Marlon Brando's screen test for
Rebel Without a Cause (1955) recently surfaced. Had he won the role that forever immortalized Jimmy Dean (whom we find to be the most monumentally overhyped dead celebrity, ever), we probably would hold that overrated piece of teen angst in higher regard. We can only speculate that Brando lost the role because he was A) too old for the role (he and Dean were both 23 at the time, but Brando had already won acclaim as the very manly Stanley in
A Streetcar Named Desire [1951]), and B) far too gorgeous to be believable as a tormented teenager.
Ironically, in the finished film, Corey Allen plays Dean's drag-race nemesis, and bears more than a passing resemblance to Brando. And, frankly, we find him infinitely more appealing than Jimmy. Because, let's face it, darlings - we want our rebels to have a cause: beauty.
