David Weisbart

Jim Stark, a new kid in town whose loneliness, frustration and anger mirrored those of postwar teens, is still reverberating 50 years later. Though he finds some of this in his relation with Judy, and a form of it in both Plato's adulation and Ray's concern for him, Jim must still prove himself to his peers.

Three girls come to New York City and later, Hollywood, to chase their dreams of stardom: there's Anne, the innocent secretary type who becomes an assistant to a large theatrical agent; Neely, an aspiring chorus girl with pluck who dreams of being a singer; and the beautiful blonde Jennifer, who longs to be a real actress, but is destined to be regarded as a sex object. Life has a lot to give them, but there are prices for fame and fortune-- addictions...

Rebel without a cause (1955): The adolescent son of a well-to-do family gets into trouble with other kids and the police. East of Eden (1955): A wayward Salinas Valley youth vies for the affection of his hardened father with his favored brother. Cat on a hot tin roof (1958): A drama of the problems of a wealthy but decadent family in the South. A streetcar named Desire (1951): Set in the steamy squalor of New Orleans, the story of a neurotic woman's...

Them!: "Radiation-mutated ants--12 feet long and capable of lifting tons--become giant problems in the desert."--Container. The beast from 20,000 fathoms: "An A-bomb test in the Arctic awakens a gargantuan prehistoric dinosaur that makes New York City its stomping ground."--Container. From a story by Ray Bradbury. World without end: "Mars-mission astronauts skid on a time warp into a post-apocalyptic future earth marked by fear, mutant monstrosities...