East of Eden
Short description
Set in California's Salinas Valley around the First World War, East of Eden follows Cal Trask, a young man who believes his father, farmer Adam Trask, favors his brother Aron. Cal's sense of rejection deepens as he learns that his mother, long presumed dead, is in fact alive and living nearby. His efforts to win his father's approval and his growing awareness of his family's buried truths drive the story's central conflict.
Elia Kazan directed and produced the film, working from a screenplay by Paul Osborn. It came after On the Waterfront in Kazan's filmography and was his first picture in color and in CinemaScope. James Dean plays Cal, with Julie Harris, Raymond Massey, Richard Davalos, Jo Van Fleet and Burl Ives among the credited cast of 83. Jo Van Fleet won an Academy Award for her performance as Kate Trask.
The film took about 5 million dollars worldwide and has a critics' rating of 8.2/10 from 43 reviews, while audiences give it 7.8/10 on IMDb and 7.5/10 on TMDB.
What's left behind the scenes
- Many scenes or lines of Cal were improvised by the actor himself. For example, the dance in the field and the stunts on the roof of a moving train.
- Initially, Kazan had the idea of casting Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift as Cal and Aaron, respectively, but both were already over 30, and their candidacies were considered too old to play teenagers. In fact, the final decision in favor of James Dean was made by the book's author, John Steinbeck—when Dean appeared on set, Steinbeck exclaimed, "Good God, he's the spitting image of Cal!"
- In the scene of the conversation between Adam and Cal, according to the script, Cal was supposed to walk away from his father, but Dean instinctively turned to Raymond Massey and hugged him – the on-screen father fell into a state of shock from the surprise. Dean's behavior amazed everyone at that moment, and Kazan decided to leave the scene as it was, and it proved to be a good decision. This episode from the actor's life can be seen in the biographical film from 2001, where the role of Dean is played by James Franco.
- Of the three films in which Dean played the leading male role, this is the only one released during the actor's lifetime.
- In 1955, the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences posthumously nominated James Dean for an Academy Award for Best Actor. This nomination was the first in the long history of the Academy.
- Cal could have been played by Paul Newman, who did a screen test with Dean.
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