The Outsiders

Part of the special series FROM THE HEART

The Outsiders are youth gangs in Tulsa, USA, in the 1960s. The lower-class kids around Ponyboy (C. Thomas Howell), his two older brothers Soda (Rob Lowe) and Darry (Patrick Swayze) and their friends (karate kid Ralph Macchio, Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez and Tom Cruise) call themselves the ‘Greasers’. They rival the ‘Socials’ - bored kids from better homes who don't shy away from using razors. When two Greasers fall in love with the girlfriends of Socs members Cherry (Diane Lane) and Marcia (Michelle Meyrink), the situation escalates.

S.E. Hinton's novel THE OUTSIDERS is still considered a longseller and is an integral part of the US school curriculum. After some Californian seventh and eighth grade students and fans of THE GODFATHER wrote Coppola a letter drawing his attention to the 1967 book THE OUTSIDERS, he was enthusiastic about it and saw great potential for a good film. Together with Hinton, Coppola eventually wrote the screenplay for the film. The enthusiasm for H.E. Hinton's work continued, as Coppola made another of the author's novels into a film: RUMBLE FISH.