Rebel Without a Cause is the classic depiction of young people coming of age in postwar America. Filmed by director Nicholas Ray in bright primary colors, the movie highlights the passion and confusion of youth seeking autonomy and meaningful relationships. By focusing on three troubled teenagers, the film also exposes basic changes occurring within America’s middle-class families.

Set in southern California, the film opens with a closeup of an inebriated, but well-dressed teenager, Jim Stark (played by James Dean) fooling around with a toy monkey. Arrested for “plain drunkenness,” Jim observes other delinquents in the stationhouse, including the red-lipsticked Judy (played by Natalie Wood), who has been charged with curfew violation, and John “Plato” Crawford (played by Sal Mineo) who has killed a litter of puppies.

Plain-clothed police youth expert, Ray, interviews each, counseling rather than threatening them to resolve their problems. It is obvious that their troubles begin in their middle-class suburban families. Judy’s father is unloving. Plato’s parents are divorced, and he is being raised by an African American housekeeper. Jim’s parents quarrel constantly. “They’re tearing me apart,” he shrieks in frustration.

The movie shifts to Jim’s first day in high school, where he sees Plato and Judy with a gang. Students go on a field trip to the Planetarium, paying little attention to the science lecture as the teacher predicts the world will end with a vast explosion (echoing 1950s fears of a world-shattering atomic blast).

During the lecture, Jim’s rowdiness annoys Buzz, the gang leader, who challenges him to a knife fight outside. Jim is wounded, but undaunted. He accepts a second challenge to compete in a “chickie run” that night. Only afterward does he learn what he has agreed to do: race a stolen car toward a cliff, jumping out just before the vehicle flies over the edge.

Jim returns home to find his father in a frilly apron gathering spilled food from the floor. “I'd better clean it up before she sees it," Mr. Stark says, showing his fear of Jim’s mother. When Jim asks his father for advice about his impending challenge, Mr. Stark is evasive. Exasperated by this weakness, Jim leaves home for the chickie run. Meanwhile, Judy’s family shows no sympathy for her emotional turmoil. Judy, too, flees into the night.

The ensuing chickie run/ shifts the focus of the movie. Buzz accidentally drives over the edge. Jim survives, but is burdened by guilt. Judy is distraught. Plato, emotionally isolated, yearns for friendship. None of them expects help from their families.

When Jim tells his parents of the accident, they urge him not to confess his role. “You can’t be idealistic all your life,” says Mr. Stark. But that is exactly what Jim most desires: honesty, sincerity, commitment. Jim rushes to inform the police. Ironically, he finds that the authorities are totally unresponsive.

Jim and Judy meet outside, discover a budding love, and decide to hang out at a deserted mansion. Buzz’s gang attacks Plato, who arms himself with a gun and heads for the mansion to warn Jim. As the youths converge on this make-believe “home,” the adults in all three families appeal to the police for assistance. The gang members reach the mansion first, leading Plato to fire his pistol.

As police cars surround the mansion, Jim disarms Plato and convinces him to surrender. But when Plato shows his unloaded weapon, the police shoot and kill him. As Jim mourns the needless death, his father vows, “I'll stand up with you. I'll try and be as strong as you want me to be.” Mrs. Stark looks on approvingly, showing the family reconciliation.

For Plato, child of a broken family, it is too late. “This poor baby got nobody,” says his grieving housekeeper. As dawn breaks, the survivors face the future with cautious optimism.

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