East of Eden (1955)
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A wayward young man seeks his own identity while vying for his father's love against his favored brother.
The story
In 1917, in the central California towns of Monterey and Salinas, fraternal twins Cal and Aron live with their father, Adam Trask. While Aron is pious and responsible, Cal is moody and rebellious, believing his father favors his brother. Cal's life takes a turn when he discovers that their mother, whom they were told was dead, is actually alive and operating a brothel. Following a financial disaster for the family, Cal enters the bean-growing business to prove his worth. As the brothers navigate their differing paths and a burgeoning romance between Cal and Aron's girlfriend, the tension between the brothers and their father reaches a breaking point.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1917, during World War I, fraternal twins Cal and Aron live with their father, Adam Trask, in the Salinas Valley. Cal, the rebellious brother, discovers their mother, Kate, is alive and running a brothel in Monterey. After Adam loses his fortune, Cal starts a successful bean business to win his father's favor. Meanwhile, Cal and Aron's girlfriend, Abra, develop feelings for each other. At a party, Aron announces his engagement to Abra, and Cal's success is met with his father's disapproval of his 'war profiteering.' Following a confrontation, Cal reveals the truth about their mother to Aron. This revelation drives Aron to enlist in the army, where he is injured and his head is smashed through a rail car window. Adam suffers a stroke and becomes paralyzed. In the end, Cal stays by his father's side, and the two finally share a moment of reconciliation as the emotional chasm between them begins to heal.
- First release year
- 1955
- Runtime (minutes)
- 117
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Elia Kazan
- Writers
- Paul Osborn · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Julie Harris · Abra Bacon; James Dean · Cal; Raymond Massey · Adam Trask; Burl Ives; Richard Davalos · Aron; Jo Van Fleet
- Genres
- drama
- Themes
- biblical reference to the brothers Cain and Abel; father-son relationship; anti-German xenophobia; young love; sibling rivalry
- Tone and mood
- epic; serious
- Setting
- Monterey and Salinas, California, in 1917.
- Premise and plot tags
- period drama; family drama; war-time
- Source material / true-story basis
- John Steinbeck's epic 1952 novel
- Reception
- The film received generally favorable reviews, with critics praising the performances of James Dean and Richard Davalos, and noting the film's status as a significant piece of American cinema.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 86% · scale: fresh · review count: 43; Metacritic · score: 72 · scale: 100 · review count: 11
- Production trivia
- It was the only film released during James Dean's lifetime before his death.; It was originally planned to be made in 3-D but was released in CinemaScope.; It was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 2016.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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