Rebel Without A Cause
Two Disc Special Edition

Special Fetures Include: Trailer, Commentary, Digital transfer from Restored Picture & Audio, 50th Anniversary Documentary, Vintage Documentary, Additional Scenes, Rare Screen Tests, Wardrobe Test, New 3 segments from Warner Bros. Presents TV series including Dean's Famous Drive Safely Commercial.

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Aspect ratio: 2:55 Widescreen
Sound: 5.1 Dolby
Year made: 1955
Country: US
Duration: 106 mins.
Print: Colour
Discs: 2
Genre: Drama
NEW

CAST
Directed by: Nicholas Ray
Writing credits: Nicholas Ray (story), Irving Shulman (adaptation), Stewart Stern (screenplay)
James Dean .... Jim Stark
Natalie Wood .... Judy
Sal Mineo .... John 'Plato' Crawford
Jim Backus .... Frank Stark

James Dean Cult-Classic about "misunderstood" teens in 1950s
Jim Stark is the new kid in town. He has been in trouble elsewhere; that's why his family has had to move before. Here he hopes to find the love he doesn't get from his middle-class family. Though he finds some of this in his relation with Judy, and a form of it in both Plato's adulation and Ray's real concern for him, Jim must still prove himself to his peers in switchblade knife fights and "chickie" games in which cars race toward a seaside cliff.

James Dean was only free to star in the film because Elizabeth Taylor got pregnant, which delayed production of Giant (1956).
The opening scene in the movie with Jim Stark and the toy monkey was improvised by James Dean after the production had been shooting for nearly 24 hours straight. He asked Nicholas Ray to roll the camera, that he wanted to do something. Ray obliged and the improvisation went on to become the famous opening scene.
All three lead actors, (James Dean, Sal Mineo and Natalie Wood) died under tragic circumstances.
The movie was originally to be shot in black and white, and some scenes had already been filmed that way, when the studio decided to switch to color. The official explanation at the time was that Twetieth Century Fox, which owned the Cinemascope process, had ordered that all films shot in the process had to be in color, but some also believe that Warners ordered the switch to head off comparisons with Blackboard Jungle (1955) and because James Dean's increasing popularity gave the film more prestige.
The original script called for a kiss between Plato and Jim. The scene was removed by the Board of Censors.
An alternative ending was shot in which Plato falls from the tower of the planetarium.
For the knife fight between Jim (James Dean) and Buzz (Corey Allen), the actors used real switchblades and protected themselves by wearing chainmail under their vests.
Dean badly bruised his hand during the police station scene where he physically vents his rage on a precinct desk and had to wear an elastic bandage for a week.
Frank Mazzola ("Crunch") had actually been a member of a Hollywood street gang, and taught James Dean how to fight with a real switchblade knife.
Jim Stark is named after James Dean and his character "Trask" in East of Eden (1955).
Originally in the beginning of the movie, there was a gang beating up a father, who drops a toy on the sidewalk. The studio thought it was too violent, so it was cut. Jim Stark can be seen playing with the toy after he finds it on the ground during the opening credits.
T-shirt sales soared after James Dean was seen to wear one in this film.
Jim Backus who played James Dean's father and was the voice of Mr. Magoo, taught Dean how to do the Mr. Magoo voice which Dean then used to deliver the line, "Drown them like puppies."
Natalie Wood was first considered too naive and wholesome for the role of Judy. She began changing her looks and eventually attracted the notice of director Nicholas Ray who began an affair with her but still would not guarantee her the part though he eventually relented. Both Ray and Wood later claimed that he changed his mind after she was in a car accident with Dennis Hopper' and someone in the hospital called her a "goddamn juvenile delinquent".
Jim Stark was actually first intended to be more of a nerd, wearing a brown jacket and glasses. However, when Warner Bros. told director Nicholas Ray to re-shoot in color, Ray, as well as costumer Moss Mabry, wanted him to wear red.
The empty pool in which the characters sit and discuss their lives in one scene is the same pool that was specially built for Sunset Blvd. (1950).
Jayne Mansfield was tested for the role of Judy.
Director Nicholas Ray researched L.A. gangs by riding around with them for several nights.
In the final scene where the camera pulls away from the observatory, director Nicholas Ray is the person walking toward the building. (possible director's trademark for it is rumored he appeared in all of his movies).

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