FAQ

Jim "Jimbo" Stark (James Dean), a rebelious teenager with a troubled past, finds a "family" with fellow teens Judy (Natalie Wood) and Plato Crawford (Sal Mineo) after he wins a "chickie run" that results in his opponent into driving off a cliff. The three of them hide in an old abandoned mansion until the law catches up with them.

The title for this movie was taken from psychiatrist Robert Lindner's 1944 book, Rebel Without A Cause: The Hypnoanalysis of a Criminal Psychopath but has no other relationship to the book. The screenplay for Rebel Without a Cause was written by Irving Shulman, Stewart Stern, and Nicholas Ray (who also directed this film).

Jim was in custody for underage drinking, Judy was picked up for wandering the streets at 1 AM, and Plato was brought in for shooting some puppies.

The Ride of the Valkyries from Die Walküre, an opera by German composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883).

There's been no definitive answer from the film makers, so the best guess is that the original release date was set for 1956 but the actual release date (27 October, 1955) was speeded up to capitalize on James Dean's tragic death.

Jim and Buzz (Corey Allen) were driving stolen cars. After both cars went over the cliff, Jim drove home in his own car.

As the cops line up their cars outside of the Planetarium, Jim talks Plato into giving him the gun, from which he secretly removes the bullets. Jim hands the gun back to Plato, and they head for the front door where Judy is waiting. As they are about to walk out together, Plato complains about the headlights being too bright. Jim asks the police to dim their headlights. Plato notices all the people standing around the squad cars and won't come out. Jim calls out for the people to step back, but the police respond by turning on their headlights again. Plato panics and rushes out the door. Jim tries to stop him, but the police see that Plato is carrying a gun and shoot him first. Because Plato is still wearing Jim's red jacket, Jim's father (Jim Backus) thinks that it's Jim who's been shot and rushes forward. Jim crawls over to Plato's lifeless body and starts to sob when he notices that Plato is wearing one red sock and one blue sock. He then turns to his father and buries his face in Frank's pantlegs. Frank helps Jim stand up, while he promises that he will try to be stronger from now on. The police move Plato's body onto a stretcher, and the Crawford maid (Marietta Canty) cries over him. "Poor baby got nobody", she says. Jim zips up the red jacket, while Judy puts Plato's shoe back on. Frank places his own jacket over this son's shoulders, and Jim places him arm around Judy. This is Judy, my friend, he says, introducing her to his parents. Mrs Stark (Ann Doran) starts to say something, but Frank's stern look shuts her up. In the final scene, everyone gets into their cars and drives off.

Dean was killed in a head-on collision while driving his Porsche 550 Spyder on what was then U.S. Route 466 (now State Route 46) near Cholame, California on the afternoon of September 30, 1955, one month before the release of Rebel Without a Cause.