East Of Eden / Rebel Without A Cause [1954]

Of the two, 'Eden' is the more conventional, with Dean as the mixed-up son of straight-laced Raymond Massey but it is of course 'Rebel' that confirmed Dean's status as teenage icon (even though he was already 24 years old). With this movie he became a symbol of teenage rebellion that millions could identify with in the mid-fifties - the decade which virtually 'invented' the teenager.

At the time, Dean was dismissed as 'another dirty shirt tail actor from New York' by Hedda Hopper - as so often, completely out of touch with what young moviegoers wanted - and it is difficult to know what would have become of the actor had he lived. His final movie, 'Giant' was a sprawling, Hollywood-heavy epic far away from the youthful, dynamic energy of 'Rebel Without a Cause'.

Nevertheless, watching these performances almost fifty years later, James Dean may not have been the greatest movie actor there ever was, but these two movies remind us exactly why he remains a legend bigger than many 'better' actors.