In 1983, while adapting The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton’s famous novel about young, full-blooded Oklahoma gangs with names like Ponyboy and Sodapop, Francis Ford Coppola was dissatisfied. He didn’t like the style of his adaptation, finding the color and direction too saccharine; here was a film about hard times that risked making those times look like the good old days. During production he started reading another S.E. Hinton young adult book about young, full-blooded Oklahoma gangs with names like Motorcycle Boy, Smokey, and Rusty James: Rumble Fish. While finishing work on the former, Coppola dreamed of filming the latter, which he found personal and saw as the perfect avenue for artistic expression.

The story of Rumble Fish takes us back to the rougher, poorer areas of Tulsa, Oklahoma. High schooler Rusty James is trying to fill a hole that started to fill up space when his brother, Motorcycle Boy,...