Originally inspired by a newspaper story about troubled teens in the slums, landmark film Rebel Without a Cause showcases legendary cult figure James Dean in his definitive role. Filmed in 1955 and decidedly dated when watching it nearly 50 years later, this period piece represents the best Hollywood film about rebellious and alienated youth of the 1950's. It continues to resonate with youth today outside the edges of mainstream culture. Based on non-fictional tales from the slums, Rebel Without a Cause takes place in middle class society and, like the darker Blue Velvet some 30 years later, signals that not all is right in middle America.

Troubled teens form the crux of the story, but as Jim Stark (Dean) shouts, "You're tearing me apart!" director Nicholas Ray showcases some pretty loony parental units. Stark's parents represent the classic dysfunctional family (long before the term was invented) with continual game playing by a weak father who just wants to be a buddy to his son, a domineering and bitchy mother who wants to move whenever her son gets into legal problems, and a live-in grandmother who continually sides with her daughter. His father can't understand where he's gone wrong. He's provided love and affection: "Don't I buy everything you want? A bicycle, you get a bicycle; a car."

The two other main teens also face problems with their parents—Judy's (Natalie Wood) parents have no idea how to communicate properly with their growing daughter, and John/Plato (Sal Mineo) has no parents in the home at all. Plato finds himself in the police station after killing some puppies, and the policeman gets off one of the funnier lines in response to the housekeeper's claim that Plato's absent mother doesn't believe in psychiatrists. Parents who see this will blame the teen problems on these weak or absentee parents. They make easy targets.

But psychological pundits who search for the simplistic answers and blame the parents tread shaky ground here when you look at the parents of these three characters. Each parent represents a different parenting paradigm that could make any parent feel guilty if their their own children are troubled--especially fathers. The movie clearly indicates that proper parenting is essential, but achieving the proper balance between allowing independence and showing care remains necessarily fuzzy. To come across more preachy than it does would weaken the film, so it's to Ray's credit that he resists offering any simple solutions.

The film begs for psychological studies and sexuality examination. Both Judy and Plato seek understanding father figures while Jim just wants his father to stop being a "chicken" and literally take off the apron strings to stand up for himself. Personifying a classic Electra complex, Judy demands her father's attention, most blatantly when she kisses him on the lips, only to feel rejected after he slaps her. So it's almost pathological that she seek another father figure—first with Buzz and then Jim.

A similar situation arises with Plato. Although Plato rejects Jim's initial drunken offer of a jacket at the station, he clearly becomes intrigued with Jim the next day at school. A complete outsider, Plato soon latches onto Jim, and claims him for his best friend (though latent sexual feelings for Jim complicate the situation). A 1950's era film could only hint at Plato's repressed homoerotic thoughts, but it explicitly shows Plato adopting Jim as a surrogate father. He tells Judy how he hopes that Jim will take him fishing and later expresses his wish that Judy and Jim were his parents during the night scene near the Griffith Park Planetarium.

Jim and Judy may survive their temporary adolescent trauma and move on to similar dysfunctional middle-class family livestyles like many of us have, but Ray paints Plato's psyche in tones so pathologically pathetic that there doesn't appear to be much hope for him—much like Plato's pitiful puppies.

While Rebel without a Cause expresses the alienation that many youth felt in the 1950's and continue to experience today, the film holds up primarily through the strength of its acting. Sal Mineo nails his part in one of the more memorable screen debuts in film history. Another actor was slated for the part, but was relegated to smaller role after Mineo's screen test personified vulnerable Plato perfectly. Mineo convincingly becomes a lonely, obsessed dreamer who will never fit in with the real world. Adding to the on screen chemistry are Mineo's real life sexual feelings for Dean, but reports indicate that these feelings were never consummated. To Mineo's credit, he inspires pity, making Jim and Judy honestly want to protect him.

Natalie Wood is also very effective in her first adult role as Judy, and deservedly received an Academy Award supporting nomination along with Mineo, but the standout performance belongs to James Dean. Ironically Dean was nominated that same year for his first major movie East of Eden, but it is his performance in Rebel Without a Cause that makes Dean a movie icon.

Dean's charismatic presence dominates every scene, and he personifies the essence of cool and hip. Others have attempted to imitate Dean's attitude by copying the look and the gestures, but Dean's powers come from the inside. Perhaps he had experienced the same type of alienation, or his own documented ambiguous sexual feelings add to the tension. But Dean has never been more effective in his short-lived career. For a sample of his acting prowess check out the confrontational scene with his family following the chicken run. Watch him internalize his conflicts before he explodes and lashes out at his wimpy father.

Newcomers to Rebel Without a Cause will find much to relate to even though some of the details seem dated -- the things that concerned authority figures in the 1950's seem relatively minor in the wake of the drugs, drive-by shootings, and school violence you read about today. However, the spirit behind the film's "rebellious youth" continues to resonate, and is worth re-visiting. (I think there's a clause in the U.S. Constitution that they can revoke your citizenship if you don't watch this classic.) The legendary film remains relevant -- all is still not right with middle class America fifty years later, and there still are no pat solutions.