The Outsiders....revisited, and the impact it's young stars would later have on Hollywood.. (filmed, theater)

[Time and Space]

This movie to me, is definatly a classic...in many ways...

For one it contained a lot of 'bridge' up and coming actors at the time...
Like the new guard of young, talented male actors, who were replacing the old guard...old guard at the time being Burt Renolds, Clint Eastwood, Lee Majors Marlin Brando and such...

They were known as the Brat pack...

Patrick Swayze as Darrel Curtis

Thomas Howell as Pony boy Curtis..

Robe Lowe as Soda Pop Curtis..

Tome Cruise as Steve Randle..

Matt Dillan as Dallas Winston (my favorite)

Among the more notible actors who literaly went on to change Hollywood and movie watching for a decades...

Each of the above actors went on to become a 'brand name' in their own right...

One thing I noticed about the film, this time around, is that Matt Dillan never shared the screen with Patrick Swayze, or Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe or
Emilio Estevez...who I never knew identified as hispanic until I read his name during rolling credits...

But through out the film...Matt Dillian, never appears in the same frame as those guys...and I wonder why?

Matt Dillan, back then, was 'hot'...he was already a teen star with such films as 'Tex' 'Rumble fish' and others...the other actors, including Tom Cruise, were fairly unknown at the time, until the Outsiders put them on the map..but Matt Dillian was already established...

And maybe that's why he was given his own scenes through out the movie...he only appeared with Ralph Macchio (Johny, Karate Kid star) and Thomas C Howell (Ponyboy, And the guy who later starred in 'Soulman', which I never new until now)

Anyways...the movie really takes a close up look at 'youth'...troubled youth, in an era most of us would equate with 'simple'...but upon closer examination the movie helps us see that youth is never a simple time for those going through it...

And cops were much quicker to shoot back then, as the movie demonstrates...

I'm not sure where I'm going with this review...it's not really a review...rather I'm just writing to point out some notable observances I have about the film...and mainly how it sprung so many of Hollywoods up and coming 80's and 90's actors...

Of all of them Tom Cruise and Patrick Swayze probablly has the longers blockbuster staying power...but in the end, Tom Cruise beat them all...

He rode the wave the longest...and is still riding that wave...I find that interesting considering in this movie, The Outsiders, his role or character just didn't stand out much to me...he seemed like a 'tweeb'...a greaser tweeb...and funny how that 'tweeb' went on to break many box office records...

From his 1981 role in Taps...to the last movie he made in that decade 'Born on the fourth of July'...he really came into his own...

Where as Ralph Macchio pretty much fizzed out with the whole Karate kid series...after that, he was just to typecast...

And I personally think a career killer for Matt Dillian was 'Flamingo Kid'...where he was cast as a 'prepi' of all things...
It would be like casting Darth Vader as one of Santas elves...no...

But Matt Dillian later redeemed himself with 'Drug Store Cowboy' which kinda took him back to his renagade social outcast sexy dark haired boy roots...those are the roles he was born to play...and when he drifted from that...his career suffered...

Some actors are able to play a variety of roles...and others cannot...they can only play 'themselves' in different movies...

And that's where acting skills really come into play, and why Tom Cruise was able to catipolt ahead of the rest of them...cause he had acting versitility...(there's a name for that)

John Wayne, was another type who basically played himself in different movies...I think it's called 'character acting' vs 'method acting'..not sure...

Anyways...aside from the Outsiders (1983) being a great movie...I just think it's neat comparing the different paths each of the starring players in that movie went down...and i'm not sure if any of them ever appeared in a film together after that...

Ok, I'm done...

Oh, one more thing of note that I find interesting...

In the movie, Patrick Swayze was the oldest and wisest, and kind of the sarrogate parent of the whole pack...and I noticed symbolically he kinda carried that role with him throughout his career...

He always came off as being very 'wise'...even in the roles he choose to play...and until the day he died, I always respected him as being the head of that whole era of actors...maybe he wasn't as financially succesful as Tom Cruise...but he always seemed wiser...

[Time and Space]

Correction...

I stated above that Matt Dillan never appeared with any of the other major stars...I was wrong...

At the very beggining of the film...while at a gas station, Matt Dillan and Tom Cruise share a very short scene together...like less than 4 seconds...

The first and last time you ever see those two legendary actors together on film...

And although, in the film, both were 'greasers'...in the scene together Matt Dillans character 'Dallas' is razing, or hazing, Toms character...and you could tell they really didn't get along...they come from two different stocks...

You can tell acting from real annoyance...and in that scene, you see it...Matt was the 'established star' and Tom Cruise was the up and coming snobby type...

Their acting styles and energy are totally different...you can see it even in that short scene...

Tom Cruise is not a 'greaser' type...and I'm amazed he even got cast for that role...he's more of a rich snobby kid type...

Matt Dillan and Patrick Swayze compliment each other better...even in the film...and at the end...they have a brief conversation on the phone...but no actual standing scenes together...again..I find that very interesting...

Was it do to ego? or contractual agreement?

Like how some athletes can't wear Nike, if their sponsor is Addidas...

And maybe Matts people agreed to do the film, but only if he could have his own scenes...cause again, at the time, he was the biggest star of all of them...

And as noted by his character in the film...he was admittedly the only one of them from New York...
He played his role well...so did Patrick...

[MystMoonstruck]

Not all of them were in the Brat Pack. Emilio Estevez and Rob Lowe were considered part of that group, but not the others. Here's information about the Brat Pack members: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brat_Pack_(actors)

Matt Dillon was not really a major star at that time though he had been working steadily, with five films. He wasn't a "hood" though he started out playing such roles. He was quite capable of playing his role in "The Flamingo Kid". As I recall, critics were complimentary, and the film did rather well. Back when Dillon auditioned for "Over the Edge", his film debut, he had arrived acting like a young tough, as in his future role; but, his address was in a good part of the city, so they knew they were seeing someone who could play a troubled delinquent. He was the school bully in "My Bodyguard", but Moody is a rather slick Chicago boy. Dillon graduated to playing a variety of roles and still has a recognizable name. BTW: "Rumble Fish" was released after "The Outsiders", noteworthy because both are based on S.E. Hinton's novels. Actually, the year before those two were released, he appeared in the film version of another Hinton novel: "Tex".

C. Thomas Howell was coming off the success of "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" and was Dillon's equal about then, also starring in a number of films. By the way, Howell plays the lead in "Soul Man"; Glenn Withrow is not in that movie. Howell went into producing/directing and sometimes stars in those films.

Ralph Macchio had a hit with "My Cousin Vinny" and has been fairly active though with no big films at this time.

Actually, at the time of "The Outsiders", Tom Cruise was an enthusiastic young man so ready to throw himself into the role that his parents had to stop him from getting real tattoos (he might have ended up with at least one) and from having his tooth chipped for realism! I doubt that he was on a star trip since he would have known that he had a minor role. He had had two small roles in "Endless Love" and "Taps"; he received quite a bit of attention for the latter, but it wouldn't be till "Risky Business", his fifth film, that people really paid attention and he headed toward being a full-fledged star. "Top Gun" was two films after that.

Remember that Patrick Swayze still had to wait for "Dirty Dancing" to bring him to public attention. He wasn't in any way the focus of "The Outsiders".

Emilio Estevez is the son of Martin Sheen (born Ramon Estevez), therefore the brother of Charlie Sheen, who chose to use his father's acting name. I suppose he would be considered Hispanic.

You might be applying too much of their later life to these very early roles. They have to be judged by the time period they are in. Also, they were being directed by Francis Ford Coppola, so I doubt that anyone was on a "star trip". In fact, Martin Sheen is supposed to have spoken to Coppola about not being too harsh with the young cast because he personally knew what the director could be like. He was concerned about his son and the others. Coppola was surprisingly patient and even rehearsed the rumble scene to ensure everyone's safety.

I know quite a bit about the film because I saw it many times (enough that the theater refunded my money most evenings) and collected a great deal of material on it because I was a fan of many actors in the cast and have read the novel numerous times, especially while I was a teacher. I also recall watching numerous interviews of the actors and of the director.

I would say that, when they filmed "The Outsiders", all of them still were up-and-coming actors who had a way to go. I don't think there was a major star on that set, including Diane Lane.

NOTE: Darren Dalton, who played a Soc, is still acting and was a cast member of "Red Dawn", in which he again co-starred with Swayze and Howell, plus Estevez's brother, Charlie Sheen.

Glenn Withrow's credits: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0936780/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
I don't think he ever achieved name recognition. He's in "Rumble Fish" and in "The Cotton Club", co-starring in both with "The Outsiders" cast members.

[yamota]

Diane Lane was in this too, she did okay for herself, academy award nominee that's all

[Mark S.]

It is a great movie. As for favorite stars in the movie, each shines in their own way.

Tom Cruise -- Went on to become the biggest star. But I'd honestly forgotten he was even in this movie. His part was so small.

Patrick Swayze? -- Of all the stars, he was definitely the best guest on SNL.

Matt Dillan? -- Wins for corniest line: "Let's do it for Johnny!"

Thomas C Howell (ponyboy)? -- Wins for all time greatest name. "See Thomas Howl." But his is probably the best performance in the movie.

Ralph Macchio (Karate kid) -- Second best performance in the movie. He's gotta be in his mid-40s by now, but the last photo I saw of him, he still looked 15.

Elmilio Estevez (the one who wore the micky m shirt)? -- Funniest character in the movie. A better actor than his subsequent film roles showed.

Glenn Withrow (later starred in 'The Soul Man')? -- I have no idea who that is.

[yamota]

Leif Garrett was in this too, Leif Garrett was HUGE in the 70s, and I mean a HUGE teen idol...but by The Outsiders he was already a has been, and these days hardly anybody even remembers him anymore

[D217]

Originally Posted by yamota

Leif Garrett was in this too, Leif Garrett was HUGE in the 70s, and I mean a HUGE teen idol...but by The Outsiders he was already a has been, and these days hardly anybody even remembers him anymore

Hahhaa, he's now a regular cast member on World's Dumbest... on trutv.



World's Dumbest Performers 12 # 10 - YouTube

[hitman619]

Tom Cruise had one of the smallest parts in the movie but became the biggest actor of them all.
Hell he even surpassed them all the same year the movie came out (All the Right moves,Risky Businesses)

Outsiders: March 25, 1983
All The right moves: October 21, 1983
Risky Business: August 5, 1983

[OzzyRules]

In this particular film, I thought that C Thomas Howell and Ralph Macchio did the best jobs. Also probably influenced by having a good director.