Review of East of Eden (1955) by Austin M — 25 Sep 2013

Overall the movie East of Eden is a poor representation of the original novel written by John Steinbeck. Although it presents the main concept, or theme, of "Free-will", the structure in which it does so does not match the structure within the book. Multiple scenes in this theatrical production never occurred in the novel such as the carnival scene for instance. Also, the director completely leaves out the first half of the book which plays a vital role in the development of the plot.

On a lighter note, not all of the movie was completely useless. Some of the crucial scenes from the book were incorporated such as when Cal tries to make his father proud by giving him 5000 dollars. Also, when it came to Cathy, well she was just as psychotic and deceitful as John Steinbeck wanted her to be.

Regardless, the acting in the movie was very poor. So poor in fact, it became humorous the more you continued to watch. It was almost impossible to take seriously.

In all, East of Eden will never capture the drama and brilliance that John Steinbeck developed in his novel and I personally would not recommend this movie.