The Outsiders (1983) on Netflix
In 1965 Tulsa, Ponyboy Curtis, fourteen, runs with the Greasers, the working-class north-side gang feuding with the rich Socs. His friend Johnny Cade gets nothing from his parents.
- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb7.0/10111,317 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes63%
Trailer
Plot summary
Ponyboy Curtis, fourteen, is the youngest of the three Curtis brothers, orphaned and living on Tulsa's north side in 1965. Darry, the oldest, raises him and Sodapop, who left school to work full time. All three belong to the Greasers, a working-class gang that includes Johnny Cade and the volatile Dallas Winston, newly out of prison. The Socs, their primary rivals, are rich boys from the south side of town. At a drive-in, Dallas flirts with Soc girl Cherry Valance and leaves angry after she splashes him with soda. Cherry and her friend Marcia sit with Ponyboy and Johnny, and afterward Cherry's boyfriend Bob Sheldon and Randy Anderson confront the group. Two-Bit Matthews pulls a switchblade, and the girls leave with the Soc boys. Ponyboy fears any trouble will let the authorities split up his family.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Outsiders (1983)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Francis Ford Coppola had not intended to make a film about teen angst until a school librarian from Lone Star Elementary School in Fresno, California wrote to him on behalf of her seventh and eighth grade students, attaching roughly 15 pages of children's signatures in different colors.
- Michael Peter Balzary, better known as Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, and Cam Neely, a future NHL player and Hockey Hall of Fame member, both had uncredited appearances as rival gang members in the rumble scene.
- 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 that a downpour doused.
- The original length of the film was 133 minutes, but Warner Bros. felt the film was a mistake and too long, so Coppola cut it down to 91 minutes for the theatrical release.
- Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Michael Hall, Scott Baio and Dennis Quaid all auditioned for roles in the film but were not cast.
- After the house used in the film went through extensive renovations to restore it and keep its authenticity, a 2016 GoFundMe raised additional funds, with notable donors including Jack White, who gave $30,000, and Billy Idol.
- Rob Lowe said Tom Cruise went "ballistic" over having to share a room with him during the auditions, where Ralph Macchio, a New Yorker who did not know any of the other actors auditioning, felt like an outsider.
- Val Kilmer was approached for a role in the film, but turned it down as he was prepping for a Broadway play, The Slab Boys.
