Review of East of Eden (1955) by Sausages M — 13 Jul 2013

Having seen the more famous "Rebel Without A Cause" I had always wondered if Dean was just a legend- a good actor with timeless good looks who made a great career move by dying young. In that film he is magnetic, but there's not really any depth there and he looks too old to really be just a teenager.

Here however, (impressively given that it was his film debut!) he shows there was more to him than being able to play the good looking outsider who's 'complicated'. His performance utterly shows us the man had real acting chops, beyond looking young and old at the same time.

To be such a master of your craft so young is truly impressive. Everyone else is very good as well, and the story and direction work well but really this is Dean's film. He just runs away with it and leaves everyone else in the dust.