East Of Eden (1955)
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87% of critics liked it
(30 reviews) -
90% of users liked it
(22,365 ratings)
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… More 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, Rovi
- Directed By
- Elia Kazan
- Written By
- Paul Osborn
- Genres
- Drama, Classics
- In Theaters
- Apr 10, 1955 Wide
- On DVD
- May 31, 2005
- Studio
- Warner Bros. Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
John Steinbeck's painful biblical allegory -- Genesis replayed in Monterey, California, circa 1917 -- is more palatable on the screen, thanks to the down-to-earth performances of James Dean as Cal/Cain and Richard Davalos as Aron/Abel.
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Geoff Andrew, Time Out
It's a film of great performances, atmospheric photography, and a sure sense of period and place.
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Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Not only one of Kazan's richest films and Dean's first significant role, it is also arguably the actor's best performance.
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Bosley Crowther, New York Times
In short, there is energy and intensity but little clarity and emotion in this film. It is like a great, green iceberg: mammoth and imposing but very cold.
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Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
a reaction to our plutocracy's values and a further case for Dean as the sainted figure of rebellion that would fuel the generational schism of the '60s.
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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Julie Harris
as Abra
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James Dean
as Cal Trask
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Raymond Massey
as Adam Trask
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Burl Ives
as Sam the Sheriff
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Dick Davalos
as Aron Trask
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Jo Van Fleet
as Kate
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Albert Dekker
as Will Hamilton
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Lois Smith
as Ann
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Harold Gordon
as Mr. Albrecht
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Timothy Carey
as Joe
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Mario Siletti
as Piscora
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Lonny Chapman
as Roy
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Nick Dennis
as Rantani
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Barbara Baxley
as Nurse
- Harry Cording
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Jonathan Haze
as Piscora's Son
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Frank Mazzola
as Student
- Richard Davalos

