On 27th October 1955  “Rebel Without a Cause”, directed by Nicholas Ray, starring James Dean and Natalie Wood, was released.

The film stars James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Jim Backus, Ann Doran, Corey Allen and William Hopper. It is also the film debut of Dennis Hopper, in a minor role.

It was filmed in the then recently introduced CinemaScope format. Focusing on emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers, the film offers both social commentary and an alternative to previous films depicting delinquents in urban slum environments.

Rebel Without a Cause  was censored in Britain by the British Board of Film Censors and released with scenes cut and an X-rating. Most of the knife fight was excised and not shown on British screens until 1967. The film was banned in New Zealand in 1955 by Chief Censor Gordon Mirams, out of fears that it would incite “teenage delinquency”, only to be released on appeal the following year with scenes cut and an R16 rating. It was also banned in Spain, where it had to be smuggled into the country for private screenings, and was not officially released there until 1964.