James Dean

James Dean as "Jim Stark" and Sal Mineo as "John 'Plato' Crawford", in Nicholas Ray's 'Rebel Without a Cause' (1955), an American "Coming-Of-Age" adolescent romantic film drama about emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers. The film also features Natalie Wood as "Judy", Jim Backus as "Frank Stark", Ann Doran as "Carol Stark", Corey Allen as "Buzz Gunderson", William Hopper as 'Judy's father', Rochelle Hudson as 'Judy's mother', Edward Platt as "Inspector Ray Fremick", Marietta Canty as the Crawford family maid, Virginia Brissac as "Grandma Stark",and Dennis Hopper in a very early film role as "Goon".

The film offered both social commentary and an alternative to previous films only depicting delinquents in urban slum environments. The film tells the story of a rebellious teen "Jim Stark" (James Dean) who moves to a new town with his timid father and domineering mother in hopes of a new start to life. Although Jim struggles to stay out of trouble, he forms a close bond with two equally disaffected classmates: "Judy" (played by Natalie Wood), a popular girl with a difficult home life, and outcast "John 'Plato' Crawford" (Sal Mineo) who is bullied by his peers. Romance blossoms between Judy and Jim, but 'Rebel Without A Cause' suggests Jim and Plato’s friendship isn’t entirely platonic.

An early version of the movie’s script featured a scene in which Jim and Plato shared a kiss. However, Hays Code censors soon put the kibosh on the kiss via a warning memo sent to the 'Rebel Without A Cause' producers at Warner Brothers that stated, “It is of course vital that there be no inference of a questionable or homosexual relationship between Plato and Jim.”

However, In a groundbreaking move for the mid-1950s, Ray inserted several clues in 'Rebel Without A Cause' that imply that Plato is gay. The fact he is often seen gazing adoringly at Jim and has a picture of Hollywood heart-throb Alan Ladd taped inside his school locker has seen the character cited as one of the first gay teenage characters in film history. While Jim is ostensibly heterosexual, he has an affectionate (sometimes even flirtatious) friendship with Plato that’s often interpreted as evidence 'Rebel Without A Cause's protagonist is possibly bisexual.

By today’s standards, the subtle gay subtext in 'Rebel Without A Cause' is restrained. However, the fact that Nicholas Ray managed to circumvent the restrictive Hays Code and produce a film that’s widely recognized for its "Queer-Coding" is a feat that was both impressive and groundbreaking for the era in which 'Rebel Without A Cause' was produced. (research information from "Screenrant" and "Wikipedia").