A few thoughts on Rebel Without A Cause

Dan & I went to see TCM/Fathom Events’ presentation Rebel Without a Cause on Sunday.  I’ve seen it several times, starting in 1990, this was Dan’s first.

Rebel Without A Cause has become somewhat legendary over the decades, partly owing to the premature deaths of its three lead actors – particularly James Dean.  It tells the story of disaffected youths in Southern California during the mid-1950s, a time that was idealized by some as a golden age.  But the societal issues which would come to fruition during the 1960s are seen gestating here.  The MPAA ratings board didn’t exist in 1955, but Rebel has retroactively been given an PG-13 rating – which speaks to some of the issues it raises. 

Screen captures courtesy of movie-screencaps.com

 SPOILERS

Jim Stark (Dean) is the new kid at Dawson High School.  He’s already had several run-ins with the law, including a drunk and disorderly booking at the film’s beginning – a scene where the audience also encounters Judy (Natalie Wood) and Plato (Sal Mineo).   On his first day at his new school, Jim learns that Judy is his neighbor.  Things go awry that day during a field trip to Griffith Observatory, and he’s triggered into a knife fight with the school delinquents: Buzz (Corey Allen) and his gang, the Wheels.  Jim prevails in the knife fight and is challenged to a “chickie run” that night.  Buzz is killed in the ensuing race and Jim struggles with the moral dilemma over whether to go to the police and admit his role in the incident.  Jim’s parents, more interested in climbing socially than providing an example to follow, advise Jim to avoid getting involved.  Plato, whom Jim has befriended, is briefly captured by the Wheels, who learn Jim’s location and try to stop him from telling the police.  Plato steals a gun from his home, where his mother is away on vacation with only the family maid watching over him, and rushes away to warn Jim.  Jim and Judy take refuge in an abandoned mansion with Plato.  But when the Wheels track them down, Plato suffers a mental breakdown, shooting and wounding one of the Wheels, and runs away to hide in the nearby observatory.  Jim and Judy follow, where Jim comforts Plato and discreetly removes the ammunition from Plato’s gun.  Jim brings Plato outside, but Plato becomes frightened by the police, brandishing his gun.  The police, unaware Jim has removed the bullets, shoot and (it’s implied) kill Plato.

Jim & Judy

James Dean was, of course, a spectacularly talented young actor, and his death shortly before the film’s release was its primary box office draw.  But his training at the Actor’s Studio and his personal dynamism place him at odds with the older cast members.  This is particularly obvious in scenes with his parents, where Dean’s improvisation leaves the other actors fumbling around trying to keep up.  In other scenes, his acting runs the gamut from scenery chewing hysteria (“You’re tearing me APART!”) to the subtlety of his quiet dialog with Natalie Wood’s Judy.  His best acting in the film is in his scenes with Judy, Plato, and a rather homoerotic moment with Buzz – where the two share a cigarette (an indirect kiss?) and Buzz confesses that he likes Jim.  Rebel, along with Dean’s other two major roles, East of Eden and Giant, offers a fascinating glimpse into what might have been.  

Jim & Buzz. “You know what? I LIKE you. You know that?”

Through today’s eyes, it’s obvious that Sal Mineo’s character Plato is the school queer – and he’s made to suffer for it.  Not only is he harassed by his school peers, but the film’s writers drive the point of Plato’s “otherness” home by painting him as not merely experiencing an emotionally needy “crush” on Jim Stark, but as mentally unstable and possibly psychotic.  This is made clear from the film’s beginning when it’s stated that Plato’s being booked at the Juvenile Division for shooting several puppies, and by the way Plato tells his booking officer that “Nobody can help me.”  Plato also has issues stemming from an absent father, which certainly plays to the old Freudian theory on homosexuality.  For me, the treatment of the Plato character is severely dated – and yet there’s something about Sal Mineo’s portrayal that’s touching.  Seeing his torment, I wanted to wrap my arms around Plato and tell him that everything would be all right. 

Jim & Plato

Even more dated than Plato’s pathology is the film’s almost total lack of people of color.  True, Southern California was not as diverse in 1955 than today, but the fact that the film has only one minority speaking role (an African-American “mammy”-type maid at that) tells volumes about the mindset of the studios of the time.  On the other hand, this is still an issue in today’s entertainment, isn’t it?

The film was beautifully shot in CinemaScope and in color, presenting the rugged beauty of Southern California without undue glamour – and the various actors never looked better than in this film.  Leonard Rosenman’s score (Rosenman was James Dean’s roommate at the time), which flirts with atonality in parts, suits the films atmosphere to a “T” – far superior to the drivel he wrote for Star Trek IV. 

Today, Rebel Without a Cause has a 96% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.  I beg to differ, and suspect the high rating is based more on nostalgia than quality.  Ultimately Rebel was worth watching in the theatre once, but the weakness of some of the material and uneven nature of the performances does not merit repeat viewing.

A Tale of Two Vacations

September of 2018 was supposed to feature a family vacation cruise to celebrate my niece’s wedding.   The wedding took place, but owing to surgery last year and unanticipated follow-up expenses, we had to opt for a less costly option – which led to two trips in one. 

 The first trip was to Constantine, Michigan – the small town near the Indiana border where my father grew up.  I may have visited there as a very young child, but I have no clear memory of doing so.  Outside of travel, my grandfather spent his entire life there – his home, work, and burial plot are all within a 20-block area.  Sadly, I have no memory of my grandfather as he died at age 63 when I was only 15 months old – although my father told me that my grandfather used to bounce me on his knee.  For me, he exists only in family anecdotes, photos, and home movies.  I do have memories of his first wife, my grandmother, a troubled woman who died in 1995 and is also buried at the local cemetery.  While in Constantine, I stopped by the old Drake Casket Company (once owned by my grandfather and his brother), the Township Cemetery (where I spent 90 minutes searching for family graves) and the center of town.  In my father’s home movies, the Constantine of the 1950s was bustling, with of parades, stores, and people driving or walking everywhere – a  typical middle-American town.  Now, it’s a town forgotten – the stores along the main street are mostly empty, the former Drake Casket Company abandoned, the once immaculately kept houses in disrepair.  It took me 51 years to visit, but I doubt I’ll ever feel the need to go again.  My father almost never mentioned Constantine, but I now fully understand why he told me joining the Navy was one of the smartest decisions he ever made – it opened the door to a wider world filled with diverse people.  In any case, here are some photos:

Gravestone of my great great grandfather, J. Mark Harvey

Marker for my great grandparents, John and Jane W. (Titus) Drake 

Marker for my grandfather, Titus H Drake, and his second wife Florence (Cylka)

My grandmother, Helen Harvey Drake

My grandfather, circa 1960.

I went alone to Constantine, but Dan was with me on our trip to Ticonderoga, New York.  Although to a lesser extent, like Constantine, Ticonderoga is not as thriving as it once was.  The downtown area has a few antique stores, a retro-1950s diner (excellent, in my opinion) – but much else is pretty ordinary.  The two main draws are Fort Ticonderoga and the Star Trek Original Series set tour.  Those who’ve followed my blog will know which attraction brought me to Ticonderoga.     

The Star Trek Original Series set tour is a screen accurate recreation of the sets as they were configured on Stage 9 at Desilu studios during the show's original run. The current sets were built for the Star Trek New Voyages web series, which ran for 13 episodes. There are a few minor upgrades: a functional bridge viewscreen replaces the blue screen the actors would have seen, and HD displays for the biobeds (instead of levers and pulleys operated by a stage technician).  A few more tweaks are in the planning and I've heard they are even considering adding the Next Generation sets. Our tour guide, Paul, knew all the ins & outs of how the original series was made and how sets were redressed for multiple use. For example: Captain Kirk's quarters were redressed for Spock, the other crew members, and guest stars; The Briefing Room was redressed as the Recreation Room, Crew Mess, and a few other sets. One interesting tidbit: both the Bridge and Engineering are smaller than they appeared on TV because the original cinematographers used wide-angle lenses to add depth to the scene. (FYI: The sets are built from the original series blueprints and are the exact same dimensions.)  The back wall of Engineering (with the engines visible thru the grill) uses forced perspective. Because of the age of some of the elements, guests are advised not to touch the artifacts, but the set's owner, James Cawley, invited me to sit in the Captain's chair. Photos are permitted, but videos are not (due to Paramount's licensing restrictions).  Due to a recent high-volume attraction, the selection at the gift shop was rather thin, but we still purchased a few goodies including, of course, a Tribble.

Dan & I beam in.

Dr. Dan ready to help a patient.

Dan in the medical lab, checking the Captain for intergalactic STDs.

Our tour guide Paul, recreating a famous pose from the series.

A pensive moment on the Bridge

 The weather was cooperating, and as it was September 11^th, it seemed appropriate for us to visit Fort Ticonderoga.  Originally Fort Carillon, the French fort was captured by the British in 1759, by American Revolutionaries in 1775, recaptured by the British in 1777, and finally abandoned to the British 1781.  By then, the fort was in ruins.  It went through several owners and was rebuilt during the 20^th Century.  It’s a fascinating place to learn about our nation’s history and how those stationed here lived – whether French, British, or American.  The high point for us was a canon demonstration. 

Fort Ticonderoga

Oscar Levant - and a change for this blog

Since its inception, this blog has been named Memoirs of an Amnesiac - the name was intended as temporary and was cribbed from a book by writer, actor, pianist, composer, gadfly, and professional neurotic Oscar Levant.  Now, Sony Classical has republished Levant's complete Columbia recordings - along with a few previously unissued items.  Here's my review for that compilation.  But, the time has also come to update the name of this blog.  So, here it is. 

Levant in a typical pose...