From crises including two World Wars and the Great Depression, the United States emerged in the 1950s as an unprecedented global power, intent on peace, and energized by remarkable prosperity. But new threats to domestic tranquility quickly arose in the immediate postwar period. Racial tensions ran high, Communist plots against the government were being routed out, and perhaps most shockingly the youth turned against society, violently so. Headlines abounded declaring that the youth were now a dangerous social problem. Nicholas Ray's "Rebel Without A Cause" took an unconventional look at juvenile delinquency, one that located the problem in what had once been the peaceful suburbs. This project examines the immediate reception of this enduring depiction of teenage alienation, using sources that situate the film in its historical context.

Landry, Robert.  “Rebel Without a Cause.” Variety, Wed., Oct. 26, 1955.

 

            Robert Landry’s review of Rebel Without a Cause (1955) praises the performances of the actors while criticizing the film’s unrealistic treatment of the social problem of juvenile delinquency. Landry considers Rebel favorably against other films released at the time that dealt with similar subject matter, namely Blackboard Jungle (1955), and The Wild One (1951). He acknowledges that while all these films are populated by characters that engage in similar activities, fighting, racing, and other criminal behavior, Rebel is unique, and especially shocking because of the characters’ socioeconomic status. Unlike the youths of Blackboard, James Dean’s Jim Stark and his associates are suburban, middle class teenagers from what would traditionally be considered good homes which makes the film more interesting, but also less credible in Landry’s estimation. The film was released not long after the accident that took Dean’s life, and Landry acknowledges Dean as a talented young man who had an uncanny ability to portray those that were troubled. Both Sal Mineo and Natalie Wood earn kudos for their work, as the lonely and confused counterparts to Dean’s misery, and all manage to evoke some sympathy from the audience. Most problematic for Landry is the film’s reliance on family dysfunction as the source of the youth problem and what he considers to be a sensationalistic depiction of the youth’s violence, even though he was read reports of similar incidence in many newspapers.

            Landry’s generally positive review of Rebel Without a Cause demonstrates that the film was not immediately viewed as a classic. Instead, Landry considers it as a good film, but one that exploits the craze surrounding delinquency, as several other films before it have already addressed. Landry does recognize Rebel’s nuanced version of delinquency, that of a moody suburban teen victimized by his family instead of by socioeconomic circumstance.