Christine and Rebel Without A Cause

I just watched the 1955 classic, "Rebel Without A Cause."  I was surprised to find I liked it a lot. The movie reminded me a lot of another car movie about a troubled young man -- Christine.  

Consider, both Christine and Rebel Without A Cause. . .

• Are about troubled youth.  
• Involve an outcast teenager.
• Include a love triangle. 
• In the movie Christine, Arnie wears a red suede jacket like James Dean.
• Introduce parents  who are weak and unable to connect with their teen.
• Include a car as a major part of the plot.  And the car, in both tales, brings death.

This made me wonder -- did Rebel Without A Cause play any role in the formation of King's idea for Christine? Laura Wright at Haunted Masters Club says that King is rumored to have written Christine based on James Dean's Porsche Spyder.  (hauntmastersclub.com cars and curses)

Wait a minute!  So the thrust of the movie itself is not what interested King, but James Dean and his personal car?  That's what Wright is saying.  And Wright is not alone. Consider this from Under World Tales, 

A lot of people would swear that there wasn't a curse at all, but that there was a malevolent spirit in that Porsche--a spirit that had been there all along. Or the car itself might have been evil, similarly to the Chrysler Fury in Stephen King's Christine. 

It turns out that James Dean's car, a 1955 Porsche Spyder, has quite the haunted history.  Was King aware of this and basing Christine on the spooky legacy of Dean's Spyder?

Consider a few things about James Dean's car -- Wright says that people in Dean's social circle were "anxious" (spooked?) when they were around the car.

Famed car designer and Dean’s personal automobile customizer, George Barris, stated the vehicle gave, “weird feelings of impending doom.” Actress Malia Nurmi, better known as Vampyra, is reported to have been horrified by the car and begged him to get rid of it. Dean was frequently warned against driving the vehicle, but chose to ignore the words of friends and business acquaintances. 

Wikipedia offers the following encounter with actor Alec Guinness (of Star Wars fame),

When Dean introduced himself to British actor Alec Guinness outside the Villa Capri restaurant in Hollywood, he asked him to take a look at his brand new Porsche Spyder. Guinness thought the car appeared 'sinister' and told Dean: "If you get in that car, you will be found dead in it by this time next week." 

The encounter with Guiness took place September 23, 1955.  Seven days after that conversation, September 23, 1955, Dean died in a terrible car wreck on the way to race his Spyder.  It was a head-on collision that was the result of Dean driving too fast. (September 30,1955)


From there the story gets even more interesting.  This is from Wright's article, "Christine Syndrome: Cars and Curses" (www.hauntmastersclub.com)

The wreckage was purchased and taken to a garage where, on arrival, the broken heap of metal slipped from the trailer and broke a mechanic’s leg.   

The engine and drive train were each purchased by one of two doctors. The two physicians were friends and racers themselves. The first placed the engine in his racing car while the other installed the drive train in his vehicle. They raced their newly renovated cars together on October 2, 1956. The doctor who used the engine hit a tree and died instantly. The other was seriously injured when he went too fast into a curve and his car rolled.   

Two of the Spyder’s tires remained in good condition and were sold. The purchaser returned them the next week and claimed they both blew, at the same time, while he was driving and he went in a ditch. Two souvenir thieves attempted to take parts from the wreckage and both were injured. One thief had a more serious injury when trying to reach inside the vehicle. A shard of metal gashed his arm open lengthwise.  

It became clear the vehicle, and its parts, would not be used for driving again. It went on display with the California Department of Transportation. The vehicle showed the dangers of racing and driving recklessly. It was carried throughout the country, but the “bad luck,” started after only two exhibitions.  

The third exhibition was in Fresno, California. While the car was being stored in a garage, the building went up in flames. The entire structure, and all equipment, was consumed and scorched in the fire. Except the Spyder, it survived with only minor paint damage.

Later when the car was on display at a high school, misfortune hit again, a high school student was injured when the bolts holding the displayed wreckage broke. There are conflicting reports as to what happened to the student. One report states his legs were crushed, while the other claims his hip was broken.  

As if that weren’t enough, the vehicle soon found itself in the middle of tragedy again. While being transported via truck, the driver lost control of his automobile. He was thrown from the vehicle, but survived, until the Spyder fell from its place onto him. He was crushed.

WHOA!  That makes me think all the more of Christine.  So what happened to the Spyder?  It disappeared!  When being shipped from Miami to LA, it just disappeared!  Wright says, " When the boxcar arrived and was opened, the crate was there, but no car. No one knows what happened to infamous automobile."

I cannot find any comments by King about Christine and any influence James Dean's car or the movie Rebel Without A Cause might have played in the formation of the novel itself.