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East of Eden (1955)
After four years of working in television and a few bit parts in movies, James Dean exploded on the Hollywood scene with his first leading role in 1955's East of Eden, the big budget adaptation of the John Steinbeck novel that is emotionally charged by its compelling story and some first rate performances.
The setting is Salinas Valley, California right before the outbreak of WWI. Adam Trask (Raymond Massey) is a hard working, God-fearing rancher who is working on a new idea for preserving vegetables called refrigeration. Adam has two sons: Aron (Richard Davalos) seems to be the apple of his father's eye and the desperately angry and unhappy Cal (Dean) can't seem to do anything right where his father is concerned. Cal's anger has a lot to do with the fact that he has recently found out that his father lied to him about his mother's death. Kate Trask (Jo Van Fleet) is alive and well in the neighboring town of Monterrey where she operates a very successful whorehouse.
Aron is in a relationship with the flighty and intelligent Abra (Julie Harris), but the girl clearly is attracted to Cal as well and is in deep denial about it. As much as Cal wants to get to know his mother, he is still obsessed with pleasing his father and actually turns to his mother for her help with that while trying to fight his attraction to Abra.
First of all, this review is coming from someone who never read the book so I cannot comment on how faithful this film version is to the book. What I can say is that this contemporary re-thinking of the story of Cain and Abel was a breathtaking and mesmerizing motion picture experience that had me glued to the screen. It's been awhile since a story tied my stomach up in knots the way this one did. I really felt for the character of Cal, not only being kept in the dark about his mother, but the complete inability to get any sign from his father that he loves him. The scene of Adam's birthday party where we think Cal is finally going to get what he wants was absolutely heartbreaking.
Conflicted feelings also arose regarding the character of Kate. On the surface, this is a woman who abandoned her children and has made no attempt to keep connected with them. She didn't even know that, until Cal told her, Adam had told them she was dead. There is another layer of Kate though that shines through...a woman who was desperately unhappy with Adam and had to get away from him for the sake of her own sanity, so she went out and made a name and a life of her own. Such an interesting, three-dimensional character for a 1950's film...the scene where she and Cal actually sit down and talk for the first time sizzles with tension.
Elia Kazan provides the kind of sensitive direction he did to A Streetcar Named Desire and would provide for his next film A Face in the Crowd. It goes without saying that James Dean's powerhouse performance absolutely dominates the proceedings but, and I can't believe I'm saying this, I think this was the best performance out of the "big 3" movies he did. Dean died five months after the release of the film and received the Academy's first posthumous Oscar nomination for his work here. I can't think of a performance more worthy of the honor. Raymond Massey was a lovely combination of warmth and strength as Adam and Jo Van Fleet won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her hard-as nails Kate. Julie Harris is luminous in the complex role of Abra and I also loved future Oscar winner Burl Ives as the sheriff. A sad and haunting film experience.
Remade as a TV miniseries in 1981 with Sam Bottoms as Cal, Hart Bochner as Aron, Timothy Bottoms as Adam, and Karen Allen as Abra. But like I always say, stick to the original.
After four years of working in television and a few bit parts in movies, James Dean exploded on the Hollywood scene with his first leading role in 1955's East of Eden, the big budget adaptation of the John Steinbeck novel that is emotionally charged by its compelling story and some first rate performances.
The setting is Salinas Valley, California right before the outbreak of WWI. Adam Trask (Raymond Massey) is a hard working, God-fearing rancher who is working on a new idea for preserving vegetables called refrigeration. Adam has two sons: Aron (Richard Davalos) seems to be the apple of his father's eye and the desperately angry and unhappy Cal (Dean) can't seem to do anything right where his father is concerned. Cal's anger has a lot to do with the fact that he has recently found out that his father lied to him about his mother's death. Kate Trask (Jo Van Fleet) is alive and well in the neighboring town of Monterrey where she operates a very successful whorehouse.
Aron is in a relationship with the flighty and intelligent Abra (Julie Harris), but the girl clearly is attracted to Cal as well and is in deep denial about it. As much as Cal wants to get to know his mother, he is still obsessed with pleasing his father and actually turns to his mother for her help with that while trying to fight his attraction to Abra.
First of all, this review is coming from someone who never read the book so I cannot comment on how faithful this film version is to the book. What I can say is that this contemporary re-thinking of the story of Cain and Abel was a breathtaking and mesmerizing motion picture experience that had me glued to the screen. It's been awhile since a story tied my stomach up in knots the way this one did. I really felt for the character of Cal, not only being kept in the dark about his mother, but the complete inability to get any sign from his father that he loves him. The scene of Adam's birthday party where we think Cal is finally going to get what he wants was absolutely heartbreaking.
Conflicted feelings also arose regarding the character of Kate. On the surface, this is a woman who abandoned her children and has made no attempt to keep connected with them. She didn't even know that, until Cal told her, Adam had told them she was dead. There is another layer of Kate though that shines through...a woman who was desperately unhappy with Adam and had to get away from him for the sake of her own sanity, so she went out and made a name and a life of her own. Such an interesting, three-dimensional character for a 1950's film...the scene where she and Cal actually sit down and talk for the first time sizzles with tension.
Elia Kazan provides the kind of sensitive direction he did to A Streetcar Named Desire and would provide for his next film A Face in the Crowd. It goes without saying that James Dean's powerhouse performance absolutely dominates the proceedings but, and I can't believe I'm saying this, I think this was the best performance out of the "big 3" movies he did. Dean died five months after the release of the film and received the Academy's first posthumous Oscar nomination for his work here. I can't think of a performance more worthy of the honor. Raymond Massey was a lovely combination of warmth and strength as Adam and Jo Van Fleet won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her hard-as nails Kate. Julie Harris is luminous in the complex role of Abra and I also loved future Oscar winner Burl Ives as the sheriff. A sad and haunting film experience.
Remade as a TV miniseries in 1981 with Sam Bottoms as Cal, Hart Bochner as Aron, Timothy Bottoms as Adam, and Karen Allen as Abra. But like I always say, stick to the original.