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Rebel Without a Cause struggles to exist outside of its historical context and the death of its leading man, which is a shame because it's still a powerful film. What it has to say, it says in the language of the time and what it offers today's moviegoers differs from what it offered moviegoers in 1955. But the saga of Jim Stark (James Dean), the new kid in town, the one with the red windbreaker, has graduated from being universal. It's now become elemental. All kids need guidance and if they don't get it from their parents, they're going to get it on the street. Jim, at least Jim as played by Method Man Dean, is incredibly angst-ridden, but it's never made entirely clear what he's angst-ridden about. After repeated viewings though, it becomes clear that Jim isn't troubled by anything specific, like a failure to make the basketball team. He's troubled because his parents can't help him navigate the choppy waters of youth, which means he must create a moral code based on what little information he's provided. And when those waters go from choppy to damn-near dangerous, Jim's moral code threatens to become stunted and malformed.
In a performance as grotesque as it is henpecked, Jim Backus plays Jim's father, a man held upright by the spongiest of spines. At one point, at the moment when Jim needs parental guidance the most, Mr. Stark is wearing a prissy apron over his business suit. Note to teenagers everywhere: when you're looking for a strong father figure, don't look for the guy in the apron. But whether avec apron or sans apron, most of Mr. Stark's advice is delivered with head in hands, frustrated that he can't pull even the most hackneyed parental cliche out of his head. And Jim needs his father's help. Because Jim is front-and-center in the death of a rival, the greasy gang-leader Buzz Gunderson (Corey Allen). It all started when Buzz called Jim a ìchicken.î And that's just something you don't say to Jim Stark, the new kid in town, the one with the red windbreaker. Jim's run-in with Buzz takes place at the historic Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. It's a brilliant choice. What better place to remind impressionable teenagers that their existence is a meaningless speck in a vast, unknowable universe, than by hearing it in a planetarium.
Buzz's girlfriend is Judy (Natalie Wood), who seems attracted to Buzz because he's as close to a father figure as geographically possible. When we meet Judy's father (William Hopper) he slaps her when she kisses him on the cheek. A horrible thing to do to a daughter expressing her love for daddy, but now I wonder if the father wasn't reacting to his deeply buried lust for his own offspring. Not something that can be made overt in 1955, but it's something to consider fifty years later. Either way, Judy's father is present in body, but absent in mind. Plato (Sal Mineo), a parentless teen being raised by a kindly housekeeper, seems a puppy dog hanger-on who would some day grow up to be Ratzo Rizzo. But now it seems clear that Plato is gay and had fallen in love with Jim. Whether this is some backhanded argument that parentless children run the risk of turning gay, I don't know. Still, when Jim, Judy, and Plato are lying down in the mansion towards the end of the movie, they seem like one creepy little family (actually, when you consider the damaged family dynamic in the film and how it's augmented by director Nicholas Ray's occasionally cockeyed camera angles, Rebel has a pretty twisted line running through it).
Rebel Without a Cause was released about a month after Dean died in a car accident in 1955. His signature look, what we would today call a ìsmoldering meterosexualityî was revolutionary, a response to the confident, hard charging patriarchy of the day's male stars. Dean and Marlon Brando were not afraid to break down emotionally, whether it's Brando wailing ìStella!î in A Streetcar Named Desire or Dean's wounded-animal yell of ìYou're tearing me apart!î in Rebel Without a Cause. Dean, however, had a built-in softness to his face that Brando needed to manufacture with his eyes and the way he'd look up slightly as he spoke, as if searching for the perfect expression of his feelings. Dean is what makes Rebel Without a Cause so memorable (more memorable than if Brando had played Jim). He gives us something to invest in, because there's such an edge of sadness to his cockiness. Rebel Without a Cause was groundbreaking for its time, a real shot to the gut. Its portrayal of disaffected youth seemed more realistic and less affected than Brando's The Wild One from 1953. It made Rebel Without a Cause the basic training necessary to join the Adult Army. To paraphrase a future president, it felt your pain. Although kids grow up faster today than in 1955, they still grow up. And as long as they do, Rebel is there to dramatize their confusion and speak to their fears.
The Video: How Does The Disc Look?
Presented in its theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, the film has never looked better. There are some issues, however, that keep this great transfer from being amazing. My biggest problem is a certain lack of sharpness and detail. At one point in the movie, there is a close up of a character holding an object in the palm of a hand. I should have been able to read the writing on the object, but it's too fuzzy. That's disappointing. Otherwise, Warner has provided the ultimate way to enjoy this movie from now on. The palette is pretty wide and the colors are fairly bright for the time and considering that it's not a very bright movie. Like many older movies, blacks are hit-and-miss. Sometimes, you couldn't believe how dark and smooth the nighttime exteriors are. Other times, blacks are milky. Shadow detail is great most of the time and dimly lit interiors don't look pushed to beef up the contrast. Grain and edge halos are basically non-existent. Great work from Warner.
The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is a bit of overkill, but there's enough going on to justify the effort. The Leonard Rosenman score benefits most from the extra effort, although lush is not the word I'd use to describe the sound. The dialogue is not particularly hefty, but it's clear and understandable, without sounding pinched. The rear speakers have very little to do. The sides occasionally convey a line of dialogue or a car screech, but that's about it. The overall quality of the track is good, but some passages fall prey to the thinness of the original sound recordings. Separation is strong, with no bleeding between speakers and hiss has been EQ'd out. A good track considering the age of the source.
French mono is also available, as are English, Spanish and French subtitles.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
Warner really backed up the truck in terms of supplements and the results are fabulous. It blows away the movie's first DVD release, easily making this one a must-buy.
Disc One of this two-disc set contains a theatrical trailer and an audio commentary by Douglas L. Rathgeb, author of ìThe Making of Rebel Without a Cause.î His comments are most interesting when discussing the censors and the importance of getting a Motion Picture Code Seal of Approval. For instance, in the first police station scene, it's vaguely implied that Natalie Wood's character was arrested for solicitation. That was a serious no-no to the censor, as was the original opening credit sequence, in which a gang of toughs beat up a man carrying Easter gifts (leading to the eventual opening credit sequence of a drunken Jim laying on the ground and playing with the toy monkey). Anyway, it's a nice conversational effort that covers a lot of ground. You may even want to re-watch the film just to hear Rathgeb's comments.
The rest of the extras are on Disc Two and it's quite a mother lode for James Dean fans.
James Dean Remembered is a slam-bang, 66-minute epic that will tell you everything you'd ever want to know about James Dean. Produced in 1974, it includes reflections from Natalie Wood, Steve Allen, and Rock Hudson. Scads of vintage footage, film clips, and stills fill out the experience visually. Host Peter Lawford, looking oh-so-70s, starts by doing an in-studio interview Sammy Davis Jr., who was Dean's neighborhood buddy. It's great stuff. There's so much Old School material here, that hep cats will be in heaven. Thorough and interesting, James Dean Remembered should be watched from beginning to end. The video is quite nice, considering its age.
Rebel Without a Cause: Defiant Innocents is a terrific 36-minute look at the film's impact through the years. Author Douglas Rathgeb, along with surviving friends of James Dean and surviving cast members, provide trenchant remembrances. Everyone agrees that the film reflected the views of postwar young people who thought they were being raised by parents who didn't share their values. The piece also charts the origins of the film, which is based on a scholarly book called Rebel Without a Cause by psychiatrist Robert Lindner. Producers at Warner decided to rewrite the story with a more personal, boy-next-door take. Warner liked the new script, called The Blind Run, but they eventually switched it back to Lindner's original title. Definitely worth watching.
There are sixteen deleted scenes, the most I've ever encountered for a movie this old. There's no ìPlay Allî feature, which would have helped. But Rebel fans would gladly hand-crank the laser on their DVD player if it meant seeing these bits and pieces. Most of these are out of context and there's no audio. Plus, they're black and white and tend to be masters with no close-ups. So it's hard to envision them in the place they were intended. Still, these scenes are worth flipping through.
Next are Screen Tests and Wardrobe Tests. The former is a six-minute test where Dean, Wood, and Mineo run through the scene at the mansion. The footage is full screen, black and white, and looks very nice. The actors' chemistry is obvious immediately. The latter is a five-minute piece of footage that sees Dean and Allen trying on various coats. It's a straight wardrobe test, nothing special, although Dean's presence makes it a historical curiosity. Also, check for a very young Dennis Hopper as one of the hoods.
Finally, Behind the Camera is a vintage featurette that appeared, back in the days, as an episode of the Warner Bros. Presents TV series. It can be played in one, 20-minute chunk or as three, separate pieces. I love this stuff, so I found it pretty awesome. Host Gig Young walks around the set, ìbumping intoî various actors like Natalie Wood, and introducing us to various crewmembers. At one point, Young walks over to James Dean who, in what became famous for its creepy prescience extols the virtues of safe driving by saying, ìthe life you save may be mine.î Great, great stuff.
Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?
There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.
Final Thoughts
Without James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause would be a really impressive classroom film on the importance of parental guidance. With James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause is pure, smoldering legend. Warner Bros. has done a magnificent job re-releasing the DVD, with a great transfer and a bonus disc of comprehensive extras. A must-buy.
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