MovieChat Forums > Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Discussion > The date on Plato's check

The date on Plato's check

posted 13 years ago by hobnob53
10 replies | jump to latest

I don't know that this constitutes a "goof", because it had to be done deliberately, but there's an odd thing in the scene where Plato, after Buzz's gang attacks him to get his address book, rushes into his house and tears open the envelope from his father.

All he finds is a check, no letter or anything. There's a note clipped to the check stating it's for child support, but what caught my eye is the date on the check. Although the month and day are covered up by the note, the year is plainly visible, and the year is 1956.

Rebel was filmed and released in 1955. There's nothing anywhere to indicate that the movie takes place at any other time, even only a year later. The father wouldn't send a check post-dated to the following year, which makes no sense (and if that had been the case, wouldn't Nick Ray have drawn more attention to this, as a sign the father was so disinterested in his son that he sent the support check months ahead just to get it out of the way?).

So why would they print up a dummy check dated 1956? Maybe Warner Bros. had planned to release the film that year, then advanced its release to take advantage of the coverage of Dean's death. I've never heard that, and have no reason to believe it's so, but the date on this check is hard to figure.

[–] andrewwjohnson 13 years ago

According to a documentary on James Dean, on TCM last night, he was still alive at the time "Rebel Without a Cause" opened in New York. He didn't attend however.

As for the check the prop department was probably hedging their bets. All they knew was the movie was going to be released; fifty five, fifty six?.

Anyway who would notice a little thing like that? In the theater the audience would be too busy trying to balance watching the movie with their popcorn and soft drinks. When it got on TV it would be hard to pick out on that small flickering black and white screen. It is not as if folks would ever watch this movie in full color on thirty two inch,and larger, digital flat screens and be able to freeze and replay images. That would be crazy "Fahrenheit 451" science fiction stuff. LOL

TAG LINE: True genius is a beautiful thing, but ignorance is ugly to the bone.

[–] hobnob53 13 years ago

I saw the documentary on TCM. First, you've mixed up the film Dean refused to attend in NYC. It wasn't Rebel; it was East of Eden, though he did attend its California premiere. Dean did see, not the opening, but a sneak preview, of Rebel Without a Cause in LA four days before his death. I hadn't known he'd ever seen it; if I recall, it wasn't officially released until Nov. 1, 1955.

Second, whether anyone would notice the date on the check is immaterial; the question is, why was it dated for the following year? It just seems very odd. If the studio was hedging its bets, they'd have been safer saying 1955.

Besides, seeing this movie in a theater in 1955, on a huge CinemaScope screen, certainly would make the date look big. Granted, most people probably wouldn't have noticed it, but some would, and anyway, that still doesn't explain why the check bore a date in the future.

[–] VinnieRattolle 12 years ago

Clearly someone in the prop department was under the impression that the film wouldn't open until '56... which really isn't far off the mark if it opened in Nov. '55.

One also has to take into consideration that movies didn't open simultaneously on 950 gazillion screens back then, they were more regional. Because of this, there are countless inaccurate release dates on imdb. The studios would strike X-number of prints and send them out to one batch of theatres which would begin running the film in Nov. '55. Once the film had finished its run in those initial theatres, the exact same prints would be shipped off to a different batch of theatres where the film would debut in, say, Feb. '56 (for example). Given Dean's popularity (particularly since the movie opened after his death) "Rebel" doubtlessly got a much bigger release in Nov. '55 than the indie "The Beast with a Million Eyes" did that June, but there's little doubt that there were areas where it didn't open until '56, and not inconceivably '57.

[–] hobnob53 12 years ago

All you say is true (although I don't think Rebel debuted anywhere in the U.S. later than early 1956), but it really still doesn't explain why the prop check would be post-dated. Maybe they did think it would be more timely, for some reason, but it's still curious.

Anyway, no big deal, just one of those weird little Hollywood oddities.

[–] hasheart 10 years ago

in my opinion it showed by noting having the proper year, it is an example of how the father is so distant and writes a check without thinking. No feeling, just doing something automatic.

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

The check is typed, probably by a secretary (no doubt the same person who typed the note to which the check is clipped). This does indicate a detached, uncaring father. I said somewhere above it might be a post-dated check but this really doesn't make sense.

Since my OP I've watched again and if I recall the check is dated sometime in March, 1956. There have been several explanations offered but none really makes sense. Just one of those odd things.

[–] andrewwjohnson 10 years ago

The Best guess I can come up with is "Rebel Without a Cause" was finished in 1955 but was intended for release during the spring or summer of 1956. This was the reason the check was dated March 1956. With the popularity of "East of Eden" Warner Brothers decided to capitalize on James Dean's popularity by rushing "Rebel With Out a Cause" into limited release in New York and other markets in 55'.

TAG LINE: True genius is a beautiful thing, but ignorance is ugly to the bone.

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

No, from what I've read RWAC was always slated for a late '55 release. (I believe its official release date was November 1, 1955.) Dean of course was killed on September 30 -- four days after he saw a sneak preview of Rebel -- but the film had always been intended for late '55, and wasn't even moved up to take advantage of Dean's death.

Normally such a prop would be given an earlier date than the film's release, but such oddities do pop up from time to time. As I've said, this is nothing important, just a quirky little curio.

But speaking of release dates, the release of Giant was delayed for several months (finally opening in October, 1956) as a deliberate ploy to build anticipation for what everyone by then knew would be Dean's last film.

[–] brokedickdog7 10 years ago

Ha!

You are right. I just watched this again for the first time in many years. So I froze the moment Plato looks at the check and it is as clear as day. The year on the check is printed "19" and the numerals "56" typed in. 1956.

Probably the editor made a decision based on a projected release date. As it turns out it was released in late 1955.

I didn't like Plato. I found his character to be effeminate, obnoxious and unsympathetic. I'm not sure if that was because of Sal Mineo or the script. I did not like the character.

Jim Backus was great in the difficult role of the somewhat henpecked father. A great performance.

Most of the ensemble cast was very good and it was fun to see a young Dennis Hopper.

The Blackboard Jungle was made and released about the same time. Both have a similar theme. Which did you like better?

Both Rebel Without a Cause and The Blackboard Jungle were very good but not great films imo.

Although it has a slightly lower IMDB rating at this time I liked The Blackboard Jungle a little better.



[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

Glad you saw "1956" too. Memory tells me it might have been dated in March, but I may be confusing this with something else. I'll look again next time.

Plato is all the things you say, but what's odd is that the audience mostly feels sympathy for him even after we first meet him, when we hear the cop asking him, "Why did you shoot those puppies?" Shooting puppies?! That's pretty lousy stuff and ordinarily something that would kill a character with an audience. Yet somehow most people get past it mentally.

I'm of mixed feelings about Plato myself. I feel some sympathy for him even while I find him too weak and objectionable. But unlike the others he's seriously mentally disturbed, which is probably why audiences tend to see him with some sympathy despite his actions and weaknesses. What I don't understand is why he wasn't put into a psychiatric hospital for observation, especially after the puppies incident.

But I think Sal Mineo did an excellent job with a very difficult character. He got an Oscar nomination for his performance. If there's a fault it's with the character, not the actor.

Rebel and Blackboard Jungle are about equal in my book. BJ is more "artificial" because of its being completely studio-bound. The backgrounds and incidental things -- not just the sets, but the incidents, characters, dialogue amongst the secondary characters -- are all too pat and unreal to be completely convincing. (For example, the radio broadcast of New Year's Eve in Anne's hospital room is so patently fake and staged that it ruins some of the scene's impact.) The classroom scenes are great but the rest still has that MGM gloss and air of superficiality that makes it difficult to lose oneself in -- you're always aware of the neatness of the film. Don't get me wrong -- I think it's a good movie -- but it's too neat and predictable, too restrained and easily resolved, just too Metro, to be as good as it should have been.

RWAC has a rawer edge, it's not so studio-bound, it has a more realistic look and feel, and the kids genuinely seem like troubled kids, not actors playing roles. (The cops are other adults are equally more fleshed out than in BJ.) On the other hand I find that the story meanders, peaks too early, rather than building steadily toward its climax. Also, the finale is an abrupt, not very credible wrap-up of all the loose ends: our pal Plato is dead, which is, tragically, how he seemed destined to end up all along; Jim and Judy become "steadies" and will no doubt get married in 1962 (when Plato's uncaring father will no doubt still be sending him checks dated 1963 and wondering why they haven't been cashed in seven years); and Jim's mom, the harridan of all time, suddenly does a 180° turnabout and becomes loving and understanding, while dad becomes the father figure Jimbo's always needed. And all in just a few minutes. Wow!

So, for me, given their strengths and weaknesses, I really find both films about equal in quality and appeal. Even thinking about it now, I can't really claim even a slight a preference for one, they're that close. Well, okay...probably Blackboard Jungle. Despite its flaws, it's plotted better than Rebel.