Underplayed Gems

Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

Rebel Without a Cause poster
Directed by
Nicholas Ray
Genre
drama film, teen film, coming-of-age film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 46m
Rated
PG-13
Rating
7.5 of 10 from 1,779 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A troubled teenager moves to a new town and struggles with his distant parents and school bullies. He finds friendship with two other lonely teens as they try to navigate their feelings of anger and alienation.

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What happens

Rebel Without a Cause is a 1955 American coming-of-age melodrama film, directed by Nicholas Ray. The film stars James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Jim Backus, Ann Doran, Corey Allen, William Hopper, and Nick Adams. It is also the film debut of Dennis Hopper, albeit in a minor role. It was filmed in the then recently introduced CinemaScope format. Focusing on emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers, the film offers both social commentary and an alternative to previous films depicting delinquents in urban slum environments. The film was an attempt to portray the moral decay of American youth, critique parental styles, and explore the differences and conflicts between generations, namely the Interbellum Generation and the Silent Generation. The title was adopted from psychologist Robert M. Lindner's 1944 book, Rebel Without a Cause: The Hypnoanalysis of a Criminal Psychopath, although the film itself does not make any other references to Lindner's book. Warner Bros. Pictures released the film on October 27, 1955, nearly a month after Dean's death in a car crash on September 30, 1955. Over the years, the film has achieved landmark status for the performance of Dean, fresh from his Oscar-nominated role in East of Eden, in his most celebrated role. This was the only film of Dean's in which he received top billing. In 1990, Rebel Without a Cause was added to the Library of Congress's National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant". (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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