This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Cain and Abel retold. The expression/sentiment 'The Great American Novel' occasionally applies to film and I deem this that. It isn't often that an ancient studio 'drama' production can lure me back in, but this one always does. I don't know for sure, but even without the 'James Dean Legend' factor, this packs a rather devastating emotional wallop. This is one of those times they raided classic literature and got it right.

Although some of his other books receive more acclaim and readership ("The Grapes of Wrath," "Of Mice and Men," "The Winter of Our Discontent"), John Steinbeck said that "East of Eden" was the novel that he lived to write. Indeed, the moralism of his writing reached broader and deeper in Eden than in any of his other works. The story here is set mainly in Steinbeck's beloved Salinas Valley and Monterey County.Warner Brothers did a commendable job in bringing the story to life on the silver screen. It condensed a 600-page novel into a two–hour film, yet kept all of the main elements of the drama. The title for the story comes from the Bible. Genesis 4:16 reads, "Cain then left the Lord's presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden." The plot of the story is a modern Cain and Abel tale, and it is repeated within succeeding generations. In the Bible, Cain brought "some of the fruits of the soil" to offer the Lord. Abel brought "the best of the firstlings," or "some of the firstlings and their fat portions." The latter were more pleasing to God. So, Cain did so-so, average, but Abel went out of his way to give the best to the Lord. God didn't love Cain any less -- he was just most pleased with Abel's offering. Yet Cain succumbed to pride, greed, envy, anger and lust. Most know the story of "East of Eden" or will find other reviews that discuss the plot. So, my remarks here are brief and cover some things not mentioned. Seeing this film again after many years, on a DVD, I had the advantage of extras that included some deleted scenes. I think one inclusion would have made the film perfect – the scene of Cal and Aron in their room after they had argued outside and Cal said that Aron was "the one he wanted" referring to his father's favoritism, as he saw it. Without that sequence, we see Cal suddenly perking up, pitching in and being Mr. good-guy helping his father. But, there's no real explanation or background to let us know why he would change. I don't know why they deleted that scene – it made the perfect fit and segue with Aron and Cal talking and Aron explaining in a way that Cal could understand. I don't think that would have made the movie too long in itself. James Dean had the largest role, as Cal, and was the male lead. And, yes, he was a new young and hot star of the time. All of the acting is excellent, including Dean's. But, I think the very best performances in this movie were by Julie Harris as Abra, Jo Van Fleet as Kate, and Raymond Massey as Adam. Richard Davalos, as Aron, wasn't far behind; and Van Fleet's performance was most deserving of the Oscar she won. James Dean made one more film after this – "Giant," which came out in October 1956. He wasn't alive to see it, because he was killed in a highway accident on Sept. 30, 1955. He had just finished filming for "Giant." That was just five months after "East of Eden" hit theaters. It's interesting to note that the site of Dean's accident was a few miles east of Paso Robles, California. That's at the southern end of the Salinas Valley of Steinbeck's "East of Eden."Those interested in Steinbeck should enjoy a visit to the National Steinbeck Center. It's a marvelous museum in downtown Salinas, CA.

America and American Movies were No Doubt Feeling Their Cheerios in the 1950's. So Much So that Often Removing that 50's Patina was Difficult when Transitioning to Other Periods of Time. This Movie Reeks of the Decade that it was Made and 1917 is Present Only in Reserve.James Dean, a Quintessential Icon of the New Breed, the Post War Youth with Something to Say and a Anti-Establishment Way of Saying it. The Rather Calculated Movie Art of Their Father's Generation was Being Challenged and Broken Down with "Method" Acting and Improvisational Experiment.Dean's Mannerisms, Wardrobe, and Hair-Style were So Firmly Fastened to the Contemporary the WWI Years were Having a Difficult Time Breaking Through, and the Period Comes Off as Artificial and Distant. This Leaves Some of the Background of the Story Thin and Wispy.Julie Harris is Better and Dominates the Screen Despite Deans Dramatic Displays of Body Language that Draw Attention, and Not in a Good Way. The Rest of the Cast is Fine, Especially Jo Ann Fleet as the Mother.Not a Bad Film, but Hardly a Great One. It's Even Worse Today with a Dated Feel and it Has Lost its Appeal as Something Seething and Seems Overrated but Above Average. The Pulitzer Prize Winning Novel from John Steinbeck has Many Admirers and Most Seem Extremely Disappointed. But to be Fair, this is Film and Not Prose.Overall, Worth a Watch for its Place in Popular Culture, to See James Dean and Puzzle Over His God-Like Status, and for a Pretty Standard Studio Production that is Typical of Well Crafted Filmmaking from Ultra-Conservative Movie Studios that were Cautiously Concerned About New Trends and This was About as Daring as it Got in the Decade.

East of Eden Movie ReviewEast of Eden, written by John Steinbeck and directed by Elia Kazan, provided a good general idea, but left out two of the most important factors of the book in the form of Lee and the Hebrew word, Timshel.East of Eden was written to show the ultimate conflict between good and evil. The movie did a wonderful job of keeping good and evil equal and opposite throughout the movie. Cal and Aron were the best examples of this. Early in the movie, Cal was portrayed as evil while Aron represented all that was good. Late in the movie, the role was switched as Aron became the bad child when he left his father, however Cal took on the role of good and was there for his father.A major gap in the movie was the absence of Lee, Adam's servant. Lee had gotten Adam over his depression, as well as always tried to convince Cal that there was good in everyone. Lee was seen as the median in the book between Adam and his son, Cal. The tension between the two was evident, but without Lee, the resolution of Cal to be with his father was much less significant.As previously stated, this entire novel was based around the idea of good opposing evil. The main point in the novel was that each person had the ability to make their own decisions and choose right from wrong. Lee was the first to reveal this idea to the Trask family. The fact that the most important philosophy in the novel was left out completely defeats the entire purpose for making a movie without it. This was the ultimate factor as to why this movie was a big disappointment and completely destroyed the novel's only purpose.Although this movie was relatively interesting, it turned away from the book too much to be enjoyable to anyone who has read the novel. Although you could follow the movie along pretty smoothly, without Lee and the main idea of Timshel, the movie lacked the clarity the book had and that was the ultimate downfall of the movie.