youth than the American family unit itself. He criticized the film for overgeneralizing, calling this aspect a "convenient cliche", and summed up his review by describing the film as "a superficial treatment of a vital problem that has been staged brilliantly". Robert J. Landry, managing editor of Variety magazine at the time, wrote a review published on October 26. He described Rebel as a "fairly exciting, suspenseful and provocative, if also occasionally far-fetched, melodrama of unhappy youth on another delinquency kick." Unlike some movie critics, Landry thought that James Dean, under the influence of Nicholas Ray's direction, had mostly freed his acting of the mannerisms characteristic of Marlon Brando's style, and that his performance in the movie was "very effective". He praised Dean's interpretation of a maladjusted teenager, noting his ability "to get inside the skin" of his character as "not often encountered". Wanda Hale of the New York Daily News found fault with Rebels depiction, in her view, of its adults as cardboard figures and of its middle-class teenagers as hoodlums, arguing that it lacked credibility and that "[a]s an honest purposeful drama of juvenile hardness and violence the film just doesn't measure up." On the other hand, she praised James Dean's acting, writing, "[w]ith complete control of the character, he gives a fine, sensitive performance of an unhappy, lonely teenager, tormented by the knowledge of his emotional instability." Rebel was censored in Britain by the British Board of Film Censors and released with scenes cut and an X-rating. Most of the knife fight was excised and not shown on British screens until 1967. The film was banned in New Zealand in 1955 by Chief Censor Gordon Mirams, out of fears that it would incite 'teenage delinquency', only to be released on appeal the following year with scenes cut and an R16 rating. Rebel was also banned in Spain, where it had to be smuggled into the country for private screenings, and wasn't officially released there until 1964. Rebel Without a Cause holds a 93% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 54 reviews, with an average rating of 8.20/10. The critical consensus reads, "Rebel Without a Cause is a searing melodrama featuring keen insight into '50s juvenile attitude and James Dean's cool, iconic performance." Awards and accolades American Film Institute recognition 1998 AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies #59 2005 AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes "You're tearing me