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Nicholas Ray

Highest Rated: 100% The Lusty Men (1952)

Lowest Rated: 43% A Woman's Secret (1949)

Birthday: Aug 7, 1911

Birthplace: Galesville, Wisconsin, USA

Having been one of the first to portray disaffected youths in a number of social dramas, director Nicholas Ray pioneered a subgenre while almost singlehandedly putting a spotlight on teenage angst. Ray perfected the character of the detached loner railing against integration into society with "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955), which starred James Dean in the young actor's most iconic role before his tragic death just months before the film's release. Prior to "Rebel," Ray directed "They Live by Night" (1949), one the hallmarks of film noir, and "In a Lonely Place" (1950), which featured arguably one of Humphrey Bogart's finest performances of his career. Ray continued his exploration into the darker corners of American life with "On Dangerous Ground" (1951), before breaking away from noir with a pair of Westerns, "The Lusty Men" (1952) and the female-centric "Johnny Guitar" (1954). But it was "Rebel Without a Cause" that cemented his legacy and made him a darling of the French New Wave critics from Cahiers du Cinema, who hoisted him up as something of a filmmaking god, despite Ray's failure to achieve such success again. Struggling with drug and alcohol addiction later in life, Ray hit bottom with "Party Girl" (1958) and "The Savage Innocents" (1960), before taking a big payday to direct his final two movies, "King of Kings" (1961) and "55 Days at Peking" (1963). Ray collapsed on set of the latter film and never returned to directing Hollywood movies, only to live out the rest of his days as a professor in upstate New York. Despite the obscurity of his final years, Ray nonetheless loomed large over cinema history for both his technical and thematic influences that were felt decades later.

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Highest-Rated Movies

100% 83% The Lusty Men
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96% 80% They Live by Night
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96% 89% In a Lonely Place
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94% 85% Johnny Guitar
Watchlist 93% 88% Rebel Without a Cause Watchlist
91% 83% Bigger Than Life
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90% 78% On Dangerous Ground
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88% 35% The True Story of Jesse James
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88% 80% The American Friend
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86% 43% Hot Blood
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Nicholas Ray

Nicholas Ray 55 DAYS AT PEKING, Director Nicholas Ray meets arriving star Charlton Heston with family Fraser Heston, Lydia Heston, Holly Heston at the Madrid airport, 1962 55 DAYS AT PEKING, Director Nicholas Ray, Charlton Heston on set, 1963 REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, Natalie Wood, James Dean, Nicholas Ray, 1955, directing 55 DAYS AT PEKING, Flora Robson, director Nicholas Ray on set, 1963 KING OF KINGS, director Nicholas Ray (center top, white shirt, dark jacket), on set, 1961 kingofkings1961-fsct01(kingofkings1961-fsct01) THE KING OF KINGS, director Nicholas Ray, and Rip Torn on location on the set in Spain, 1961 KNOCK ON ANY DOOR, director Nicholas Ray (center) watches Susan Perry, Humphrey Bogart play chess on set, 1949 HOT BLOOD, Jane Russell, Nicholas Ray, 1956 REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, James Dean, director Nicholas Ray on set, 1955 View more photos

Filmography

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Don't Expect Too Much 2011 Self Lightning Over Water 67% 70% 1980 Self, Director Hair 83% 87% 1979 The General Actor The American Friend 88% 80% 1977 Derwatt Actor We Can't Go Home Again 50% 1976 Actor, Director 55 Days at Peking 57% 57% 1963 Director King of Kings 80% 78% 1961 Director The Savage Innocents 71% 71% 1959 Director, Writer Wind Across the Everglades 56% 1958 Director Party Girl 83% 57% 1958 Director Bitter Victory 78% 67% 1958 Director The True Story of Jesse James 88% 35% 1957 Director Hot Blood 86% 43% 1956 Director Bigger Than Life 91% 83% 1956 Director Rebel Without a Cause 93% 88% 1955 Director, Writer Run for Cover 70% 1955 Director Johnny Guitar 94% 85% 1954 Director, Producer The Lusty Men 100% 83% 1952 Director On Dangerous Ground 90% 78% 1951 Director, Writer Flying Leathernecks 75% 63% 1951 Director Born to Be Bad 71% 58% 1950 Director In a Lonely Place 96% 89% 1950 Director Roseanna McCoy 20% 1949 Director A Woman's Secret 43% 36% 1949 Director Knock on Any Door 69% 57% 1949 Director
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