MovieChat Forums > Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Discussion > The best 50's comedy. Good but over-glor...

The best 50's comedy. Good but over-glorified.

posted 8 years ago by Der_Blaue_Reiter
8 replies | jump to latest

I must reckon that Rebel without a Cause it's the best 50's comedy and reading all the comments of all the fans trying to justify everything makes it even funnier.I enjoyed the movie by the way but it's by no means a masterpiece or showcase for good acting skills.

1-The characters seem to have the moral compass of a potato and just have random actions.

2- James Dean looks way too old to pass as a 17 years old high school pupil. He looks like early 30's although he was 23/24 at the time.No wonder Plato sees Jim as a father figure.

3- We're just going to slash your tires you know we're real thugs and then challenge you to a cheesy switchblade duel because .... hum because... we don't like you random guy for almost no reason and you're just new here so we're going to try to inflict you potential fatal injuries because we're thugs, real thugs.

4-Chicken is an unbearable insult. You slashed my tires and you're trying to stab me that's fine but no one calls me a chicken, how dare you . I can stand everything but no one dares to call me a chicken. No !That's highly offensive and makes my blood boil.

5- I just learned that honor is accepting a suicide challenge against a dude that talked to you for 3 minutes.

6- Buzz got himself the Darwin Award and most important he was no chicken.

7- Ah that mourning period that lasted about 2 minutes. That was amazing " My boyfriend, the person that I love and shared the most intimate moments in my life , just died in a silly (yet spectacular) fashion right in front of me but life goes on. That's not traumatizing at all I just need 2 minutes to get over it and find another partner "

8-"I really possess a great moral fortitude and I want to confess my involvement in that suicidal race but that cop just ignored me for a whole minute so I will call it a day and try to bang that ex-girlfriend of the guy that just died"

9-Oh no that bright lights they are so disturbing! Do you mind switching them off and obscure your view of that dangerous teen yielding a gun?" Sure buddy!!"

10-"I'm a genius I'm going to remove the bullets from the gun of this menacing pal but not telling anyone I hope that the cops don't seem him as a threat anymore while is brandishing his pistol"

[–] LordInsect 8 years ago

It's a great film, but honestly, if not for James Dean, it wouldn't be regarded as the classic it is today.

Overall it's a big time capsule to the 50s and you have to take it as such, cookie cutter characters, some hokey acting (the gang in particular), greasers, "CHICKEN" and all. It borders on being a teen exploitation film, but it's also a genius drama. It's a peculiar film, completely one of a kind and by no means perfect, but I wouldn't really call it a comedy. Your points are all totally valid though.

"Ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?"

[–] yusef-ghanima 7 years ago

clearly you are a post modernist because you contradict yourself without shame

[–] yusef-ghanima 7 years ago

1 the characters are teenagers, after 10 years you'll realize that's how they are, though some keep that way at least until 40 yrs
2 it's a university not high school, and people don't always look their age
3 buss was jealous because his girl was interested in jim
4 mid americans were polite in the 1950s
5 back to no 1 and 3
6 his arm was stuck in the door
7 back to no 1 and she was a traumatized girl by her father
8 back to 1, and he only trusted one policeman who wasn't in the station
9 back to 1 and he was traumatized by his parents
10 back to 1, he had to balance the boy's faith in him and his faith in one policeman that was on the scene

maybe next time you need to watch a movie before commenting

[–] skipper (305) 7 years ago

They went to Dawson High School. The address of the school was University and Tenth.

[–] BourbonKing (5612) 6 years ago

The movie made headway for the teen angst genre that Hollywood wasn't able to crack until this movie came out. Young Adult dramas were for the most part about youth becoming adults and settling down (ie - boys becoming men, falling in love, then starting a family...same with the women). "Rebel without a Cause" speaks to the anxiety of youth in post-modern America after the its rise as a world super power. Unlike today where youth seems to have regressed and everyone has less sense for the future, the 1950s was an era of great economic, military, and social growth never experience before in American history. Institutions like public and private education had expanded and were accessible to a broader spectrum of youth, the American industrial economy was leading the world, and US Military was at its apex as it was countering the Soviet Union's expansionist policies.

I'm not from that era but as a film student I got to read up on how social issues have influenced the entertainment industry over the years. Most of the talking points you illustrate are not what's wrong with the movie, but they do highlight touching points that youth could identify with, no matter how silly it appears to you or anyone else.

[–] TheArgentinian (6423) 3 years ago

Yeah, it's stupid and it hasn't aged well but people like Jim will always be timeless.

[–] Heisenberg (6277) 3 years ago

Movies looked like cartoons compared to modern ones.
I think real people were also more naive and childish.

[–] liscarkat (16476) 2 years ago

Movies of that time actually looked better than modern ones.
In the 1950s, young people were more mature and better educated than they are today.