James Dean
Related: actor - American cinema - youth - cool - hip - rebel
James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
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Biography
James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955) was an American film actor who epitomized youthful angst. Dean's mainstream status as a cultural icon is best embodied in the title of his most cited role in Rebel Without a Cause. Like that of Buddy Holly, his death at such a young age helped to cement his legendary status. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Dean [Mar 2006]
Rebel Without a Cause (1944|1955)
Rebel Without a Cause is a 1955 film which tells the story of a rebellious teenager who comes to a new town, meets a girl, defies his parents, and faces the local gang. The title is a reference to psychiatrist Robert Lindner's 1944 book, Rebel Without A Cause: The Hypnoanalysis of a Criminal Psychopath.
Rebel Without a Cause became a movie which spoke to a generation: the teenagers of the early 1950s. Although James Dean had already become a star with the release of East of Eden earlier in the year, this movie solidified his role as the voice of the generation. The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
The Griffith Observatory is featured prominently in the film, and is the site of the movie's climactic scene. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebel_Without_a_Cause [Apr 2005]
Rebel Without a Cause: The Story of a Criminal Psychopath (1944) - Robert Mitchell Lindner [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
From Book News, Inc.
First published in 1944, this work contains the full transcriptions of 46 hour-long sessions of hypnoanalysis, in which psychoanalyst Lindner attempted to, and felt he succeeded in, exposing the hidden psychodynamics of "criminal psychopathology," rooted in painful memories from the past that the subject had suppressed. The author argues that hypnoanalysis substantiates and verifies the concepts that psychonalysis used to explain behavior dynamics. --via Amazon.com
See also: psychopath
Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean is a play by Ed Graczyk, and its film version, directed by Robert Altman, and starring Sandy Dennis, Cher, Karen Black, Sudie Bond and Kathy Bates.
It tells the story of a group of women, all members of a James Dean fan club, who meet on the anniversary of his death in the small town in which Giant was filmed. Many critics wrote that the film version did little to expand the story from its stage origins, however the actors were generally praised for the depth of their characterisations.
The movie was an important turning point in fulfilling the movie career aspirations of Cher. After trying for several years to be taken seriously and given an opportunity as an actress, Cher was regarded as something of a Hollywood joke, until she performed in the stage version of this play, along with Black and Dennis. The strong reviews she received for her stage work paved the way for her to be cast in the film version. She was tipped to secure an Academy Award nomination for her role as Sissy, and although this did not happen, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. This success led to her being cast in Silkwood in 1983, for which she received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_Back_to_the_Five_and_Dime,_Jimmy_Dean,_Jimmy_Dean [May 2005]
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