FAQ

Hinton gives each of the characters in her novel a short history. Dallas was a transplant from New York City where he lived for 3 years in a bad neighborhood and was a gang member there as well.

However Dallas' real problem, which is revealed later in the movie and the novel is that his parents are neglectful, possibly abusive. At one point Dallas tells Johnny and Ponyboy that his father doesn't care about him and that Dallas doesn't let it bother him. However, it probably affects him deep inside in ways he doesn't understand.

Pony, in returning the insult from the Socs, uses the word "madras", which was a style of plaid fabric used to make shirts like the Socs who attacked them wore. The best example visible onscreen is worn by the Soc who falls into the fountain while he and his buddies are dunking Pony.

"Mustangs" obviously refers to the Ford Mustang that some Socs drive. The one driven by Bob is a 1965 hardtop.

Coppola decided that his father's original score was so over-operatic that it distanced the audience from the characters, so for the new cut, it was replaced with period music. The edit itself was made in large part because of Coppola's granddaughter. S.E. Hinton's original novel is required reading in many middle school English classes, and Coppola's granddaughter was reaching the age where she would be required to read it. Coppola says he was asked, either by her or a classmate, why so many scenes from the book were not in the final cut of the movie. He decided for the sake of his granddaughter and her classmates to restore the missing scenes.

SE Hinton has Pony explain in the book that Johnny is essentially the weakest member of the group and also the one they're all most likely to both pity and protect. Prior to the opening of the story, Johnny had been attacked by a group of Socs in the recent past who slashed his face with a knife and had beaten him badly and had threatened him into extreme fear. After the attack, the rest of the gang began to protect him and Pony because they were the gang's youngest members.

One of Johnny's attackers, Bob, wore several rings on his fingers which added to the vicious beating. After the incident Johnny started carrying a switchblade.

Also, in the novel Ponyboy says that Johnny is probably the only thing Dally ever loved. That may be the reason that Dallas would listen to Johnny in that situation.