October 27, 1955: Rebel Without a Cause premieres. The film made James Dean a legend, although his performance made Australian/British humorist Clive James say, only half-jokingly, "James Dean was so moody, he made Marlon Brando look like Danny Kaye."
The image of Dean on the film poster, with his red jacket, T-shirt, blue jeans with the cuffs rolled up, boots, and cigarette in his curled-up left hand, became iconic as well. Also on the poster was a picture of Dean holding hands with Natalie Wood, with the caption, "And they both come from 'good' families!"
It wasn't the first "troubled teen," "juvenile delinquent" or "J.D." movie: Blackboard Jungle preceded it by 7 months. Both were considerably better than the imitations that inevitably sprang up.
The film is said to be cursed: Dean died less than a month before the premiere, co-star Sal Mineo would be murdered in 1976, co-star Natalie Wood would drown in 1981, and even Ed Platt, the future Get Smart Chief, would die early, in 1974.
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October 27, 1955 was a Thursday. Baseball season ended 23 days earlier, when the Brooklyn Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in Game 7 to win the World Series. Football was in midweek. The NBA season season started 9 days later. There was 1 game played in the NHL: The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-1 at the Montreal Forum.
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