East of Eden (1955)

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Directed by Elia Kazan.

Starring Dick Davalos, James Dean, Jo Van Fleet, Burl Ives, Raymond Massey, Julie Harris.

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This truncated screen version of John Steinbeck's best-seller was the first starring vehicle for explosive 1950s screen personality James Dean, who plays Cal Trask, the "bad" son of taciturn Salinas valley lettuce farmer Adam Trask (Raymond Massey). Although he means well, Cal can't stay out of trouble, nor is he able to match the esteem in which his father holds his "good" brother Aron (Richard Davalos). Only Aron's girlfriend Abra (Julie Harris) and kindly old sheriff Sam Burl Ives) can see the essential goodness in the troublesome Cal. When Adam invests in a chancy and wholly unsuccessful method of shipping his crops east, his wealth plummets. In an effort to save the business, Cal obtains money from his estranged mother (the proprietor of a whorehouse) and invests it in a risky new bean crop. The gamble pays off (thanks in no small part to the war), but Adam refuses to take the money from Cal, and the resultant quarrel causes Adam to have a stroke. Released the same year as Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden provided Dean with his first Oscar nomination, for Best Actor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

10 Posthumous Oscar Nominations ...
by SpoutBlog in SpoutBlog on spout.com

hasn't rated it.

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"Though I first buzzed about an Academy Award nomination for Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight more than a month before his death, I now want to take it all back. I feel all the talk of Ledger’s posthumous Oscar chances will cloud my mind when I finally do see it, and it will probably also cloud the Academy’s judgment, too. Six months from now, when the nominations are announced on January 22 (coincidentally the one-year anniversary of Ledger’s death), if Ledger is not recognized for his role as The Joker, there will surely be an uproar — actually, Hollywood might just up and self-implode. I’m not the only one annoyed by all the Oscar buzz. Terry Gilliam, who directed Ledger in The Brothers Grimm and the upcoming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, is calling “bullshit” on the whole thing, particularly against Warner Bros., which Gilliam accuses of exploiting Ledger’s death and chance of a posthumous Oscar for publicity purposes. Considering most Oscar campaigns for live actors are r ... " [More]

East of Eden on Reel 13
by jjgittes in jjgittes Blog

liked it.

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"James Dean made only three films before his tragic and untimely death on September 30, 1955. EAST OF EDEN is the only one I hadn’t seen and the second of the three to be shown on Reel 13 (Somehow, I doubt they will show GIANT to make it a clean sweep – it’s over three hours long). I was particularly curious about East of Eden because it paired Dean with one of his Actors’ Studio mentors – director Elia Kazan. Kazan introduced the more naturalistic "method" acting style (of which Dean was a disciple) to Hollywood with films like A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE and ON THE WATERFRONT. The impact of the collaboration is most apparent in that Dean, for the only time in his brief career, seems to be surrounded by actors with a similar background and training. In the blog for REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, I noted how it often seemed that Dean was acting in his own (better) movie, but here, he is amongst peers in Julie Harris, Burl Ives, Lois Smith and Jo Van Fleet, who won ... " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

loved it.

A grand, visually remarkable adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel, East of Eden was one of the films responsible for the cult that grew up around James Dean. Released in 1955, the same year as Dean's Rebel Without a Cause, Eden featured the actor in his sullen, troubled prime, rolling his eyes, mumbling his words, and stuffing his hands into his pockets as only he knew how. At once angry and vulnerable, Dean's performances in both movies established him as an icon of youthful discontent for decades to come. Aside from its place in the Dean iconography, East of Eden remains remarkable for Elia Kazan's use of CinemaScope, capturing with harsh vibrancy the expanse and breathtaking desolation of the California farmlands. The landscape crackles with a moody intensity that mirrors the conflicts among the film's central characters. In this respect, East of Eden earned its place in Hollywood legend: it featured great performances from its human principals, while the scenery gave a spellbinding performance in its own right. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Tags: Best-Supporting-Actress , based-on-a-book , brothel , brother , family
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