
Actress Natalie Wood was just 16-years old when she co-starred with James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause back in 1955. The film is widely regarded as a groundbreaking attempt to portray “the moral decay of American youth”. It was also quite the critique on parenting style and the conflicts that arise between generations.
The film also achieved iconic status simply because of James Dean’s presence in it. The cultural icon had just received an Oscar nomination for his performance in East of Eden and he died tragically in a car accident before the film's release. It would go on to be his most celebrated role and in 1990, Rebel Without a Cause was added to the Library of Congress's National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant".