Nicholas Ray

Directing

Nicholas Ray

Born 1911-08-07 · Galesville, Wisconsin, USA

Nicholas Ray (born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle; 7 August 1911 – 16 June 1979) was an American film director best known for the films Rebel Without a Cause and Johnny Guitar. Described by the Harvard Film Archive as "Hollywood's last romantic" and "one of postwar American cinema’s supremely gifted and ultimately tragic filmmakers," Ray was considered an iconoclastic auteur director who often clashed with the Hollywood studio system of the time, but would prove highly influential to future generations of filmmakers. His best-known work is the 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause, starring James Dean. He is appreciated for many narrative features produced between 1947 and 1963, including They Live By Night (1948), In A Lonely Place (1950), Johnny Guitar (1954), Bigger Than Life (1956), and King of Kings (1961), as well as an experimental work produced throughout the 1970s titled We Can't Go Home Again, which was unfinished at the time of Ray's death. During his lifetime, Ray was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Rebel Without a Cause, twice for the Golden Lion, for Bigger Than Life (1956) and Bitter Victory (1957), and a Palme d'Or for The Savage Innocents (1960). Three of his films were ranked by Cahiers du Cinéma in their Annual Top 10 Lists. Ray's compositions within the CinemaScope frame and use of color are particularly well regarded and he was an important influence on the French New Wave, with Jean-Luc Godard famously writing in a review of Bitter Victory, "... there is cinema. And the cinema is Nicholas Ray."

Acting credits

Rebel Without a Cause poster
7.5

After moving to a new town, troublemaking teen Jim Stark 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, and falls for local girl Judy. However, Judy is the girlfriend of neighborhood tough, Buzz. When Buzz violently confronts Jim and challenges him to a drag race, the new kid's real troubles begin.

Rebel Without a Cause

1955

The American Friend poster
7.1

Tom Ripley, an American who deals in forged art, is slighted at an auction in Hamburg by picture framer Jonathan Zimmerman. When Ripley is asked by gangster Raoul Minot to kill a rival, he suggests Zimmerman, and the two, exploiting Zimmerman's terminal illness, coerce him into being a hitman.

The American Friend

1977

55 Days at Peking poster
6.9

Diplomats, soldiers and other representatives of a dozen nations fend off the siege of the International Compound in Peking during the 1900 Boxer Rebellion. The disparate interests unite for survival despite competing factions, overwhelming odds, delayed relief and tacit support of the Boxers by the Empress of China and her generals.

55 Days at Peking

1963

Hair poster
7.3

Upon receiving his draft notice and leaving his family ranch in Oklahoma, Claude heads to New York and befriends a tribe of long-haired hippies on his way to boot camp.

Hair

1979

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn poster
7.5

In Brooklyn circa 1900, the Nolans manage to enjoy life on pennies despite great poverty and Papa's alcoholism. We come to know these people well through big and little troubles: Aunt Sissy's scandalous succession of "husbands"; the removal of the one tree visible from their tenement; and young Francie's desire to transfer to a better school...if irresponsible Papa can get his act together.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

1945

James Dean: The First American Teenager poster
7.5

Stacy Keach narrates this documentary that chronicles the abbreviated life and career of iconic brooding bad boy James Dean, from his obscure early days working in television to his rise to stardom in films such as Rebel Without a Cause. Clips from Dean's movies are intermingled with candid interviews with the star's friends and Hollywood colleagues, including Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dennis Hopper.

James Dean: The First American Teenager

1975

Don't Expect Too Much poster
6.0

Documentary about director/artist Nicholas Ray and his time as a University professor

Don't Expect Too Much

2011

Films to Die For poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Films to Die For

2025

I'm a Stranger Here Myself poster
6.7

A portrait of legendary filmmaker Nicholas Ray while he is working as a film professor at a college in upstate New York.

I'm a Stranger Here Myself

1975

Johnny, weil Du Geburtstag hast poster
NR

German TV documentary about John Wayne from 1977.

Johnny, weil Du Geburtstag hast

1977

Lightning Over Water poster
6.6

Director 'Nicholas Ray' is eager to complete a final film before his imminent death from cancer. Wim Wenders is working on his own film Hammett (1983) in Hollywood, but flies to New York to help Ray realize his final wish. Ray's original intent is to make a fiction film about a dying painter who sails to China to find a cure for his disease. He and Wenders discuss this idea, but it is obviously unrealistic given Ray's state of health.

Lightning Over Water

1980

James Dean: A Portrait poster
7.0

A look at the legacy of icon actor James Dean on the 40th anniversary of his tragic death. The special follows his life and career, with obvious attention to the three big films that made him a legend; and interviews with the people who knew him.

James Dean: A Portrait

1995

Rebel Without a Cause: Defiant Innocents poster
NR

Rebel Without a Cause: Defiant Innocents is a documentary chronicling the production of the film.

Rebel Without a Cause: Defiant Innocents

2005

Profile of Nicholas Ray poster
NR

An interview with the American film director which was first broadcast on the CBS-TV television series "Camera Three."

Profile of Nicholas Ray

1977

Vanity Fair: Jeanette Starion the Pet of the Year poster
2.0

Jeanette Dyrkjær, better known as Jeanette Starion, was a sought after nude and porn model in the 1980s. Her career took her to the United States, where she won the Million Pet of the Year Pageant and millions of dollars. But she ended up in the porn industry. The story of Jeanette Dyrkjær is the story of the girl who became famous, hit the wall and fell to the absolute rock bottom.

Vanity Fair: Jeanette Starion the Pet of the Year

1990

We Can't Go Home Again poster
6.1

Nicholas Ray plays himself, acting as mentor, friend, and artistic inspiration to his students at Binghamton. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation.

We Can't Go Home Again

1973

Horizons poster
8.5

Working with Virgil’s four-part poem “Georgics” and Antonio Vivaldi’s concertos “The Four Seasons” as models, Gottheim arranged his painterly compositions into four distinct sections, each edited according to its own exacting pattern. The seasonal flux thus informs both the form and content of the image, with the basic elements of trees, sky, hills and the occasional crisscrossing clothesline filmed in every imaginable light.

Horizons

1973

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Nicholas Ray: Especially for Pierre

1979

Behind the camera

Rebel Without a Cause poster
7.5

After moving to a new town, troublemaking teen Jim Stark 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, and falls for local girl Judy. However, Judy is the girlfriend of neighborhood tough, Buzz. When Buzz violently confronts Jim and challenges him to a drag race, the new kid's real troubles begin.

Rebel Without a Cause

1955

King of Kings poster
7.1

Who is Jesus, and why does he impact all he meets? He is respected and reviled, emulated and accused, beloved, betrayed, and finally crucified. Yet that terrible fate would not be the end of the story.

King of Kings

1961

The Lusty Men poster
6.7

Retired rodeo champion Jeff McCloud agrees to mentor novice rodeo contestant Wes Merritt against the wishes of Merritt's wife who fears the dangers of this rough sport.

The Lusty Men

1952

55 Days at Peking poster
6.9

Diplomats, soldiers and other representatives of a dozen nations fend off the siege of the International Compound in Peking during the 1900 Boxer Rebellion. The disparate interests unite for survival despite competing factions, overwhelming odds, delayed relief and tacit support of the Boxers by the Empress of China and her generals.

55 Days at Peking

1963

Flying Leathernecks poster
5.8

Major Daniel Kirby takes command of a squadron of Marine fliers just before they are about to go into combat. While the men are well meaning, he finds them undisciplined and prone to always finding excuses to do what is easy rather than what is necessary. The root of the problem is the second in command, Capt. Carl 'Griff' Griffin. Griff is the best flier in the group but Kirby finds him a poor commander who is not prepared to make the difficult decision that all commanders have to make - to put men in harm's way knowing that they may be killed.

Flying Leathernecks

1951

Johnny Guitar poster
7.4

On the outskirts of town, the hard-nosed Vienna owns a saloon frequented by the undesirables of the region, including Dancin' Kid and his gang. Another patron of Vienna's establishment is Johnny Guitar, a former gunslinger and her lover. When a heist is pulled in town that results in a man's death, Emma Small, Vienna's rival, rallies the townsfolk to take revenge on Vienna's saloon – even without proof of her wrongdoing.

Johnny Guitar

1954

Johnny Guitar poster
7.4

On the outskirts of town, the hard-nosed Vienna owns a saloon frequented by the undesirables of the region, including Dancin' Kid and his gang. Another patron of Vienna's establishment is Johnny Guitar, a former gunslinger and her lover. When a heist is pulled in town that results in a man's death, Emma Small, Vienna's rival, rallies the townsfolk to take revenge on Vienna's saloon – even without proof of her wrongdoing.

Johnny Guitar

1954

Johnny Guitar poster
7.4

On the outskirts of town, the hard-nosed Vienna owns a saloon frequented by the undesirables of the region, including Dancin' Kid and his gang. Another patron of Vienna's establishment is Johnny Guitar, a former gunslinger and her lover. When a heist is pulled in town that results in a man's death, Emma Small, Vienna's rival, rallies the townsfolk to take revenge on Vienna's saloon – even without proof of her wrongdoing.

Johnny Guitar

1954

In a Lonely Place poster
7.6

A violent screenwriter and a female neighbor fall in love after she clears him of murder, but she begins to have second thoughts.

In a Lonely Place

1950

The Savage Innocents poster
6.8

An Eskimo who has had little contact with white men goes to a trading post where he accidentally kills a missionary and finds himself being pursued by the police.

The Savage Innocents

1960

The Savage Innocents poster
6.8

An Eskimo who has had little contact with white men goes to a trading post where he accidentally kills a missionary and finds himself being pursued by the police.

The Savage Innocents

1960

Party Girl poster
6.8

Slick lawyer Thomas Farrell has made a career of defending mobsters in trials. It's not until he meets a lovely showgirl at a mob party that he realizes that there's more to life than winning trials. Farrell tries to quit the racket, but mob boss Rico Angelo threatens to hurt the showgirl if Farrell leaves him.

Party Girl

1958

Bigger Than Life poster
7.2

A friendly, successful suburban teacher and father grows dangerously addicted to cortisone, resulting in his transformation into a household despot.

Bigger Than Life

1956

They Live by Night poster
6.8

An escaped convict, injured during a robbery, falls in love with the woman who nurses him back to health, but their relationship seems doomed from the beginning.

They Live by Night

1949

On Dangerous Ground poster
6.6

A big-city cop is reassigned to the country after his superiors find him too angry to be an effective policeman. While on his temporary assignment he assists in a manhunt of a suspected murderer.

On Dangerous Ground

1951

Run for Cover poster
6.8

An ex-convict drifter and his flawed young partner are made sheriff and deputy of a Western town.

Run for Cover

1955

The True Story of Jesse James poster
6.3

Having fought with the Confederacy during the Civil War, Jesse James and his brother Frank dream of a farm life in Missouri. Harassed by Union sympathizers, they assemble a gang of outlaws, robbing trains and becoming folk heroes in the process. Jesse marries his sweetheart, Zee, and maintains an aura of domesticity, but after a group of lawmen launch an attack on his mother's house, Jesse plans one more great raid -- on a Minnesota bank.

The True Story of Jesse James

1957

Knock on Any Door poster
6.2

An attorney defends a hoodlum of murder, using the oppressiveness of the slums to appeal to the court.

Knock on Any Door

1949

Born to Be Bad poster
6.0

Christabel Caine has the face of angel and the heart of a swamp rat. She'll step on anyone to get what she wants, including her own family. A master of manipulation, she covertly breaks off the engagement of her trusting cousin, Donna, to her fabulously wealthy beau, Curtis Carey. Once married to Curtis herself, Christabel continues her affair with novelist Nick Bradley, who knows she's evil, but loves her anyway.

Born to Be Bad

1950

A Woman's Secret poster
5.6

A popular singer, Marian Washburn, suddenly and unexplainably loses her voice, causing a shake-up at the club where she works. Her worried but loyal piano player, Luke Jordan, helps to promote a new, younger singer, Susan Caldwell, to temporarily replace Marian. Susan finds some early acclaim but decides to leave the club after a few performances. Soon after Susan quits, she is gunned down, and Marian quickly becomes a suspect.

A Woman's Secret

1949

Hot Blood poster
5.7

Stephen Torino, who is tricked by his brother Marco into an arranged marriage with tempestuous Annie Caldash. Annie is willing to give the union a go, but Torino wants none of it.

Hot Blood

1956

Wind Across the Everglades poster
6.2

Set in the early 20th century, the film follows a game warden who arrives in Florida to enforce conservation laws. He soon finds himself pitted against Cottonmouth, the leader of a fierce group of bird poachers.

Wind Across the Everglades

1958

Bitter Victory poster
6.4

During the second world war, two British officers, Brand and Leith, who have never seen combat, are assigned a vital mission. Their relationship and the operation are complicated by the arrival of Brand's wife, who had a tryst with Leith years earlier.

Bitter Victory

1957

Bitter Victory poster
6.4

During the second world war, two British officers, Brand and Leith, who have never seen combat, are assigned a vital mission. Their relationship and the operation are complicated by the arrival of Brand's wife, who had a tryst with Leith years earlier.

Bitter Victory

1957