The Film: Nicholas Ray had warned us that the kids aren't alright by way of his 1948 debut, They Live By Night, but in this worthy list-topper he created something so unique, ground breaking and entertaining that every film that came before it was left chuffing on his dirt, losers in cinema's eternal Chickie Run for immortality. Starring James Dean as troubled teen Jim Stark, the film takes a tight focus on Stark's troubles of being the new kid in town, where his issues with mother and father manifest themselves in binge drinking, daring car antics and fights outside the Griffith Observatory. Palling up with Sal Mineo's oddball outsider and Natalie Wood's mysterious love interest, Stark's odyssey takes twists and turns en route to tragedy. Crammed with famous tales - Dennis Hopper, a bit parter in the movie, talked of wild times and orgies during production - and notable for being Dean's last movie before his untimely death in an auto wreck, Rebel Without A Cause can also be cited as starting everything from the French New Wave (Godard was famously quoted as saying, 'cinema is Nicholas Ray') all the way to changing society's perception of the teenager. If the 1950s are best remembered for those iconic images, ones that are forever embossed on our minds, retro posters and the occasional t-shirt at Primark, nothing, not Monroe's fluttering blue dress, Gort standing tall or Wayne poised alone in a doorway can rival that of Dean in his red jacket stood by a Mercury Coupe. His and Ray's interpretation of the teenager as a rough-edged human being was a clamouring call for society to change through its young. Suffice to say, the 1960s were an altogether different prospective and it's through this timeless classic that the seeds for revolution were planted - it was time for those picket fences to be flattened. Classic Moment: Too many to mention, but for prime thrills and excitement Jim's blade fight atop Mount Hollywood still stands as a nail-biting moment. Got a hankering for some other movies from the decade that deserve a mention? Then don't hesitate to head south and comment on the thread below.
Shaun is a former contributor for a number of Future Publishing titles and more recently worked as a staffer at Imagine Publishing.
He can now be found banking in the daytime and writing a variety of articles for What Culture, namely around his favourite topics of film, retro gaming, music, TV and, when he's feeling clever, literature.
