Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

Subject: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Tue May 27, 2008 7:52 pm

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.
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Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Tue May 27, 2008 11:00 pm

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.
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Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Wed May 28, 2008 9:26 am

This is a good movie. I agree B Nod

Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Wed May 28, 2008 10:47 am

Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Wed May 28, 2008 11:33 am

Rebel without a Cause is awesome.

I give it an 89

Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Wed May 28, 2008 11:46 am

Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Wed May 28, 2008 11:55 am

Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Wed May 28, 2008 12:30 pm

Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Wed May 28, 2008 2:17 pm

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.
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Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Wed May 28, 2008 2:31 pm

The drag race was da bomb. Almost can see similarlities with Romeo and Juliet, and this was several years before West Side Story.
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There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971

Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Wed May 28, 2008 2:55 pm

Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Wed May 28, 2008 3:02 pm

Yeah...ya gotta go for the 1961 version. Even though Natalie Wood lip syncs everything, it was still good.
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There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971

Guest

totallly awesome

Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Thu May 29, 2008 6:57 am

Guest

100/100

Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Thu May 29, 2008 7:05 am

Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Thu May 29, 2008 7:07 am

Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Thu May 29, 2008 7:10 am

Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Thu May 29, 2008 7:10 am

Guest

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

Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Thu May 29, 2008 7:18 am

Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Thu May 29, 2008 7:18 am

Guest

Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Thu May 29, 2008 7:21 am

Guest

that..that..is awesomnesss WHOOOOO JAMES DEAN

Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Thu May 29, 2008 7:27 am

Guest

ahhhh awesome haha

Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Thu May 29, 2008 7:30 am

but that area is beautiful too. Desert has its own uniqueness...
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There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971

Guest

changed it!

Subject: Re: Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Thu May 29, 2008 7:35 am

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