Rebel Without a Cause
Alur cerita

Film dimulai di sebuah jalan pinggiran kota Los Angeles di mana remaja Jim Stark (James Dean) yang mabuk terbaring di trotoar. Dia ditangkap dan dibawa ke divisi remaja kantor polisi karena mabuk. Di kantor polisi dia bertemu John "Plato" Crawford (Sal Mineo), yang dibawa karena menembak anak-anak anjing dengan pistol ibunya, dan Judy (Natalie Wood), yang dibawa karena pelanggaran jam malam (dia memakai gaun merah cerah dengan gincu merah dan dikira pelacur). Ketiganya mengungkapkan frustrasi mereka yang paling dalam kepada polisi; ketiganya menderita masalah di rumah:
Jim merasa dikhianati dan dibuat menderita oleh orang tuanya yang terus-menerus cekcok, Frank (Jim Backus) dan Carol (Ann Doran), tetapi juga oleh sikap lemah dan kegagalan Frank menahan Carol dan ibunya, yang tinggal dengan mereka. Frustrasinya ditunjukkan kepada polisi Ray Fremick (Edward Platt) ketika Jim dilepaskan ke penjagaan mereka.
Judy meyakinkan bahwa ayahnya (William Hopper) telah menarik kasih sayangnya darinya karena dia bukan lagi gadis kecil, sehingga dia berdandan dengan pakaian agak cabul untuk mendapatkan perhatian, yang hanya menyebabkan ayahnya memanggilnya "pelacur kotor".
Plato berasal dari keluarga berantakan. Ayahnya meninggalkan mereka saat dia bayi, dan ibunya sering pergi dari rumah, meninggalkan Plato dalam pengasuhan pembantunya.
Jim berangkat untuk hari pertamanya di Dawson High School dan bertemu lagi dengan Judy (yang tinggal di dekat situ) yang sedang menunggu di sudut jalan dan menawarkan tumpangan padanya. Tidak terkesan dengan Jim, dia menolak, kemudian dia dijemput oleh kawan-kawannya, sekumpulan anak nakal yang dipimpin oleh "Buzz" Gunderson (Correy Allen). Tiba di sekolah, Jim langsung mendapat kesulitan karena tanpa mengetahui
Jim sets out for his first day at Dawson High School and again meets
Judy (who lives nearby) waiting on the corner and offers her a ride.
Seemingly unimpressed by Jim at first, she declines and sarcastically
says, "You know, I bet you're a real yo-yo," and then is picked up by
her "friends", a gang of delinquents led by "Buzz" Gunderson (Corey Allen).
Arriving at school, Jim immediately gets in hot water for unknowingly
stepping on the school insignia. While shunned by most of the student
body, Jim befriends Plato, who comes to idolize him as a father figure.
That afternoon, Jim's class goes on a field trip to the Griffith Observatory, where they see a dramatic presentation of the bleak future of the Earth as the Sun goes through its red giant phase and post red-giant phase.
As he walks out, Buzz and his gang slash one of Jim's tires and then
begin taunting him by clucking and calling him "chicken", which is sure
to set him off. When Jim asks Judy, revealed to be the "property" of
Buzz, why she hangs around with them, Buzz pushes Jim away from her,
then whips out a switchblade
and challenges Jim to a knife fight. Having no knife, Jim refuses, so
Buzz orders one of his gang to lend Jim his knife, but even then Jim
still refuses. When Buzz again calls Jim chicken he goes off, and the
two begin fighting, each one getting minor jabs on the other until Jim
knocks Buzz' knife away and subdues him. Buzz wants another shot at Jim,
which he accepts but not with knives. Buzz suggests stealing a couple
of cars to have a "Chickie Run"
at Millertown Bluff, a high seaside cliff. Jim agrees to meet them that
evening before the observatory security guard runs the gang off. After
they leave, Jim asks Plato what a Chickie Run is.
Jim menceritakan keterlibatannya dalam kecelakaan itu kepada Frank dan Carol, yang menonton laporan berita tentang itu di TV, tetapi ketika Jim akan ke kantor polisi, mereka memperingatkannya untuk tak menyerahkan diri ke polisi.
Jim tells of his involvement in the crash to Frank and Carol, who saw a news report about it on TV, but when Jim considers turning himself in, they warn him not to volunteer himself to the police. When Carol declares they're moving again, Jim asserts that he won't let her use him as an excuse to keep running away. Jim then begs Frank to stand up with him against her, but he doesn't. Jim angrily jumps and strangles Frank until he is pulled away by Carol. He storms off to the police station and is accosted by Buzz' fellow gang members Crunch (Frank Mazzola), Goon (Dennis Hopper) and Moose (Jack Grinnage) who were just released from custody. Jim ignores them and goes in looking for Fremick, but the desk sergeant rudely tells him that Fremick will be out all night. Before leaving, Jim tries to call Judy at her home, but the call is intercepted by her father who abruptly hangs up.
Sementara itu, Plato baru saja tiba ke rumah dengan skuternya ketika dia ditangkap oleh Crunch, Goon dan Moose. Yakin bahwa Jim melaporkan mereka ke kantor polisi, dan untuk membalas kematian Buzz, mereka ingin tahu di mana Jim, tetapi Plato menolak bicara. Mereka mengambil buku catatan saku Plato saat dia
Meanwhile, Plato is just arriving home on his motor scooter when he is grabbed by Crunch, Goon and Moose. Convinced that Jim ratted them out to the police, and looking to avenge Buzz' death, they demand to know where they can find Jim, but Plato refuses to talk. They grab Plato's pocket notebook as he gets to the front door and run off. Plato runs upstairs to his bedroom and, after throwing away a child support check from his father, grabs his mother's gun and runs off to find and warn Jim. At Jim's house Frank and Carol hear knocking at the front door. Frank answers to find a live chicken hanging over their door, and Buzz' friends asking about Jim, but Frank hurriedly shuts the door. After they take off, Plato shows up for the same reason, but when Frank asks Plato about Jim, Plato quickly apologizes and hurries off to the mansion where he finds Jim and Judy.
Ketiga sahabat baru itu berpura-pura sebagai keluarga, dan Plato bercerita kepada mereka ketika psikiater menyuruhnya mengungkapkan tentang mendengar pertengkaran orang tuanya saat dia bayi, dan bagaimana ibunya kemudian memutuskan
The three new friends act out a fantasy as a family, and Plato tells them about when the "head shrink"
got him to open up about hearing his parents fight when he was a baby,
and how his mother later decided the money being spent on his therapy
was better spent going off alone to Hawaii. Wishing they could stay
there, but unable to ignore his situation, Plato decides he "might as
well be dead anyway" and lies down to doze. Judy hums the Brahms' Lullaby
to him before she and Jim go exploring the rest of the mansion. Crunch,
Goon and Moose, now armed with chains, find their way to the mansion
and wake up Plato. Frightened and distraught, Plato fights them off
until he finds his gun and shoots Moose, and then mistakenly fires at
Jim when he comes back. Jim tries to restrain Plato, but he runs from
the mansion, shooting at police who have just arrived.
Plato berlari ke arah observatorium dan bersembunyi di dalamnya ketika banyak polisi berkumpul termasuk Fremick yang, bersama Frank dan Carol, sedang mencari Jim. Jim dan Judy mengikuti Plato ke observatorium, dan Jim membujuk Plato untuk menukar pistol dengan jaket merahnya; Jim diam-diam membuang pelurunya sebelum mengembalikan pistolnya. Jim kemudian meyakinkan Plato untuk keluar setelah minta kepada Fremick untuk mematikan lampu polisi. Saat mereka keluar polisi melihat Plato masih memiliki pistol dan menyalakan lampu, yang mendorong Plato untuk pergi dan menyerang polisi. Ketika dia tertembak, Jim berteriak, "Aku punya pelurunya! Lihat!" Melihat jaket Jim, Frank awalnya yakin Jim telah ditembak. Dia berlari untuk menghibur Jim yang bersedih, dan berjanji untuk berusaha menjadi ayah yang kuat, ayah yang dapat Jim andalkan. Rukun kembali dengan orang tuanya, Jim memperkenalkan mereka pada Judy, berkata "Dia kawanku".
Ketika fajar, dan ketika semua orang pergi dengan mobil mereka, seseorang dengan setelan bisnis dan koper berjalan ke arah observatorium, sama sekali tidak tahu apa yang baru saja terjadi.