A treat to talk to the marvellous Glyn Davis on his handsome new book, the ‘BFI Classic’ on Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray, 1955). In the podcast we discuss how we were both surprised that the film hadn’t yet been covered in the series and why the book is the fulfilment of a long-standing wish of his. We discuss how the film established an iconic template for adolescent dissent and how James Dean became the embodiment of youthful American dissatisfaction and rebellion; Glyn compares Rebel to other films of the period such as The Wild One (Lázló Benedek, 1953) and Blackboard Jungle (Richard Brooks, 1955). We discuss the pros and cons of auteurist approaches; Glyn’s findings in the LA Archives, Ray’s concerns of filling the CinemaScope frame; his uses of colour (the film was originally designed for black and white); the film’s unusual structure, how the film became a template for the teen film that extends to television (Dawson’s Creek was named after the High School in Rebel); how Dean’s extraordinary performance helped popularise and disseminate ‘The Method’, how the figure of Plato has become central to subsequent queer cultures; and how Natalie Wood is often marginalised in discussions of the film…and much more. Glyn generously praises previous work on Ray and the film, particularly Bernard Eisenschitz’ monumental Nicholas Ray: An American Journey and the extraordinarily detailed Live Fast, Die Young: The Wild Ride of Making Rebel Without A Cause by Lawrence Frascella and Al Weisel. A generous and articulate conversation on a book worth reading and discussing.
The Podcast may be listened to here:
The podcast may also be listened to on: Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/show/2zWZ7Egdy6xPCwHPHlOOaT
and on itunes here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/first-impressions-thinking-aloud-about-film/id1548559546
José Arroyo
