Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

Tonight's movie is perhaps James Dean's most famous role. I haven't seen any of Dean's 3 films but I might as well. For those that haven't heard the story, James Dean was killed in an automobile accident in Cholame, California which is an unincorporated community about 25 miles from the nearest actual town of Paso Robles, CA which is where I live. He survived the crash but was pronounced dead on arrival at Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital. That hospital does not exist (there is no hospital in Paso Robles) so I can't say anything about it. He was killed when a driver hit him crossing the freeway going from highway 46 to highway 41. That interchange is now known as the James Dean Memorial Junction.

Back to the film...review will be up later.

That concludes tonight's feature presentation.

This wasn't half bad. I didn't really know what to expect from this or James Dean. On the one hand, I'm not a teenage girl. On the other hand, he did receive two nominations for best actor (although not for this film) so he can't be that bad of an actor.

Anyways, on with the review. This movie tells the story of some kids in high school. A good plot summary is just a quick stop at wikipedia away so suffice it to say Dean is the new kid in town and tries to fit in and faces some bullies along the way. The plot was reasonably entertaining although it didn't really cause me to reminisce about high school or anything like that. One thing that's mostly irrelevant that I couldn't help but notice was how Dean's father constantly talked about the future and "ten years from now" to Dean's character. Dean died about 4 months after filming was completed for this film so he didn't really have much of a future.

The acting in here was surprisingly decent. I wasn't really expecting a whole lot, but nobody was all that bad. James Dean isn't the greatest actor you'll ever see, but he isn't bad here by any means. He also isn't that old. If he didn't die at age 24 who knows how he might have ended up. This film also stars Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo. They do a pretty good job in this film as well. In fact, Sal Mineo was nominated for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Plato while Wood was nominated for best supporting actress for her portrayal of Judy. Sadly, both of them, like Dean, died at a young age. Wood drowned at age 43 while Mineo was murdered at age 37.

Although this film was not without its problems in the sense the parents are a little odd and there are parts that seem a little unrealistic, but it doesn't seem to matter all that much in the long run. On the plus side, the line from Don McLean's "American Pie" "in a coat he borrowed from James Dean" makes a little sense. I won't get into that all that much as it would give away too much plot information, but the reference does make sense now.

85/100
B

UP NEXT: More James Stewart - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

This is a good movie. I agree B

SoulRat wrote:

This is a good movie.

And you aren't a teenage girl either...

SoulRat wrote:

I agree B

Can you be a hair more specific so I can add a score to the database?

Rebel without a Cause is awesome.


I give it an 89

catbox_9 wrote:

SoulRat wrote:

This is a good movie.

And you aren't a teenage girl either...

SoulRat wrote:

I agree B

Can you be a hair more specific so I can add a score to the database?

86

gs78 wrote:

Rebel without a Cause is awesome.


I give it an 89

All right! I'll log that!

SoulRat wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

SoulRat wrote:

This is a good movie.

And you aren't a teenage girl either...

SoulRat wrote:

I agree B

Can you be a hair more specific so I can add a score to the database?

86

Another score! That's logged, too!

Cool

More thoughts...

I meant to post this in my review which I wrote just before going to bed but I forgot...until I got in bed and then I was too lazy to get back up.

This movie, while in color, makes pretty good use of shadow and lighting. Almost the entire movie is shot outside at night and the lighting is quite good in here. While no color movie can do lighting and shadow as good as a good black and white movie, they did a pretty good job here.

The drag race was da bomb. Almost can see similarlities with Romeo and Juliet, and this was several years before West Side Story.

laprimamirala wrote:

The drag race was da bomb. Almost can see similarlities with Romeo and Juliet, and this was several years before West Side Story.

Haven't seen Romeo and Juliet (although I think we read that in high school once :puke2: ) nor have I seen West Side Story - it's a musical :puke2:

The next musical on my list is actually West Side Story but I'm not in a huge hurry. Actually, I did see a version of Romeo and Juliet once with Leonardo DiCaprio set in modern times. Suffice it to say it was awful.

Yeah...ya gotta go for the 1961 version. Even though Natalie Wood lip syncs everything, it was still good.

totallly awesome

Paul McCartney Fan 1987 wrote:

totallly awesome

What does "totally awesome" mean out of 100?

100/100

Paul McCartney Fan 1987 wrote:

100/100

Well...okay. That's 4 reviews for this, too!

catbox_9 wrote:

That's 4 reviews for this, too!

Paul McCartney Fan 1987 wrote:

100/100

Oh yeah, that's the first-ever perfect score anyone has given out. There's no rule saying you can't do it but everyone else seems too afraid or something.

bobrob2004 wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

That's 4 reviews for this, too!

You could make it 5 - it's just 2 hours of your time away

DON'T BE AFRAAAAAAAAAAAID PEOPLE C'MON NOW! lol.. that should make em less afraid

Paul McCartney Fan 1987 wrote:

DON'T BE AFRAAAAAAAAAAAID PEOPLE C'MON NOW! lol.. that should make em less afraid

I was thinking about giving 100 to a movie I haven't reviewed (my favorite movie of all-time). I haven't decided yet. I'll probably do something like 99.5 or 98.5 or something.

catbox_9 wrote:

bobrob2004 wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

That's 4 reviews for this, too!

You could make it 5 - it's just 2 hours of your time away

I may do this tomorrow depending on how quick I can find a streamed site or downloaded. If not, I'll have to wait until Wednesday. Saturday might be a possibility though. I think I just made up my mind that this will be the next one I'll seay.

catbox_9 wrote:

Paul McCartney Fan 1987 wrote:

DON'T BE AFRAAAAAAAAAAAID PEOPLE C'MON NOW! lol.. that should make em less afraid

I was thinking about giving 100 to a movie I haven't reviewed (my favorite movie of all-time). I haven't decided yet. I'll probably do something like 99.5 or 98.5 or something.

get on with it! doooooo it!!! go give out 100s to movies u havent reviewed you daredevil

catbox_9 wrote:

...That interchange is now known as the James Dean Memorial Junction.

I wasn't lying, here's pictures. I drive by this every time I go to or from LA...

See, California isn't all beautiful...


Hey, where's the "S"?

that..that..is awesomnesss WHOOOOO JAMES DEAN

Paul McCartney Fan 1987 wrote:

that..that..is awesomnesss WHOOOOO JAMES DEAN

When I was little (8ish maybe?) someone made me stop and look at the memorial. Oh yeah, there's a plaque but I didn't memorize what it said (I didn't know who James Dean was the only time I read it). Here's a picture but it's useless:



I think it says something about how he died, where it was (a few hundred yards away or something), etc.

ahhhh awesome haha

but that area is beautiful too. Desert has its own uniqueness...

changed it!

It's more valley than desert. That's near like Fresno and Bakersfield.