adult.
• During the scene where Jim takes out his anger on the police station desk, Dean actually broke his hand.
• Director Nicholas Ray spent several nights with youth gangs in Los Angeles to feel the atmosphere of the events for the future film.
• Marlon Brando was considered for the lead role, but the idea had to be abandoned – two years before 'Rebel Without a Cause,' Brando starred in a similar film called 'The Wild One' (1953).
• Throughout almost the entire film, James Dean wore a white T-shirt, which, since its invention, had been exclusively underwear. Before Dean, actors like Marlon Brando and John Wayne had appeared in T-shirts on screen, but it was this film that popularized the T-shirt and made it a full-fledged outerwear garment: immediately after the film's release, T-shirt sales increased significantly, first in the US and then worldwide.
• One of the actors, Frank Mazzola, was a member of a street gang. He was the one who taught Dean how to fight with knives.
• The Stark surname is an anagram of the Trask surname of one of the characters in the film "East of Eden" (1955), played by Dean.
• The man approaching the observatory at the very end of the film was played by director Nicholas Ray. Rumor has it he appears in all of his films.
• It was during the filming of this picture that Dean particularly developed a passion for speed: one of the most famous and intense scenes in the film was dedicated to races on the edge of a cliff, in which Jim Stark participated to prove himself.
• Filming period: March 28 – May 25, 1955.
• In the United Kingdom, the film was banned from release until 1968.
• The tragedy of the film continued off-screen, as all three main characters died untimely deaths. Mineo was murdered in West Hollywood on February 12, 1976, at the age of 37. Wood drowned under mysterious circumstances at the age of 43. Dean himself crashed a racing car at over 100 miles per hour on a highway in California on September 30, 1955, at the age of 24.