| ~ Rebel Without a Cause on DVD ~ |
 |
| Review: When people think of James Dean, they probably think first of the troubled teen from Rebel Without a Cause: nervous, volatile, soulful, a kid lost in a world that does not understand him. Made between his only other starring roles, in East of Eden and Giant, Rebel sums up the jangly, alienated image of Dean, but also happens to be one of the key films of the 1950s. Director Nicholas Ray takes a strikingly sympathetic look at the teenagers standing outside the white-picket-fence '50s dream of America: juvenile delinquent (that's what they called them then) Jim Stark (Dean), fast girl Judy (Natalie Wood), lost boy Plato (Sal Mineo), slick hot-rodder Buzz (Corey Allen). At the time, it was unusual for a movie to endorse the point of view of teenagers, but Ray and screenwriter Stewart Stern captured the youthful angst that was erupting at the same time in rock & roll. Dean is heartbreaking, following the method acting style of Marlon Brando but staking out a nakedly emotional honesty of his own. Going too fast, in every way, he was killed in a car crash on September 30, 1955, a month before Rebel opened. He was no longer an actor, but an icon, and Rebel is a lasting monument. ~Robert Horton Additional Features: The documentary featurette Rediscovering a Rebel provides a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of this milestone film, including a look at the film's early scenes filmed in black and white, before it was decided to start from scratch and shoot the entire film in glorious color. It's here that we briefly see James Dean's character as originally conceived, sporting a brown blazer and wire-rimmed glasses, before it was decided that the "cooler" Jimmy would lose the spectacles and wear a stand-out jacket of fire-engine red. Also of interest are three segments of Warner Bros. Presents, a mid-'50s TV series hosted by Gig Young that showcased Warner productions in progress. Offering a glimpse of the old-school Hollywood promotion machine at its most efficient, these scripted segments are fascinating artifacts of their time. In addition to some interesting behind-the-scenes footage, Natalie Wood makes a charming off-screen ingenue, Jim Backus is a hammy joker, and James Dean (in costume for Giant) sulks in method-school cool while warning the youth of America to drive responsibly. Within weeks of filming that segment, Dean was killed when he lost control of his speeding Porsche Spyder. That supreme irony continues to resonate throughout this highly recommended DVD, proving that Rebel Without a Cause has lost none of its classic vitality. ~Jeff Shannon ~ For information on buying this from Amazon.com, go here. ~ To see this item on VHS, go here. |