Plot: Perpetually sullen, Dawson High's careworn new student, Jim Stark, braces himself for yet another fresh start in a new town, after an unpleasant brush with the law earlier the same morning. Masking a profound but unfocused teenage angst, Jim, once more, will find himself neck-deep in trouble when he catches the eye of the school's brazen delinquent, Buzz, after a field trip to Los Angeles' Griffith Observatory. Under those circumstances, only a dangerous test of valour can sort out the men from the boys, while, suddenly, the equally persecuted pariah, Plato, and Stark's charming next-door neighbour, Judy, become Jim's unusual alternative family: the only refuge from their seemingly callous parents. Now, the wheel of estrangement and teenage defiance has come full circle, and the petulant trio will have to go back to where it all began. Does life always give second chances?
Alternative Plot: After moving to a new town, troublemaking teen Jim Stark (James Dean) is supposed to have a clean slate, although being the new kid in town brings its own problems. While searching for some stability, Stark forms a bond with a disturbed classmate, Plato (Sal Mineo), and falls for local girl Judy (Natalie Wood). However, Judy is the girlfriend of neighborhood tough, Buzz (Corey Allen). When Buzz violently confronts Jim and challenges him to a drag race, the new kid's real troubles begin.
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