A Teenage Terror Reconsidered: Changing Attitudes towards the 1955 Movie Rebel Without a Cause

• In Event: 378 - Open Refereed Roundtable Session II
  In Refereed Roundtable: B. Table 03. Cultural Sociology II

Abstract

The 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause is generally recognized as a landmark film. The American Film Institute named it as one of the top 100 American films of all time in 1998 and it is also credited with introducing the concept of the teen film. However, the film was not very well received when it debuted in late October, 1955. In particular, reviewers criticized the film for its lack of psychological and sociological realism. The prevailing attitudes towards the film, however, started to change after the film’s first month of release. As evinced by reviews, editorials, and other articles pertaining to the film and James Dean, there was a much greater recognition of the film’s positive attributes.

In order to understand the shift and its cultural implications, I provide a brief description of the movie’s origins and a short summary of the movie. I examine the initial reviews of the film and contrast them with later reviews and commentaries. I argue that the reasons for the shift can be attributed to the film’s commercial success in its first month of release, the early public embrace of James Dean’s performance, and the contradictions embedded within the film. I conclude the paper by discussing the film’s ultimate historical significance for the “Silent Generation” – specifically American youth aged ten to eighteen when the film debuted in 1955.

Author

• Evan Cooper, State University of New York-Farmingdale