Rebel Without A Cause: Would You Survive the Chicken Run?

A teen drama from 1955 shouldn’t feel this raw, yet Rebel Without a Cause still lands like a punch. We rewatch James Dean as Jim Stark and end up talking less about “rebellion” and more about what happens when parents can’t lead, adults don’t listen, and kids are left to prove themselves in the worst ways possible. If you’ve ever wondered why this film became a defining coming-of-age movie, we break down the emotional logic that makes it stick.

We get into the performances and the real-world stories around them: Dean’s three-film career and sudden death, Natalie Wood’s drive to reshape her image, and Sal Mineo’s heartbreaking arc on screen. From the police station tension to the shifting power dynamics inside Jim’s home, the movie builds a world where the only dependable authority figure might be a cop trying to keep a disaster from getting bigger. Along the way, we talk about why the score can feel almost invisible, and how 1950s culture shaped what the filmmakers could show.

Then we go full film-nerd: Griffith Observatory as a landmark location, Nicholas Ray’s cameo, production pivots like the move to color, and the headline-inspired violence that was considered too much. We also unpack the chicken run, the scene that turns peer pressure into a literal cliff edge, and ask the big question the title dares you to answer: who is the rebel, and what is the cause?

Follow the show, leave a five-star rating, share this with a movie friend, and tell us what you’d rate Rebel Without a Cause today.

🎬 Have You Seen?! The Movie Podcast is a Roll Credits Studio production.

 🎧 Listen where ever you get your quality podcasts: https://open.spotify.com/show/10QRGuPFPCaL6FWmFBxEyF  

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/have-you-seen-the-movie-podcast/id1845758756

📱 Stay Connected:
🐦 Twitter/X: HaveYouSeenPodcast (@HYSPod) / X
📷 Instagram: Instagram
🎵 TikTok: haveyouseenpod (@haveyouseenpod) | TikTok

 👥 Hosted by: Dylan & Joe

👉 Got a classic you think we should cover? Send us your movie suggestion!

Transcript

Cold Open And Chicken Run Tease

Joe 0:00

The gangs have a pot on who's gonna win and who's not. And so whoever whoever wins the chicken run gets some of the pot of the money, and the other person just stops existing. Yeah, pretty much.

Welcome And Listener Calls To Action

Dylan 0:27

Welcome to Have You Seen the Movie Podcast, where every movie is a premiere.

Joe 0:32

This week we're stepping into one of the most iconic teen dramas ever made: Rebel Without a Caes, the film that turned James Dean into a cultural legend.

Dylan 0:42

If you enjoy the show, make sure to follow the podcast on your favorite app and leave us a five-star rating. It really helps the show grow.

Joe 0:49

And we want to hear from you. Text us your name and a movie suggestion using the link in the description.

Dylan 0:55

This week's movie, Rebel Without a Cause, is rated PG 13 for emotional themes, violence, and some intense moments. If that's not suitable for little ears, we hope you'll tune in next week.

Setup And First Reactions

Dylan 1:07

So it came out in 1955. Directed by Nicholas Ray.

Joe 1:18

And he also came up with the story. Oh really? The main the main story. And then that was uh collaborated with two different screenwriters.

Dylan 1:31

Oh, okay. So he was definitely invested in it.

Joe 1:35

Yeah, yeah.

Dylan 1:38

Um like going into this movie, I hadn't even like heard of it. So you were like, we should watch that. And I'm like, I don't even know what that is. Yeah, yeah, wow.

Joe 1:55

Yeah. It's a pretty, pretty classic, um, you know, like there's been so many tributes to it. Really? Yeah. If you haven't seen this movie in a while, here's the quick setup Teenager Jim Stark struggles to fit in after moving to a new town. As he clashes with troubled classmates and distant distant parents, he forms unexpected bonds while navigating the pressures of adolescence.

Dylan 2:28

Um something with this movie that I was like I was watching it and like the classmates were driving me crazy. Like I know I I get that it was kind of a plot point and you know, there to drive the plot and you know, set everything up. But I was like, I was like, why?

Joe 2:51

Like they're just a bunch of but like in how like they were too silly or like just yeah, like I felt like it was honestly written, like that they were too like goofball.

Dylan 3:11

Okay, you know, uh-huh. Um when uh like one of the scenes that stuck out to me along those lines is like right at the beginning when he's like, hey, which which way to whatever, and they all start pointing like that different direction. Right. And it's like it it's funny, but at the same time, it's like yeah, as you know, if they're supposed to be um were they college kids or like high school?

Joe 3:42

High school, high school, they're supposed to be high school, yeah.

Dylan 3:45

But like all you know, old enough to drive.

Joe 3:48

Yeah. Then like because they were I don't think they said, but they were either junior or senior. Yeah. Because when the there's a poster board that that's up that says uh observatory junior senior trip or something at two o'clock. Gotcha.

Dylan 4:07

So oh yeah, okay.

Joe 4:10

Yeah, not that I've seen the movie a million times.

Dylan 4:13

Well, that's I totally I totally missed that. I remember it like focusing on the announcement board there, right? Where yeah, and it said that, but I totally like missed that kind of yeah, and I'm like, uh I was sitting there and I'm like, do they have an observatory like at the school? That's pretty cool. Yeah, that would be cool.

Joe 4:37

Yeah, and the enchantment under the sea dance will be next week, right?

Dylan 4:46

Um, but yeah, I really was not expecting how like emotionally driven this movie is, too. Yeah, like especially like the closer it gets to the end, like it definitely feels palpable.

Joe 5:04

Yeah, well, I mean, like the biggest, you know, one of the most quoted lines of uh you're tearing me apart is right at the beginning when they're all in the uh station, the police station, and yeah, and that's all happening. And you know, if you listen to you know, some of the stuff that's gone on, like Plato shooting some puppies, and like yeah, you know, yeah, it started with that one, and I'm like, oh yeah, and then and then with um uh Natalie Wood's character um blinking right now, but um Judy Judy, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um you know, she she was out walking around, and they assumed that she was looking for company. Working the corners, yeah, exactly.

Dylan 5:50

Yeah, it's like wow. Well, like did everything but say it outright, too. Like it's passed to the point of alluding to right, right, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Joe 6:04

Um, and for 50 standards, that that's what made it so controversial. Oh, yeah, because all the stuff that they put in there was just what yeah, yeah.

Dylan 6:15

Um and like with how like the the teenagers acted and stuff too, like uh I don't know if that was just me not really knowing like kind of 50s culture, right? You know, at the time too.

Joe 6:34

Yeah.

Dylan 6:34

Um but yeah.

Joe 6:37

Yeah, it I mean you can see how things were back then with that entrance shot of all the kids coming into the high school and Jim is dressed up with slacks and a white shirt and a coat and everything, and all the rebellious kids have jeans on, and that was like unheard of. That was like against dress code, you know. So they had their you know, their 50s look, right?

Dylan 7:05

And that was like you know, I was gonna say now if they wear jeans, that's dressing up, right?

Joe 7:11

Yeah, yeah. People wear jeans and weddings now, you know, and right. I mean, we're in Montana, so I was gonna say that's just local dialogue. But um, but yeah, they were they were totally like, I mean, people consider these days like yeah, I don't even know, beyond goth. Right.

Dylan 7:33

Bunch of punks.

Joe 7:34

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Dylan 7:36

But yeah, um just the kind of the weight, the seriousness of like all of the different themes that were put into the movie as well.

Joe 7:48

Yeah, and it throws you right into it. Like each person has, you know, and um yeah, each each character has just this weight of different things that they're dealing with, and they just make it apparent, you know, and the only uh parental person

The Movie’s Emotional Weight And Themes

Joe 8:06

in that situation or in these situations are either the the maid or uh the police chief uh Ray, and it's like everybody else is just uh not helping the situation, right?

Cast Breakdown And Tragic Legacies

Dylan 8:25

So speaking of not helping the situation, let's go ahead and talk about the characters. So starting with our main character, um uh Jim Stark.

Joe 8:39

Yeah.

Dylan 8:40

So who played him? James Dean. And so uh what else did James Dean like go to be in then?

Joe 8:50

Yeah, so um yeah, so he was in three major movies. Yeah. Um the first one was East of Eden, and he had done um plays, and he actually at the beginning of his career, um, I think he played like John the Baptist or something like that in a Catholic uh gospel movie. Oh, okay. And these Catholic schoolgirls started the first James Dean fan club from that movie. And then so he went on to do some TV stuff, but uh the biggest one was East of Eden, and while that was going on, um, and that came out, they were putting together Rebel and had him in mind. Oh, yeah, yeah. And then after after Rebel without a cause, uh he did Giant, uh, which is like a long epic movie. Oh. Um, so East of Eden is based on the book. Um East of Eden. I don't know if you've ever read it, but nope, not even close. Yeah, um, but the crazy thing is, a couple of crazy things about it was um the movie had yet to come out, and I think it came out just after he died. Oh what?

Dylan 10:20

What?

Joe 10:20

Yeah, so Giant was filmed and wrapped, and then Rebel was coming out, and he actually got in a car accident. Oh the crazy thing is in the extras they have this little like um kind of these little trailers that they would show in the movies. Yeah, and it's like, you know, oh, and here's Natalie Wood sitting down with you know, filming Rebel Without a Cause, you know, or here's James Dean, you know, and so he walks on the camera and and they're like, So you you do racing and and all this stuff, and he's like, Yeah, but but I don't race on the street, you know. I I I would rather take my chances on the track than on the street. Yeah. And and he says, like, um, he says, you know, he the last thing he says is basically, um, you know, be careful when you drive, because the life you save might be mine. Yeah. And so he ended up uh getting in this car accident where he was he was speeding down the highway, but a slower truck turned right in front of him. And it just and the thing was made of aluminum, um, and just just went to pieces. Oh man. So wow, yeah. And when he passed, because he was filming giant, um, he had filmed the scene where he needed to look old, and so he shaved back his hairline like about an inch. And so he just looked didn't really he looked old because he you know he was trying to for the movie, but yeah, but they were like they didn't re realize that that was him at first.

Dylan 12:01

Wow.

Joe 12:02

So yeah.

Dylan 12:05

That's crazy.

Joe 12:07

Yeah, so I mean it it was uh it was a big movie and all his movies were big.

Dylan 12:15

So how old was he when he passed away then?

Joe 12:19

I think like man, 24. Really? Yeah. He was 22 when well I think he was 22 when they started Revel, but then you know, over time the editing and all that stuff. So but he was 24, yeah. Wow, so young I think that's part of why he's so legendary, is because it's just like yeah, right. Yeah, the it's looking through these, uh they're all kind of tragic. Um yeah. So Judy is played by Natalie Wood, and she was in um the biggest one that she's known for is either Rebel Without a Cause or West Side Story. Okay. She played um Maria in West Side Story, Splendor in the Grass was a good one. Um the her last movie was called Brainstorm. And somehow she was afraid of water. Um, and somehow it was Christopher Walken and I forget what her husband's name was, but they were all on this boat uh in Catalina Island, and some kind of argument fight broke out, and she attempted to get onto a um what is it called, a lifeboat to get back to shore, and somehow she missed it, or something happened where she ended up in the water. Oh, and because she couldn't swim and she was afraid of water, she she passed. Oh man. So she was 43. So she lived longer, you know. Still yeah.

Dylan 14:11

What about uh Plato?

Joe 14:13

So Salminio, he you know, he always reminded me, and I think it kind of goes back and forth because I'm the younger generation, but he always reminded me of Ralph Macchio. Oh, and Ralf Macchio always reminded me of Salminio because they have the same kind of just personal yeah, but um yeah, so Salminio um, I guess as far as his kind of death too, was he was um basically like robbed in front of his apartment and and stabbed and just kind of yeah, and it's like one of those things where like you know whoever did it probably didn't realize who he was and so you know and he was 37. Oh my goodness, yeah. So it's like just a crazy, you know, and people make up these things like oh it's cursed and or whatever, but right, you know, it's just how life was and yeah, what happened.

Dylan 15:23

Hollywood definitely likes to have I I was gonna I was gonna say fairy tales, but like they like to to be very um superstitious about things.

Joe 15:35

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Um so yeah, like um with all those characters, they did a lot of casting, um, you know, mixing people and and coming together, and they they were the ones that all kind of gelled, and um they really they did initially have um James Dean set, you know. And the biggest the crazy thing about Natalie Wood is she was so um she wanted that part so much because she she was in like the first version of Miracle on 34th Street when she was a kid.

Dylan 16:16

Oh, really?

Joe 16:17

So she was like a child actress and did all these movies prior to that, and so she wanted to break out of the whole like I'm a kid actress and this is the right, yeah. So she was dating Dennis Hopper. Dennis Hopper plays one of the thug kids in the back, yeah. And he was in like Waterworld and True Romance and just a lot of cool movies he did. Um, like he was the villain and speed. Oh, yeah, and then but I think one of the most iconic ones that he did was Easy Brider, which was like a 60s biker kind of movie, yeah. Um, but anyway, so she was she was dating Dennis Hopper at the time, and they got into a car accident, and instead of calling her parents, she had uh the hospital called uh call Nick Ray, the director. Oh and so um so when he went to visit her, uh she said to him, see that nurse over there, that SOB. Um, they called me a juvenile. Now can I get the part? So he was like, Yeah, I guess so.

Dylan 17:38

That's funny. Yeah. Okay, I have to ask, like, who played Jim's dad?

Joe 17:45

Uh Jim Backus. Jim Backus was was Jim's dad. And he so you might notice his voice from cartoons. Okay, and he played Mr. Magoo in all the you know, get away from me, bother married, you know. The funny thing is that um I guess him and him and uh James Dean got along on the set. Oh in the in the scene where they're playing the the parents, yeah, he kind of does his voice. He's like, uh, you know, like um so the biggest the biggest part that he's known for is being Thurston Howell the Third on uh Gilligan's Island.

Dylan 18:31

Oh, okay.

Joe 18:32

Yeah, which I mean that show ran for a long time from like what 64 to 92 or something like that. Like wow, it you know, it was off and on with different TV movies and stuff like that, but he he played Thurston Howell the third. Um, and I just you know, I grew up with watching Gilligan's Island first. Yeah. So when I s when I first seen that him in it, it's just a different, totally different character. Yeah. And he's so serious, um, and so like he just has this. I don't know, I love his his range, you know, of of you know trying to relate to his son, but then you know, at the end he he stands up for him and he pulls him up, and you know, he just he has a kind of a story arc on his own of yeah, you know, so yeah.

Dylan 19:28

I mean he just I was very surprised by his character because he just let everybody walk over him. Yeah. It's like just totally not what I was expecting. Yeah. And then who plays who plays the mom? Uh Anne Doran. Like, with her being such like a strong willed character, like, I totally was not uh I totally was not prepared for that. Yeah, like just was not expecting that. And so like when it started like unfolding, I was like, wow. Right just the like the the dad wearing the very frilly apron. Yeah. And it's like people would look at you funny if you did that now, right?

Joe 20:24

Let alone in the 50s, yeah, yeah. It's very, you know, emasculating, right?

Dylan 20:30

You know, but yeah, and then the the um Frank's mother kind of cracked me up at the police station. She's like, he's a good boy.

Joe 20:47

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And and it was so like I loved how she was there enough to contradict um you know the wife.

Dylan 20:55

Like that was her main her main reason for being there. Yeah, for argument's sake.

Joe 21:01

And the funny thing about that character too is she kind of disappears after a while.

Dylan 21:06

Like you don't see her Yeah, because she's she like is sick, pretty much like what the second act onwards, yeah.

Joe 21:12

Whenever you're in college, just out of the picture. And then like I love I love when Jim storms out and then he he um pushes the painting of her over and it just kicks right through it. Kicks right through it, yeah.

Dylan 21:27

Yeah.

Music Choices And 1950s Context

Dylan 21:28

So I feel like something we talk about a lot in movies is the music and how the music makes the movie.

Joe 21:36

Yeah.

Dylan 21:37

I really did not feel that with this movie.

Joe 21:40

Uh-huh.

Dylan 21:41

I just I felt like it was kind of absent. Yeah. Like just very much in the background.

Joe 21:46

Like like sort of generic or like you didn't really. Not even noticeable. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we're going from all this John Williams to It's very true. Had we had John Williams, it would have been a bigger screen. Right. Um yeah, it it's very you know just dramatic music and um just that kind of just big orchestral kind of fills in the gaps kind of thing. Um and even the music on the radio, if you if you hear that, um it's very orchestral as well. Yeah. Um and I think part of it was so um I'm trying to remember the year it was, but there was a movie called uh Blackboard Jungle, uh, with Sidney Portier in it. And that was the first movie to ever have rock and roll music and ever have like teen music movie. Yeah, and rock around the clock was was the song, the main song for that. Yeah, yeah, which is like you know, Bill Haley, right? Really 50s, you know. Yeah, yeah. And and so that's part of why when we talked about Back to the Future, they wanted to focus on 1955 because that was when the teens started to rule, you know.

Dylan 23:10

Yeah, oh yeah. Oh, it all ties together. Oh yeah, it does.

Joe 23:16

So yeah, so with that, with that the music for this movie, it was very just um just very orchestral and very, you know, because it did the they were pushing the boundaries as it was, let alone having like, oh no, rock and roll music.

Dylan 23:34

Totally that makes sense though. Yeah, they're like we can't be known for the music, right?

Joe 23:40

Yeah, we don't even know if it's gonna last, right?

Dylan 23:45

I mean, because I'm sure even just putting all the work into this movie was a big risk, anyways. Oh yeah. Um, what studio did this?

Griffith Observatory And Film Trivia

Joe 23:57

Um those Warner Brothers, um, which is an amazing lot to be on if you ever get a chance, which hopefully if we go to California, we can. Um yeah, and the thing about it was the reason why I love that move, the this movie as well, um, just for it's another one of those movies that's filmed in your backyard. Yeah, and and so it's like the observatory. They um the movie won an award from the observatory for being like for for showing the observatory for what it was, yeah. Yeah, because a lot of other movies or TV shows or whatever would use it as like a you know a futuristic set of something, or oh really, yeah, and so this was like the first, you know, they they're like this is this is the Griffith Observatory, this is you know, yeah, and it showed so much of it, yeah.

Dylan 24:58

Right. This has a legacy in of itself, yeah, yeah.

Joe 25:01

Yeah, there's actually a bust of James Dean uh in the in the lawn. Like oh really, so that last scene, if you're looking at the building, uh-huh, it's like to the right, looking over yeah, LA.

Dylan 25:15

All right. So talking about like the filmmaking and stuff too, yeah, like at the Griffin Observatory, uh-huh, um, the Griffith Observatory. Yeah. Um, so the very last scene that you were just talking about, uh-huh, the you made a comment about the guy walking up.

Joe 25:36

Yeah, yeah. So the guy, the last person in the scene who's walking into work, basically, right, is Nicholas Ray, the director. That's so funny.

Dylan 25:46

Yeah. Just he's like, what's happening? Right, exactly.

Joe 25:49

Yeah, he played it so well. Like, I didn't even know. Right.

Dylan 25:54

He's gonna be so upset when he gets up there and finds out they smash out the window.

Joe 25:58

Yeah, yeah. And they played with his his uh I don't even know what it's called. Planetarium, yeah.

Dylan 26:06

The projector thingy.

Joe 26:08

Yeah. At least we have one of those in Montana. That's true. Yeah, this show is not sponsored by Museum of the Rockies. But go. But go there, it's pretty great. But before you do, catch our Jurassic Park episode.

Dylan 26:29

We kind of so we kind of touched on how Nicholas Ray was the one who like started writing this movie.

Real Headlines And Cut Violent Scenes

Joe 26:38

Yeah.

Dylan 26:38

So like what was his inspiration for that? Like, what was his I was gonna say what was his need for writing it, but yeah, you get what I'm saying, though.

Joe 26:49

They took from a lot of actual headlines from uh newspaper headlines and things like that. Really? And he um I think there was a book that was out, and um it was kind of inspired by it, but they ended up doing their own thing. But looking at the headlines, they saw a lot of they did see lower class, but they started to look more and saw started to see more middle class kids and upper class kids who were getting into trouble. Yeah. And like if you see, if you notice Platoh, I mean his dad's a you know, like basically from all the stories, he's kind of like the Joker where he has multiple, you know, right, but his dad, you know, is is kind of a uh stock trader or whatever in New York, and right uh and so yeah, I mean, basically the mom's I was gonna say rich enough for mom to always be yeah, not home. Right, right. And so he's on his own. Really nice house.

Dylan 27:54

Yeah.

Joe 27:54

Same thing with the Starks, like they're you know, they they look pretty well, you know. Right. So all they wanted to go from more that angle of here's what's actually happening. The crazy thing is they I think they shot these these sequences, but they cut them because it was too violent. But like there is they cut something from this movie for being too violent, yeah. Really? Yeah, there was um a couple of kids who were who lit a guy on fire. Oh yeah. Uh um they showed two kids like doing a blind run in a tunnel, and then the other one doing a uh oh, a blind run in a tunnel. So basically the chicky run is you know what they call it. What a chicken run actually was was you have two cars at each end of a tunnel, and apparently if you if you don't move or if you move out of the way of the other car, you're a chicken, but it's done in a tunnel, so it's very limited on what you can do. So these yeah, and then they have this whole like the gangs have a pot on who's gonna win and who's not, and so whoever whoever wins the chicken run gets some of the pot of the money, and the other person just stops existing, yeah. Pretty much, yeah. This was a thing.

Dylan 29:23

I mean, like, dude, we were we were watching the movie, uh-huh, and I'm like, they were talking about like the chicken run, and I'm like, I don't know what that is, right? Like, yeah, I'm like, I don't know, yeah. And so then, like, yeah, they get to like the cliff, and I'm like, this is not happening. I'm like, this is not, yep, yep, it is happening.

Joe 29:48

Well, Jim Stark didn't even know what it was, but he played it off, you know. Yeah, I do it all the time back home. Um so yeah, that was that was some of the things that were gonna be at the beginning of the movie. One of the things that they use the back end of is uh there's a there's a a dad coming home with gifts for his kids, and he gets mugged, and um from that mugging uh he drops these toys on the ground. And so at the beginning of the movie, yeah, James Dean was like, How about I go and I play with this this monkey and we'll see how it is. And and so he was they actually gave him a lot of license to do stuff like that. We're like, hey, let's try this scene or whatever. So he they kind of do a back end of the whole movie because at the at the beginning he he sees the little monkey and tucks him in. Yeah, and then at the end it ends up being uh Plato who gets tucked in, you know. Yeah, so there's just a lot of things like that.

Symbolism And The Red Jacket

Dylan 31:01

Um like a big a big thing too was like the red jacket.

Joe 31:10

Yeah. Yeah, it's funny because a lot of the times there's even some misprinted um, I would say misprinted posters of Rebel Without a Cause with him in a leather jacket.

Dylan 31:22

Really?

Joe 31:23

And a lot of people depict him with a leather jacket, but if you watch the movie, it's a red jacket. Right. So it's like, yeah, there's just all the symbolism, like even with um Buzz and him, like Buzz has the black jacket, he has the red jacket, right? You know, um, just things like that. It's like colors.

Dylan 31:43

Right. Colors definitely go to symbolize a bunch of things, yeah. Yeah.

Joe 31:49

Um yeah, this movie was filmed uh three weeks in in black and white. And really, yeah, and they decided they thought it was gonna be you know a hit.

Dylan 32:05

Yeah.

Joe 32:06

And they also started in CinemaScope, but they found out that Cinema Scope has a clause in their contract that it needs to be in color. And so really, yeah, so they had to go back and essentially refilm the first three weeks, which was all the observatory scene that they you know filmed there.

Dylan 32:28

Um I mean, I guess at least they it was only three weeks.

Joe 32:33

Yeah, yeah.

Dylan 32:34

Not anything more, right?

Joe 32:36

So it was yeah, it was pretty much them coming in, uh doing

Real Gang Advisor And Knife Fight Stories

Joe 32:40

the knife fight, all that kind of stuff. So and the last I think the last scene wasn't filmed till later. Like they went to the city. Oh really?

Dylan 32:49

Okay.

Joe 32:49

One of the crazy things is in the cast was a guy named Frank Mazzola. Okay. Um, and he played um, I think his name was Crunch. Uh so let's see. Yeah, his name was Crunch. So he was kind of the Buzz's right-hand man, and then Crunch takes over when Buzz uh, you know, dies. Um so Frank Mazzola was actually a gang member uh um of a Hollywood gang called the Athenians. Oh really? Hollywood high schools, their uh mascot was Athenians, and so they they made this like club, which it was more of a gang.

Dylan 33:35

Um as one does.

Joe 33:37

As one does, right? How do we turn into a gang, guys? No question, to just keep going. Yeah. So um, so he was part of that. So he looked through the script, and um he was like, So you think it was cheesy then? He was like, no kid, you know, in a gang would ever say this or do this or whatever. So yeah, yeah. And so uh Nicholas Ray was How do you know you're out of touch with the youth of today? Right, 70 years ago, yeah, yeah. Gosh darn it. Um Dad Barnett. Um so Hollywood was a turf, and so um he was like, you know, kids are gonna actually do this and they're not gonna do that. So yeah, Nicholas Ray was like, Do you want to be our, you know, um, you know, our advisor on this movie? And so he was like, sure. And so he got to be in the cast and be the advisor, and they gave him an office on the you know on the back lot next to his, and he just went through the whole script and just wrote notes and said, change this, change that. Wow. So it's pretty authentic for the time, yeah, but it's still 1955, so it's like it's just on the on the cusp. On the cusp, because they there's the whole ratings board and all that that they had to go through. Um so he thought it it was phony. He he changed the cars, like he was like, no, the these kids would drive these kind of cars and they would they would steal them, they wouldn't just use their own kind of thing, you know. Um and so uh he was like, the gangs aren't gonna fight like this. And the director was like, Okay, well prove it. Show me show me what it's like to be in a gang. Oh yeah.

Dylan 35:37

So the director won it in.

Joe 35:39

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So he so Nicholas Ray and James Dean ended up going to their like you know, clubhouse, like and and they showed them what um a gang ritual would be like, and they showed them like you know, if they were gonna get ready to rumble, like how they would start off and what they would do, and chains and knives and put all that together and and you know, like load up to go fight. Wow. And so from then on, James Dean started to hang out with the Athenians for the for the movie to get a better sense of you know who who he was gonna be in the movie and who he was gonna need to be like, and um, and then the Buzz actor as well did did the same thing so he can get a better uh feel. Um the funny thing is that Buzz Buzz and Crunch didn't actually get along in real life. Oh, really? Yeah, he was really there was a point where like basically Frank Mazzola was gonna beat him up. Oh really? He's like, I don't care about the movie, I don't care about this or that. If he gets in my face one more time, he's down, yeah. So it was it was pretty interesting because I mean that's what you get when you hire a real gang member, right? Uh the biggest thing too was they uh he choreographed the knife fight, and so he had actually you know fought somebody and so he he remembered the fight that he had with with the most recent person and just used that as the choreography. Wow, and so the um both actors wore kind of a plate underneath all their uh their uh shirts and stuff, so that if they did get um caught caught, then then it would block from actually hurting. But there were there was one moment where uh Buzz kind of went in too far and actually stabbed James Dean.

Dylan 37:50

Oh yeah.

Joe 37:50

And um Nick Ray stopped the the movie to make sure that he was okay. Wow, and he said cut, and James Dean was like, Don't ever cut on me, you know. Like, and he's he like got so mad because he was so intense in that that thing that he stormed off and and didn't come back for a couple of hours to see. Yeah. So it was pretty crazy. Um behind the scenes stuff.

Favorite Scenes And How Effects Worked

Dylan 38:16

All right, so what would some of your favorite scenes be out of this?

Joe 38:21

Man, observatory. Um one of the stories was Nick Ray and James Dean were messing around making animal noises, and so that's where the mmm came from in the planetary, yeah. So they they wrote that in. Um, the other one for me is just the most iconic one is the is the drag race, is the chicken run. Yeah, that chicken run. Yeah, that's probably what comes to mind when I think of it.

Dylan 38:52

Yeah, yeah. Um, that's kind of what I was thinking for one of my favorites, too, is just the the chicken run and the just the you know high stakes of it all. Yeah. Like were were they fully planning on like just shooting the cars off the cliff?

Joe 39:12

Well, so yeah, that was another article that they had seen in the paper, and so they were like, you know, let's recreate that. But they actually had like the cliff. So how did they um they did the um I think rotoscope maybe, but they the the angle that we're that they're at, they're basically go going over a little hill when they go off. Right. And then um then when they're at the cliff, there there's a blue screen in front of them. Gotcha. And so they just matted everything in. Right, yeah.

Dylan 39:51

Obviously, they want to just throw cars off angle. Right. That would be cool though.

Joe 39:55

I mean, it is the 50s.

Dylan 39:57

Yeah, yeah. One that really sticks out to me is like the final observatory scene.

Joe 40:05

Yeah.

Dylan 40:06

Just oh, it's so heartbreaking.

Joe 40:09

Yeah. The the crazy thing about that is originally they had them both get shot.

Dylan 40:17

Really?

Joe 40:18

Yeah, like Plato runs out and gets shot, and then he runs after him and gets shot.

Dylan 40:23

Wow.

Joe 40:23

And it's just like, uh, so they said that was too much of a a downer. Yeah.

Dylan 40:30

Yeah. I mean, yeah. That would totally be.

Joe 40:36

Yeah. And you feel bad for Plato because he really just, you know, he goes through this whole emotional thing where he just essentially loses it.

Dylan 40:44

I was gonna say he definitely had a psychotic break there.

Joe 40:47

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it was like he, you know, he thought he finally found his his family. Yeah, and he did, but they thought he was abandoned and you know, like, because he's had his dad and his mom abandon him, and so then once they leave, or thinks they left, he just goes nuts. Right.

Dylan 41:10

So it was such an interesting take to that Jim like essentially got the gun from Play-Doh, yeah, and then got the bullets out of it.

Joe 41:26

Yeah.

Dylan 41:27

Um, but like I made the comment like while we were watching it. I was like, even if you take, you know, the magazine out of it, yeah, then it's still has one in the chamber. Yeah. And so I thought that you know, when he gave it back to Plato, that Plato was gonna go out there and like pretty much accidentally shoot. Yeah. And then that's how he got shot. Yeah.

Joe 41:55

Yeah, that probably would have I think Judy would have gotten shot too. Right. Because it would have just erupted into because it was like Ray was trying to control those guys, but he really didn't have, you know, it's like, oh I mean, and I know that Ray was kind of the one communicating with the boys, but like, was he in any sort of position of power there?

Dylan 42:20

Like, I really didn't pick up on that.

Joe 42:23

Yeah, I think other than detective, yeah, yeah, which I think ranks higher than uh just regular beat cops or whatever.

Dylan 42:32

Yeah. Um, so I I wasn't sure like on that aspect, but um yeah, just and then the dad coming over thinking that it was his son that got shot.

Joe 42:50

Yeah, I think that's really when he he changed because he was like, I you know, he thought he lost his son, and I'm sure he his mind just went to the why didn't I, why didn't I, you know, yeah, and when he found, you know, realized it wasn't, he was like, Oh, I get a second chance.

Dylan 43:08

Right, and totally uh totally seemed to pivot there and like actually kind of stand up for himself more.

Joe 43:19

Yeah, and then when he introduces Judy and everything, and and uh the it's you know, they're both standing there, she starts to pipe up, he's like yeah.

Dylan 43:35

Anything else there?

Joe 43:38

Um I think one of the cool parts is that it's like a subtle thing, but when um Buzz is messing with his tire, and then he he's like, I don't do it, you know? And he he's he's been in these situations, and you know because like they've moved and all this stuff, and then he slashes. the tire like he he goes down like the flat tire does and then when he when it actually deflates he deflates he kind of lets out a a breath you know like I'm gonna have to deal with this you know right like yeah he totally could have probably you know at least tried to take to take Buzz out with that tire iron right and then he just chucks it over the cliff instead yeah when he did that I was like ooh you're gonna need that right yeah yeah and the sad part too is like when they do the chicky run and him and Buzz go to the edge like they become friends and yeah yeah right because he's like he's like well why do we do this? Well we gotta do something you know and you just see feel that like wow they they could be you know they could be really good friends and and the other gang wasn't a you know part part of that conversation so they didn't know like they

Cultural Impact And Teen Perspective

Joe 45:04

just thought they were just trying to bring him down or whatever you know yeah and and it's just like so with him with with Jim it's like he he's wondering like why why are they going after me and like you know like there's just all this stuff in his mind and yeah and the hard part too about that too is that he's trying to do the right thing you know he goes to the police station and he tries to get their attention and they're just blowing him off because he's just a kid and yeah you know you know uh how old are you you know my parents know I'm here right so yeah they just think he's out causing trouble and yeah so what kind of cultural impact did this movie have? There's a lot I mean just with James Dean in general with like racing and you know driving fast and dying young and um you know the I remember there was a video called uh I think it was called Rush Rush from Paul Abdul and they totally redid the like redid that movie. Oh really yeah and it was actually with Keanu Reeves he played the the gym part oh yeah yeah um and so she's you know Judy and they do the whole race and everything and yeah um but yeah there's just a lot of different um just tributes whether it's cartoons or you know any of that stuff and that you know with the movies that just you know catapulted James Dean as a just an icon with people like Elvis and uh Marilyn Monroe and just you know so but uh the the you know there's there's subtle hints we haven't gotten to Back to Future two and three but there's subtle hints at it later on so the only other thing too is that this was you know again one of the first teen movies that focused on teens yeah and Nicholas's point of view Nicholas Ray's point of view like other screenwriters had different ideas and he was like no I want to keep it this way but just that it's a teen movie from the perspective of teenagers yeah and not of just the adults yeah so the the whole movie is just teen teenage perspective for teenagers about teenagers and where the perspective of the parents is even from them. And so that shot or the that scene where James Dean is asking his father to step up for him in the living room um that was directed by James Dean. And oh really yeah and he he had this vision of like having the mom on the high side of the stairs him in the middle and his dad at the very bottom you know and just kind of deflated and defeated and and then you see this like when it gets to showing her it's kind of like this weird camera angle yeah from like the dad's perspective. So just kind of cool you know artsy symbolic stuff you know so yeah that's definitely a unique take on that yeah it's just definitely getting their perspective the whole time and and that feeling of like I'm trying to like I'm trying to talk to them but they don't have the right answers or they don't know what to say or and like the only person he can go to is a cop.

Dylan 48:57

Right the movie is titled Rebel Without a cause so is is Jim Stark our our rebel or I mean he because he just seems like a kid needing guidance. Right. He just he doesn't get it from his family and he he tries.

Joe 49:18

Right originally the the movie was going to be called blind run off of the chicky run and everything but they started to see the the filming of it and things and and they thought about this is the these are rebels without a cause and so they ended up calling it just rebel without a cause gotcha and it I think in the in the scheme of things it's just kind of I think it applies to everybody in the the movie the kids you know because Judy um is trying to figure things

Who The Rebel Is And Final Ratings

Joe 49:52

out and acting out Plato has this just terrible family life and trying to figure things out and trying to latch on to anybody he can you know he he knew he he met you know this whole movie goes in a 24 hour period. Right. And so Plato meets him in the morning and by by night you know he's like oh he's my best friend and yeah you know people call him Jamie Jamie yeah so it you know Buzz and and Crunch and all of them they they're all rebels without a cause you know um so yeah because we were sitting there watching the movie and I was like so which one is supposed to be the rebel rebel yeah yeah yeah yeah it's the dad it's the dad it is so the dad yeah what's crazy though is is that um Nicholas Ray had a similar upbringing with his parents oh yeah and so he wrote in things that they did and he said he that his dad actually did that once is where the apron while he was serving his mom and and things funny he just felt like kind of the same way Jim does is like why are you wearing that and then you know so after finally seeing Rebel without a cuffs does the movie live up to its reputation or whatever reputation you thought it had I mean I feel like we kind of talked over its reputation yeah you know yeah so it's like going off of that like it definitely does um carry its reputation yeah and honestly I probably after sitting here like talking about it yeah I probably rate it higher than I would just watch the movie.

Dylan 51:51

Yeah um because like sitting there watching the movie um or even like right after I'm like it's such a I felt like it was such like a a so so movie yeah and I'm like man I'd probably I'd probably only rate it a five. Oh wow and like I would not be in any sort of rush to go watch it again.

Joe 52:18

Yeah but then like you know after sitting here and talking about it and like yeah working through it pretty much um you know little therapy session um yeah I would probably I'd probably give it a seven yeah yeah it I mean it definitely moved it up yeah um I still wouldn't be in any rush to go re-watch it but I definitely would rewatch it yeah and like see what of that stuff like I can pick out of it and see yeah yeah that yeah it it's kind of strikes you that way at first and I would say like I'm at a 7.5 maybe yeah and the more I watch it the more details there are and the more I pick up and see and I think for me the fact that it was made in 1955 and had you know it was pushing the envelope of rebellion and kids and you know just I mean he walked on the school insignia I kind of laughed at that scene because I'm like he it it's it's on the floor.

Dylan 53:38

Right like it's not like it was you know on a decade rock or something.

Joe 53:44

Right yeah but yeah it it pointed to him being new because uh we had the same thing at our high school yeah yeah a school insignia on on the like in front of the gym or something and if you stepped on it it was like slander yeah how could you well why'd you put on the floor right

Wrap Up And Chicken Run Question

Joe 54:08

so thanks for listening to have you seen the movie podcast make sure to follow the show on your favorite podcast app and if you're enjoying it leave us a five star rating it really helps us grow.

Dylan 54:20

And we want to hear from you text us your name and a movie suggestion using the link in the description.

Joe 54:26

You can follow all our socials in the description as well everything you need is right there.

Dylan 54:31

We'll be back next week with another movie premiere so Dylan would you have survived the chicken run?

Joe 54:40

Oh I wouldn't have done it to begin with I I think I'm in a I'm still in in the shape uh that I would easily roll out round is the shape