In the 1955 film "Rebel Without a Cause", James Dean shouted the following line, "You're tearing me apart!". Dean is playing Jim Stark in this film.

Jim (Dean) screams the line (words) after listening to his parents and grandmother bicker in circles in front of police officers. This scene is one of the most famous ever recorded on film. The line is a literal cry for help, and an anguished exclamation that emphasizes Jim's fragmented sense of self. The line signals an abrupt break from Jim's earlier behavior in the scene, in which he is mostly jocular, gentle, and very soft-spoken.

After moving to a new town, Jim Stark, as a troubled teen, is suppose to have a clean slate. Still being the new kid in town brings problems. While searching for some stability, Stark forms a bond with a disturbed classmate, Plato (Sal Mineo). He also falls for a local girl, Judy (Natalie Wood). However, Judy is the girlfriend of a local tough guy, Buzz (Corey Allen). When Buzz violently confronts Jim and challenges him to a drag race, Jim's real troubles begin in a very big way.

"Rebel Without a Cause" is an astute drama about emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers. It is now a classic that was directed by Nicholas Ray and produced by Stewart Stern. Irving Shulman is the writer who adapted Ray's initial film story for the screenplay for "Rebel Without a Cause". Public consensus held: "the film is a searing melodrama featuring keen insight into '50s juvenile attitude."

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