September 30, 1955
September 30, 1955 (originally titled 9/30/55) is a 1977 drama film written and directed by James Bridges and starring Richard Thomas. Plot On the evening of September 30, 1955 in Conway, Arkansas, college student Jimmy J. watches the film East of Eden alone in a theater. The next day at football practice, he hears that the film's star, James Dean, was killed in a road accident in California around the same time that Jimmy J. was viewing the film. He runs to the local radio station, desperate to learn the details. The radio disk jockey, while reading the morning news on-air, makes a brief announcement of James Dean's death. Jimmy J. calls his friend Billie Jean, a working-class girl who also admires Dean. Jimmy J. takes his girlfriend Charlotte, his roommate Hanley and another college couple, Frank and his girlfriend Pat, off-campus in Jimmy J's car. They buy some food at a local grocery store and Jimmy J. steals some liquor. They have a party on the banks of Arkansas River, where Jimmy J. grows upset that his friends do not understand the depth of his grief. When Frank belittles Jimmy J. for caring so much about someone whom he has never met, Jimmy J. explains that he has seen East of Eden four times, and that the absent Billie Jean has seen it 22 times, and they have been anticipating the release of Dean's Rebel Without a Cause later that month. Jimmy J. sculpts an Academy Award statuette out of mud, strips to his underwear, covers himself in dirt and wet sand, and conducts a ceremony to summon Dean's spirit. He perceives a dog barking in the distance as a sign. The police arrive, but the group escapes back to town, where Frank and Pat tell Jimmy J. that he is disturbed. Charlotte agrees to let Jimmy J. continue the séance at her house later. Returning to his dormitory, Jimmy J. is surprised that his mother, little brother and aunt have come to take him to a movie. His mother is disappointed by his dirty appearance and worries that he will end up a loser like his estranged father. Jimmy J. calls Billie Jean and invites her to Charlotte's house that evening for the séance. Coach Haynes arrives at the dorm to confront Jimmy J., disciplining him for leaving football practice that morning. Fellow student Eugene joins Jimmy J. and Hanley as they leave the campus once again, and they stop to pick up Billie Jean, finding her dressed like the character Vampira (a real-life paramour of James Dean), wearing heavy makeup and a black cape. She attempts to seduce Jimmy J., but he rebuffs her. At Charlotte's house, Billie Jean darkens the room, lights candles and clears the furniture. When Charlotte and Jimmy J. are alone, she confronts him about Billie Jean, but he states that, though he is untrustworthy like his father, he has not had sex with Billie Jean. When the group uses a Ouija board