Rebel Without a Cause: Approaches to a Maverick Masterwork (SUNY series, Horizons of Cinema)

Five decades after the production and initial release of Rebel Without a Cause, this book examines both the complicated historical moment in which the film was made as well as its continuing and pervasive influence on film today. The contributors track how the film continues to speak to diverse audiences as a touchstone for imagined anxieties over adolescence and coming-of-age, traditional values of family and community, threats from abroad, and the provocations of mass or consumer society. Although the specific sources and motivations for rebellion have shifted, what has persisted is the film's singular power to represent rebellion in what could otherwise be seen as the everyday, and to move viewers to ponder its causes. Rebel Without a Cause......Page 2 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Introduction: Rebel Without a Cause, Fifty Years Later J. DAVID SLOCUM......Page 14 1. Story into Script NICHOLAS RAY......Page 38 2. Stark Performance MURRAY POMERANCE......Page 48 3. “You want a good crack in the mouth?” Rebel Without a Cause, Violence, and the Cinema of Nicholas Ray SUSAN WHITE......Page 66 4. Growing Up Male in Jim’s Mom’s World JON LEWIS......Page 102 5. Nicholas Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause GEORGE M. WILSON......Page 122 6. Jim Stark’s “Barbaric Yawp”: Rebel Without a Cause and the Cold War Crisis in Masculinity JOHN MITCHELL......Page 144 7. “Armageddon Without a Cause”: Playing “Chicken” in the Atomic Age MICK BRODERICK......Page 162 8. Youth, Moral Panics, and the End of Cinema: On the Reception of Rebel Without a Cause in Europe DANIEL BILTEREYST......Page 184 9. Rebellion and Citizenship: Hannah Arendt, Jim Stark, and American Public Life in the 1950s ELENA LOIZIDOU......Page 204 10. Youth Cinema and the Culture of Rebellion: Heathers and the Rebel Archetype JAMES C. McKELLY......Page 222 11. The Stark Screen Teen: Echoes of James Dean in Recent Young Rebel Roles TIMOTHY SHARY......Page 230 12. In the Shadow of Rebel Without a Cause: The Postcolonial Rebel CLAUDIA SPRINGER......Page 242 Cast and Production Credits......Page 266 Selected Bibliography......Page 270 Contributors......Page 272 B......Page 276 C......Page 277 E......Page 278 G......Page 279 J......Page 280 M......Page 281 N......Page 282 R......Page 283 S......Page 284 U......Page 285 Z......Page 286 Introduction: Rebel Without A Cause, Fifty Years Later / J. David Slocum -- Story Into Script / Nicholas Ray -- Stark Performance / Murray Pomerance -- You Want A Good Crack In The Mouth?: Rebel Without A Cause, Violence, And The Cinema Of Nicholas Ray / Susan White -- Growing Up Male In Jim's Mom's World / Jon Lewis -- Nicholas Ray's Rebel Without A Cause / George M. Wilson -- Jim Stark's Barbaric Yawp: Rebel Without A Cause And The Cold War Crisis In Masculinity / Jon Mitchell -- Armageddon Without A Cause: Playing Chicken In The Atomic Age / Mick Broderick -- Youth, Moral Panics, And The End Of Cinema: On The Reception Of Rebel Without A Cause In Europe / Daniel Biltereyst -- Rebellion And Citizenship: Hannah Arendt, Jim Stark, And American Public Life In The 1950s / Elena Loizidou -- Youth Cinema And The Culture Of Rebellion: Heathers And The Rebel Archetype / James C. Mckelly -- Stark Screen Teen: Echoes Of James Dean In Recent Young Rebel Roles / Timothy Shary -- In The Shadow Of Rebel Without A Cause: The Postcolonial Rebel / Claudia Springer. J. David Slocum, Editor. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 257-258) And Index. Five decades after the production and initial release of 'Rebel Without a Cause', this text examines both the complicated historical moment in which the film was made as well as its continuing and pervasive influence on film today Assesses the layered meanings and persistent global legacy of an American film classic.