Dean Rides Again in a New Release of ‘Rebel Without a Cause’

James Dean’s most beloved movie, 1955’s “Rebel Without a Cause,” has never looked better than it does in its new digital edition (Warner, $25).

Time had not been kind to the Nicholas Ray-directed youth drama, which also stars Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo. The color had faded into a dull pink, and prints were often scratchy and dirty. But the wide-screen version featured on this collector’s edition has been digitally mastered from newly restored materials.

And it’s gorgeous. The WarnerColor is crisp and sharp. The pinkish hues have made way to vibrant colors. The scratches and dirt are now history, and the soundtrack is also first-rate.

Included on the DVD is the theatrical trailer for “Rebel,” as well as the coming attractions for the other Dean classics, “East of Eden” and “Giant.”

The other bonus material was previously featured in a special VHS edition that was released a few years ago, but these goodies look even better on DVD. Included is the wonderful documentary “Rediscovering a Rebel,” which features the original opening, the original, more artsy ending and Mineo’s screen test, which was shot on the old set of “Streetcar Named Desire.”

Gig Young hosts three behind-the-camera TV documentaries that aired before the film opened. One is a segment in which Dean talks about driver safety--only months before he died in a car crash.

*

Warner has uncovered a deleted song for its DVD edition of the sprightly 1957 musical comedy “The Pajama Game” ($20). Doris Day, John Raitt, Carole Haney and Eddie Foy Jr. star in the Stanley Donen/George Abbott-directed version of the hit Broadway play about labor and management at a pajama factory. Available in both wide-screen and pan-and-scan, the “Pajama Game” DVD features the song “The Man Who Invented Love,” which composer Richard Adler wrote for the film. It was cut and later replaced with a reprise of “Hey, There.” Though not memorable, “The Man Who Invented Love” is powerfully rendered by Day.

Also new from Warner is the digitalized version of the 1972 classic “Deliverance” ($20). Directed by John Boorman, the thriller based on the James Dickey novel deals with four friends who get more than they bargained for when they go on a survivalist canoe trip in the backwoods of Georgia. The disc, which offers both wide-screen and pan-and-scan, features the trailer, cast and crew bios and the behind-the-scenes documentary “The Dangerous World of Deliverance,” which features interviews with Dickey and Boorman, who confesses that the two of them had a difficult relationship on the set.

For the family, there’s the Columbia TriStar special edition of the 1982 fantasy “The Dark Crystal” ($25). The first fully animatronic feature film, “Dark Crystal” was directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz and was based on the drawings of conceptual artist Brian Froud. The disc features the wide-screen version, cast and crew biographies, production notes, an isolated music score by Trevor Jones, trailers, several deleted scenes, character concept drawings and profiles, and a 60-minute documentary, “The World of the Dark Crystal,” featuring rare footage and cast and crew interviews.