As a theoretical concept the term auteur has been used to describe directors, who's work contains their personal vision. Hence, the director of the film becomes an auteur by driving personal and artistic control of the film. In his films, Nicholas Ray uses common themes, settings, cinematography, genre, and narrative structure as his personal connection to the audience. Which in turn gives each film a common by distinctive style. By examining three films of Ray, (They Live by night, On Dangerous Ground, and Rebel Without a Cause), one might conclude that the key idea of the dysfunctional family helps drives each stylistic aspect of all three films.
The dysfunctional family is one of a few themes present in Nicholas Ray's films. Another recurrent theme in Ray's films is the idea of troubled youth. Ray's protagonists are often juvenile delinquents. For example, in They Live by Night, the characters Bowie and Keechie, are one the run. Bowie, having previously broken out of jail with fellow convicts Chicamaw and T-Dub, is wanted for the murder of a police officer; Chicamaw shot the officer. His acquaintanceship with Chicamaw and T-Dub, leads Bowie into robbing a bank. Bowie's grounds for robbing the bank is to gather money for a lawyer to handle his case. After the shooting, Bowie and Keechie take off. .
Both Bowie and Keechie grew up in dysfunctional families. Keechie's mother ran off early in her life and she now lives with her alcoholic father. Keechie's father is a hopeless drunk and small time criminal. Bowie's mother also ran off with another man, however the situation was different and more traumatizing to a child. After a pool bar fight leads to the death of Bowie's father, his mother supposedly runs off with the man who killed his father. .
The theme of troubled youth also is seen in On Dangerous Ground. In the film Mary's brother Danny has committed murder, killing a local town girl.