September 30, 1955 from a store. They evade the police and have a party near the Arkansas River, where Jimmy J. grows upset that his friends do not understand the depth of his grief. When Frank asks how Jimmy J. can care so much about someone he has never met, Jimmy J. explains that he has seen "East of Eden" four times, and Billie Jean claims to have seen it 22 times; they were anticipating the release of James Dean's two other films, "Rebel Without a Cause" later that month and "Giant" the following year. Jimmy J. and Billie Jean met seeing "East
Rebel Without a Cause a goddamn juvenile delinquent! "Now" do I get the part?!" Dawson High School, the school in the film, was actually Santa Monica High School, located in Santa Monica, California. Exterior scenes at the abandoned mansion to which the characters retreat were filmed at the William O. Jenkins House, previously used in the film "Sunset Boulevard" (1950). It was demolished just two years after filming. Irving Shulman, who adapted Nicholas Ray's initial film story into the screenplay, had considered changing the name of James Dean's character to Herman Deville, according to Jurgen Muller's "Movies of the '50s". He had also originally