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The Outsiders
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Francis Ford Coppola
Written by	Kathleen Rowell S.E. Hinton (novel)
Produced by	Gray Frederickson Fred Roos
Starring	C. Thomas Howell Matt Dillon Ralph Macchio Rob Lowe Patrick Swayze Emilio Estevez Tom Cruise Diane Lane
Cinematography	Stephen H. Burum
Edited by	Rob Bonz Anne Goursaud Melissa Kent Roy Waldspurger
Music by	Carmine Coppola
Production company	Zoetrope Studios
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	March 25, 1983 (1983-03-25)
Running time	91 minutes (Original Version) 113 minutes (The Complete Novel)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$10 million
Box office	$25,697,647

The Outsiders is a 1983 American drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, an adaptation of the 1967 novel of the same name by S. E. Hinton. The movie was released in March 1983. Jo Ellen Misakian, a librarian at Lone Star Elementary School in Fresno, California, and her students were responsible for inspiring Coppola to make the movie.

The Outsiders is noted for being the breakout film of many future stars. The movie earned C. Thomas Howell a Young Artist Award, became the first Brat Pack movie (with Rob Lowe and Emilio Estevez cast as supporting Greasers), and further established the careers of Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, Ralph Macchio, and Diane Lane. Both Lane and Dillon went on to appear in Coppola's related film Rumble Fish.

Plot

In the beginning Ponyboy Curtis (C. Thomas Howell) is walking home from the movies. As he is bouncing and messing with a red ball, he is reciting parts of the movie that he had just seen when a group of guys pull up in a blue mustang. They start to call him a greaser because he has greasy hair and he tries to ignore him. They are the Socials also known as the rich kids the South Side Socs. The socs stop beside him and get out. They attack Pony, and knock him to the ground as he struggles. The soc on top of Pony, puts his knees on Pony's elbows, saying, "How would you like that haircut to begin just below the neck?" Ponyboy started screaming and struggling. As they Socs try and shut him up, the knife accidentally slips and cuts his head slightly. Soon Darrel Curtis (Patrick Swayze), Sodapop Curtis (Rob Lowe), Johnny Cade (Ralph Macchio), Dallas Winston (Matt Dillion), Steve Randall (Tom Cruise), and Two-Bit Matthews (Emilio Estevez) come too his rescue, hearing his screams. The boys chase off the Socs and Dallas throws a stick at them, as Sodapop runs to see if Ponyboy was okay, but Darry beat him to it, and was kinda lecturing him when Sodapop asked if he was okay, and bent down beside him. He said he was and they all got up and walked home, with a lecture from Darry, and Steve and Steve saying something about his nose.

"When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I only had two things on my mind...Paul Newman and a ride home."

Cast

• C. Thomas Howell as Ponyboy Curtis
• Ralph Macchio as Johnny Cade
• Matt Dillon as Dally Winston
• Rob Lowe as Sodapop "Soda" Curtis
• Patrick Swayze as Darry Curtis
• Diane Lane as Cherry Valance
• Emilio Estevez as Two-Bit Mathews
• Tom Cruise as Steve Randle
• Glenn Withrow as Tim Shepard
• Leif Garrett as Bob Sheldon
• Darren Dalton as Randy Adderson
• Michelle Meyrink as Marcia
• Tom Waits as Buck Merrill
• Gailard Sartain as Jerry Wood
• S. E. Hinton as Nurse

Production

Francis Ford Coppola never actually wanted to make a movie about teen angst. What changed his mind was a middle school class from Lone Star Elementary School in Fresno, CA, great fans of The Godfather, wrote to him about adapting The Outsiders as a film. When he read the book, he was moved and not only directed the film, he also adapted Rumble Fish into a movie the year after, again with Matt Dillon, Diane Lane, and Glenn Withrow.

The actors playing the Socs were put in luxury hotel accommodations and given leather-bound scripts, while the Greaser-actors were put on the ground floor and received tattered scripts. Coppola is said to have done this to create tension between both groups before filming. The cast played pranks on each other and the hotel staff during the shoot. Years later, Tom Cruise met someone who worked at the hotel, and when he discovered that it was the same hotel where he and the rest of the cast had stayed, his first words were, "I'm sorry." Francis Ford Coppola went to arbitration unsuccessfully for the writing credits of this film.

Two-Bit's fascination with Mickey Mouse, as shown in a later scene in the film, was thought up by Emilio Estevez, who approached the character as a "laid back, easy-going guy." This could also be a reference to a deleted scene (not included on the DVD) where Ponyboy tells Cherry about Sodapop's horse riding career and love for a horse named Mickey Mouse. The scene was also intended to highlight that Sodapop's having already suffered some heartbreak before his girlfriend leaves him, as well as the brothers' own sense of loss, but Coppola cut it because he felt it slowed the film's pace down. The scene where Dallas fell out of his seat at the drive-in was unplanned.

The film was shot on location in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Coppola filmed The Outsiders and Rumble Fish back-to-back in 1982. He wrote the screenplay for the latter while on days off from shooting the former. Many of the same locations were used in both films, as were many of the same cast and crew members. The credits are shown at the beginning of the movie in the style normally found in a published play.

Coppola's craving for realism almost led to disaster during the church burning scene. He pressed for "more fire", and the small controlled blaze accidentally triggered a much larger, uncontrolled, fire, which a lucky downpour doused.

Critical reception

The film was met with generally mixed to positive reviews from critics and watchers. Rotten Tomatoes gives The Outsiders a certified 65% "Fresh" rating on its site. One recent book said that the film's realistic portrayal of poor teenagers from the wrong side of the tracks "created a new kind of filmmaking".

Awards and nominations

The Outsiders was nominated for at least four awards upon its release. C. Thomas Howell won the Young Artist Award for the movie in the category "Best Young Motion Picture Actor in a Feature Film." Diane Lane was also nominated for a Young Artist Award, her being nominated for "Best Young Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture", and the whole movie was nominated for the Young Artist Award "Best Family Feature Motion Picture." Francis Ford Coppola was nominated for a Golden prize.

"The Complete Novel" re-release

In September 2005, Coppola re-released the film on DVD, including 22 minutes of additional footage and new music, entitled The Outsiders: The Complete Novel. Coppola re-inserted some deleted scenes to make the movie more faithful to the book. In the beginning of the movie, he added scenes where Ponyboy gets jumped, the gang talks about going to the movies, and Dally, Pony and Johnny bumming around before going to the movies. In the end, Coppola added the scenes in court, Mr. Syme talking to Ponyboy, and Sodapop, Ponyboy and Darry in the park. Also, much of the original score was removed and replaced with music popular in the 1960s. The director also removed several scenes in order to improve pacing, but they could be found on the second disc as additional scenes. In addition, Patrick Swayze, Ralph Macchio, Diane Lane, and C. Thomas Howell gathered at Coppola's estate to watch the re-release. Commentary of the four is available together as well as Matt Dillon and Rob Lowe, who provided commentary at a separate studio.

Music

The original film's score was composed by the director's father, Carmine Coppola; the main title song, "Stay Gold", was sung by Stevie Wonder. The film did include one rock song, "Gloria", by the band Them.

The re-release of the film removes much of Carmine Coppola's original score, and instead replaces it with many songs that were hits from the 1960s when the film takes place, including:

• Real Wild Child - Jerry Lee Lewis
• Gloria - Them
• Out of Limits - The Marketts
• Tomorrow is a Long Time - Bob Dylan (performed by Elvis)
• Mystery Train - Elvis Presley
• We're Gonna Move - Elvis Presley
• Lend Me Your Comb - Carl Perkins
• Milky White Way - Elvis Presley
• Teen Beat - The Ventures
• Stay Gold - Stevie Wonder

References

1. ZOETROPE.COM
2. "The Outsiders" movie, shot in Tulsa, page 1 from tulsatvmemories.com
3. G. Phillips, Godfather: the intimate Coppola, p. 208
4. Hirshenson, A Star is Born, p.86

External links

• Official site
• The Outsiders at IMDb
• Template:Amg movie
• The Outsiders at Box Office Mojo
• Coppola Pays a Return Visit to His 'Gone With the Wind' for Teenagers, a New York Times review of the 2005 version
• S.E. Hinton's Website

• 1980s drama films
• 1983 films
• American coming-of-age films
• American teen drama films
• American Zoetrope films
• English-language films
• Films based on novels
• Films directed by Francis Ford Coppola
• Films set in Oklahoma
• Films set in the 1960s
• Films shot anamorphically
• Films shot in Oklahoma
• Gang films
• Warner Bros. films