Editing Nicholas Ray (section)

=== Themes and stories ===
Most of Ray's films take place in the United States, and biographer Bernard Eisenschitz stresses the distinctively American themes that run through his motion pictures, and Ray's life. His early work alongside Alan Lomax, as a WPA folklorist and then in radio, and his acquaintance with musicians including Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Pete Seeger and [[Josh White]], informed his approach to American society in his films, and the interest in [[ethnography]] evident in his films.<ref>Deutsch and Shaw, "Citizen Nick," pp. 109–21.</ref> Ray frequently made films characterized by their examination of outsider figures, and most of his movies implicitly or explicitly critique conformity.<ref name=":0" /> With examples including ''They Live By Night'' and ''Rebel Without a Cause'', he has been cited for his sympathetic treatment of contemporary youth, but other films of his adeptly deal with the crises of more experienced and older characters, among them ''In A Lonely Place'', ''The Lusty Men'', ''Johnny Guitar'' and ''Bigger Than Life''. The stories and themes explored in his films stood out in their time for being non-conformist and sympathetic to or even encouraging of instability and the adoption of then-questionable morals. His work has been singled out for the unique way in which it "define[s] the peculiar anxieties and contradictions of America in the '50s."<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Rafferty|first=Terrence|date=2014|title=The Strange Case of Nicholas Ray|url=https://www.dga.org/Craft/DGAQ/All-Articles/1403-Summer-2014/Classics-Ray.aspx|access-date=September 22, 2021|website=www.dga.org|language=en}}</ref>