Live Fast Die Young Book
The Making of Rebel Without A Cause
With the golden anniversary of the release of the iconic Rebel Without a Cause, many books vied for the attention of the multi-generational fans it has acquired through the years. There have been biographies of various actors, writers, and other insiders within the industry sharing bits and pieces about the fascinating aspects of the movie that captured the imagination of several generations of teenagers and adults alike. The book goes beyond the telling of the story of the film: the tale of trouble teens, of Jim Stark, a young man on the verge of adulthood. He’s riddled with anguish he can’t define nor pinpoint metal detector as he drifts through a world created by and for older generations like his parents—one he can’t and isn’t equipped to dog wheelchair traverse. The adults around him cannot understand where he’s coming from and neither do they care. They have no clue what having to deal with the torture of proving yourself among your peers can be—maybe they’ve forgotten or maybe they just never had to. Jim has been moved around from town to town in the hope of settling him somewhere that will change his rough and tumble ways. Landing in a new town, he quickly recognizes another lost soul in a girl he meets named Judy. She too, is having a hard time relating to her parents bad has managed to survive by taking cover in her microdermabrasion machine popularity in school. Jim immediately captures the attention and loyalty of another misfit in Plato, another misunderstood, maladjusted, neglected, young adult with grave parental issues. The rest is movie history. What’s remarkable is that after all these years, people are still talking about it; and passionately too. Arguments go back and forth from how this is film is a seminal work in this particular genre or how this is an overrated exploitative piece of work and how some parts are astrological compatibility unnatural and campy. Then again, within the same argument you might find the a line or and entire paragraph, dedicated to praising the movie for some of the actors’ best work. “Dean, for example was not fussy here, as he was in his agonized Bando-esque contortions in East of Eden; he’s emotionally direct, tenderly seductive, protective of others, and blessed with a courtly humor.” His portrayal of Jim Stark is obviously laboring under a burden of heightened sensitivity, which is why the ‘50s complacency of his parents and their sphere is, in his words, tearing him apart. He doesn’t want to be thought of or called chicken by his peers, but he knows that the tests that he is being forced to undergo by the thugs at his school at all a pile of bull, and in their own way as fake and false as those in the world of the parents. So, in the most magical portion of the film, Jim and his friends Judy (Natalie Wood) and Plato (Sal Mineo) take over an abandoned mansion and pretend to make a family for themselves. This sequence doesn’t last long, but it leaves a lasting impression on anybody who has seen it. Delivering more bits about the making of the film, Live Fast Die Young talks about the story of the story. How the movie came about. Discussing influences in the development of the story and the production both from the script, casting, pre-filming rehearsal, and many other aspects of cobbling together a film. Many insights into Rebel’s screenwriter Stewart Stern thought process and a look into Nicholas Ray’s innovative ideas and how they struggled to develop and translate them into something they can use on the film. For long time fans and for those new to Rebel Without a Cause, it is a treasure trove of information.