Review of East of Eden (1955) by Elliott F — 06 Mar 2011

John Steinbeck's magnum opus "East of Eden" was adapted by director Elia Kazan in 1955, and, although Jo Van Fleet won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the film, it is almost entirely remembered nowadays as James Dean's first starring role. And yes, Dean is good, sometimes very good, as Caleb "Cal" Trask, the "bad son" of a good Christian man, Adam (Dick Davalos). Cal must compete with his perfect brother Aron (Raymond Massey) for his father's love. Throw in Aron's love interest Abra (Julie Harris), Cal and Aron's "dead" mother, Kate, the town madame (Jo Van Fleet), and the kindly town sheriff (Burl Ives), and you have a retelling of Cain and Abel set in 1917 California. Kazan has proven himself as a great actor's director, with no less than nine actors winning Oscars under his direction for various films, but when it comes to the overall film, his direction is, as it tends to be, flawed. The pacing is all over the place and even here, his knack for directing actors to great performances underwhelms; Dean shows glimpses of greatness, but unfortunately not enough, and Harris has moments that border on amateurish. Van Fleet, who won the Supporting Actress Oscar, is excellent, but her screen time is limited to the extent that she does little to improve the overall film. A nice watch, I suppose, at times overly theatrical, a bit banal, and not as good as it could have been.

The cinematography is gorgeous, though.