{"id":4174,"date":"2024-09-24T02:17:44","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T02:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=4174"},"modified":"2024-10-12T20:53:18","modified_gmt":"2024-10-12T20:53:18","slug":"east-of-eden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/09\/24\/east-of-eden\/","title":{"rendered":"East of Eden"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"East of Eden <\/strong>(1955)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Warner Bros.\/Drama\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 115 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not Rated (thematic elements, some violent content)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Elia Kazan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Paul Osborn\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Leonard Rosenman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Ted D. McCord\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: April 10, 1955 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: James Dean, Julie Harris, Raymond Massey, Richard Davalos, Burl Ives, Jo Van Fleet, Albert Dekker, Harold Gordon, Nick Dennis, Lois Smith, Timothy Carey, Barbara Baxley, Richard Garrick, Lonny Chapman, Lester Dorr.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: N\/A<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ****<\/p>\n

\u00a0Okay film lovers, who can tell me what terrible tragedy occurred on September 30, 1955? It\u2019s the day actor James Dean died in a car accident. He was only 24. It was a terrible loss. He left an indelible mark on cinema even though his filmography consists of only three titles*- East of Eden<\/strong>, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant. Of those, East of Eden<\/strong> is the only one that came out during his short lifetime. In his first role, the enigmatic young actor gave a powerhouse performance wrapped in the promise of great things to come. Now it\u2019s a show of tremendous potential never realized.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Based on the second part of John Steinbeck\u2019s magnum opus novel, East of Eden<\/strong> is essentially a retelling of the Biblical story of Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve. If you remember your Sunday school lessons, you know how it goes. In a nutshell, Abel was the good son and Cain was the bad one. Jealous of the Lord favoring his brother\u2019s offering, Cain killed Abel and was cursed by God to forever wander the Earth. The title comes from Genesis 4:16- \u201cAnd Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the Land of Nod, on the east of Eden.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0Set in 1917 on the eve of WWI, the story takes place in the California coastal towns of Monterey and Salinas separated by the Santa Lucia Mountains. Cal (Dean) resides in the farming community of Salinas with his twin brother Aron (Davalos, Cool Hand Luke) and deeply religious father Adam (Massey, Abe Lincoln in Illinois). Like their Biblical counterparts, Aron is the favored son and Cal is the bitter, jealous one. All his life, all he ever wanted was his father\u2019s love and approval, but he never got it. Adam gave it all to Aron and still does.<\/p>\n

\u00a0As the movie opens, Cal has just discovered that he and Aron\u2019s mother Kate (Fleet, I\u2019ll Cry Tomorrow) is alive and running a brothel in Monterey. It contradicts what their father\u2019s been telling them about her dying when they were babies. The truth is she left Adam not long after the boys were born. He decides to keep it from Aron… for now.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Adam, a successful farmer, is about to embark on a bold new enterprise, a long-haul vegetable shipping business that depends on keeping produce cold for long periods. It fails leaving Adam broke and disheartened. Cal decides to recoup his father\u2019s losses by starting a bean-growing business with money he borrows from his mother. It should prove profitable as the price of beans will skyrocket with the onset of war. He hopes a successful venture will help fix things between him and his father. He\u2019ll finally get the love that\u2019s been denied to him all his life.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Meanwhile, Aron\u2019s fiancee Abra (Harris, The Haunting) starts to fall for Cal. He has feelings for her too. If things were already tense between the brothers, this development will drive a wedge between them forever.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Directed by Elia Kazan (On the Waterfront), East of Eden<\/strong> is the kind of film they don\u2019t make enough of anymore. It\u2019s a character-driven piece about regular people NOT defined by super-powers or the kind of car they drive. They\u2019re defined instead by their distinct personalities and complex psychological makeup. Cal Trask is a fascinating character. He\u2019s a moody, emotionally fragile young man tormented by his father constantly passing him over in favor of a brother that can do no wrong. He\u2019s further troubled by his growing feelings towards Abra. He feels guilty about betraying his brother, but he has no control over how she feels about him. Rather than strong and stoic, Cal is vulnerable and self-loathing. Always plagued by self-doubt, he\u2019s absolutely convinced he\u2019s innately bad. In modern terms, he\u2019s pretty screwed up. Only an actor of Dean\u2019s intensity could portray such a character so convincingly. His Method acting style, in conjunction with his completely uninhibited performance, makes him a standout not only among his co-stars, but among other young stars of his generation as well. He reminds me of Marlon Brando, another unconventional type known for Method performances.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The rest of the cast is superb as well, particularly Van Fleet who won an Oscar for her performance as the absentee mother. Kate is a rough-edged sort who encompasses both sentimentality and bitterness, especially towards Adam for trying to force her into a life she didn\u2019t want. She still resents him for his self-righteous ways. When Cal tells her what he plans to do with the money she lends him, she points out the irony of her ill-gotten gains helping out her moralistic ex-husband then follows it up by remarking, \u201cIf you don\u2019t think that\u2019s funny, you better not go to college.\u201d Harris is also very good as the woman caught between two brothers, the stable one and the unpredictable one. She\u2019s the neutralizing force to Dean\u2019s emotional instability. Massey has some good scenes as Cal\u2019s emotionally distant father, a man so wrapped up in piety, he can\u2019t see his son\u2019s existential suffering. Davalos does fine work as Aron who becomes angry and jealous as Abra finds her way into Cal\u2019s arms.<\/p>\n

\u00a0East of Eden <\/strong>is an outstanding film, there\u2019s no better way to say it. It\u2019s a fantastic acting showcase and compelling human drama. Sure, it veers into melodrama on more than one occasion. Yes, Dean can be a bit much for the uninitiated. Neither of these things is a problem. Kazan, a master filmmaker with questionable politics, does an amazing job with Steinbeck\u2019s classic. He keeps the viewer\u2019s attention throughout even if the action derives from intense emotional exchanges rather than gun battles and vehicular chases. It\u2019s the kind of serious-minded film that used to attract moviegoers before the rise of effects-driven blockbuster movies. It\u2019s pure cinematic excellence!<\/p>\n

* = not counting small uncredited roles in five other features.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

East of Eden (1955)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Warner Bros.\/Drama\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 115 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not Rated (thematic elements, some violent content)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Elia Kazan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Paul Osborn\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Leonard Rosenman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Ted D. McCord\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: April 10, 1955 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: James Dean, Julie Harris, Raymond Massey, Richard Davalos, Burl Ives, Jo Van Fleet, Albert Dekker, Harold Gordon, Nick Dennis, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-these-are-some-classic-flicks","category-dramas"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/East-of-Eden-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4174"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4839,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4174\/revisions\/4839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}