REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE

“You’re tearin’ me apart!” wails James Dean as Jim Stark in Nicholas Ray’s touchstone of teen angst and nobody-understands-me melodrama, an Eisenhower-era anticipation of the even sharper generational rift to come in the 1960s. Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo give breakout performances as troubled suburban teens Judy and Plato, who, like Jim, are badly in need of real friendship. Ray’s sensitive direction, dynamic storytelling and brilliant use of WarnerColor and the CinemaScope frame have ensured that this film has remained alive and vital across multiple generations. In his book “The Films of Nicholas Ray: The Poet of Nightfall,” film historian Geoff Andrew wrote, “Few films have examined the confusions of an entire generation with such fervor or insight [...] It remains for many the American movie of the 1950s." DIR/SCR Nicholas Ray; SCR Stewart Stern; PROD David Weisbart. U.S., 1955, color, 111 min. RATED PG-13

Run Time: 111 Minutes

Opening Date: Saturday, July 11, 2026

Genre: Drama

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