There's not a big difference between the heroes of "Rebel without a cause" and the James bros.All are immature young people ,taking a rebel stand against the establishment (the well meaning society for Dean,Wood ,Mineo and their pals,the Yankees for these western Robin Hoods) .If the second movie is not as successful as the 1955 work (and as Ray's other "westerns " "Johnny Guitar" and "Run for cover" ) it's because the actors,with the staggering exception of Wellesian actress Agnes Moorehead,do not have great screen presence (Robert Wagner will improve with age).
This is a western "a la "Citizen Kane" ,using now dying Moorehead's memories,now Lange's regrets ,now Frank's remembering what went wrong. In the poems she wrote ,Bonnie Parker alluded to the James brothers and it's obvious that Arthur Penn was certainly influenced by Ray when he directed his "Bonnie and Clyde" .(Jess's desire to have a home and to live in peace with his wife is also Clyde's)
A minor work in Ray's canon,it's worth a watch though.
This is a western "a la "Citizen Kane" ,using now dying Moorehead's memories,now Lange's regrets ,now Frank's remembering what went wrong. In the poems she wrote ,Bonnie Parker alluded to the James brothers and it's obvious that Arthur Penn was certainly influenced by Ray when he directed his "Bonnie and Clyde" .(Jess's desire to have a home and to live in peace with his wife is also Clyde's)
A minor work in Ray's canon,it's worth a watch though.