Rebel Without a Cause

When: Tue., May 20, 7:30 p.m. 2014

James Dean gave his best performance in this superb study of teenage angst that even today retains its formidable power. Dean’s emoting is the stuff of classic drama, yet equally responsible for this 1955 movie’s success was director Nicholas Ray, whose empathy for the characters allowed the film to emerge not as an overwrought melodrama but as a character study that spoke to an entire generation. Benefits the Carolina Theatre Preservation Society. (Matt Brunson)