East of Eden (1955)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Elia Kazan

Writers:

John Steinbeck (novel)
Paul Osborn (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 April 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Of what a girl did . . . what a boy did ... of ecstasy and revenge!

Plot:

In the Salinas Valley, in and around World War I, Cal Trask feels he must compete against overwhelming...

Plot Keywords:

Madam | Railway Station | Carnival | Presumed Dead | Driving Lesson

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 7 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Julie Harris	...	Abra
James Dean	...	Caleb 'Cal' Trask
Raymond Massey	...	Adam Trask
Burl Ives	...	Sam the Sheriff
Richard Davalos	...	Aron Trask
Jo Van Fleet	...	Kate
Albert Dekker	...	Will Hamilton
Lois Smith	...	Anne
Harold Gordon	...	Gustav Albrecht
Nick Dennis	...	Rantani
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Abdullah Abbas	...	Carnival Townsman (uncredited)
Rose Allen	...	Townswoman at Carnival (uncredited)
José Arias	...	Prisoner (uncredited)
Barbara Baxley	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Joe Brooks	...	Carnival Townsman (uncredited)
Timothy Carey	...	Joe (uncredited)
Jack Carr	...	Charlie - Townsman at Carnival (uncredited)
Wheaton Chambers	...	Townsman at Carnival (uncredited)
Lonny Chapman	...	Roy (uncredited)
Edward Clark	...	Draft Board Member (uncredited)
Harry Cording	...	Bouncer (uncredited)
Roger Creed	...	Townsman at Carnival (uncredited)
Ray Dawe	...	Workman (uncredited)
Anna Dewey	...	Townswoman at Carnival (uncredited)
Darren Dublin	...	Student (uncredited)
Franklyn Farnum	...	Townsman at Carnival (uncredited)
Al Ferguson	...	Townsman at Carnival (uncredited)
Cliff Fields	...	Student (uncredited)
Robert Foulk	...	Man at Boxcar (uncredited)
Richard Garrick	...	Dr. Edwards (uncredited)
Chief Leonard George	...	Townsman at Carnival (uncredited)
John George	...	Townsman at Carnival (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Official at Parade (uncredited)
Jonathan Haze	...	Piscora's Son (uncredited)
Ramsay Hill	...	English Officer (uncredited)
Effie Laird	...	Townswoman at Carnival (uncredited)
Edward McNally	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Tex Mooney	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Paul Nichols	...	Townsman at Carnival (uncredited)
William 'Bill' Phillips	...	Coalman at Lettuce Fields (uncredited)
Rose Plumer	...	Rose - Townswoman at Carnival (uncredited)
Julian Rivero	...	Prisoner (uncredited)
Mickey Roth	...	Student (uncredited)
Loretta Rush	...	Card Dealer (uncredited)
Mario Siletti	...	Mr. Piscora (uncredited)
Bette Treadville	...	Madame (uncredited)
Sailor Vincent	...	Townsman in Parade (uncredited)
Lillian West	...	Townswoman at Carnival (uncredited)
Chalky Williams	...	Townsman at Carnival (uncredited)

Directed by
Elia Kazan

Writing credits
John Steinbeck		(novel "East of Eden")
Paul Osborn		(screenplay)

Produced by
Elia Kazan	....	producer

Original Music by
Leonard Rosenman

Cinematography by
Ted D. McCord		(as Ted McCord)

Film Editing by
Owen Marks

Art Direction by
James Basevi
Malcolm C. Bert		(as Malcolm Bert)

Set Decoration by
George James Hopkins

Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Don Alvarado	....	assistant director (as Don Page)
Horace Hough	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Stanley Jones	....	sound

Stunts
Mushy Callahan	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Conrad L. Hall	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Anna Hill Johnstone	....	wardrobe designer

Editorial Department
John Hambleton	....	color consultant

Music Department
Maurice De Packh	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Guy Thomajan	....	dialogue director

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1955) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Pictures (1957) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Argentina Video Home (2005) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2005) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Warner Bros. (2005) (Argentina) (all media) (re-release)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (2006) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)

Also Known As:

John Steinbeck's East of Eden (USA) (complete title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements and some violent content. (2005 re-issue)

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Warnercolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Perspecta Sound encoding) (35 mm optical prints) | 4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Germany:16 | Iceland:L | Spain:13 | UK:AA (1976) (cut) | UK:PG (video rating) | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #17086) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | South Korea:15 | Sweden:11 (re-release) | Switzerland:16 (canton of the Grisons) | USA:PG (2005 re-issue)

Filming Locations:

Cape Mendocino, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

During the production of the film, Elia Kazan used to write letters to his friend John Steinbeck, with whom he had worked closely on the original screenplay for Viva Zapata! (1952), to keep him abreast of the film's progress. Steinbeck thought James Dean was a perfect Cal, and tremendously enjoyed the final film.

Goofs:

Continuity: While Cal is talking to Abra on the roof, in the close-ups, the light in her bedroom is seemingly on, whereas in the wide shot, her room is pitch black.

Quotes:

Kate: [after Cal asks why she shot his father] Because he tried to hold me, he tried to tie me down! Nobody holds me!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kill the Poor (2003)

Soundtrack:

Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile!

James Dean embodied the confused attitudes of a generation...

James Dean plays Cal, a son of Adam Trask (Raymond Massey) who feels unloved and unwanted by his stern father, a situation not helped by Adam's apparent acceptance of Cal's brother... Cal suspects that his mother, long believed dead, is the madame of a local brothel, and when this is confirmed, the young man is convinced that he has found the reason why he is bad...

His awkward, unhelpful attempts to find himself and come to terms with his situation led young audiences to identify with him immediately, an identification that was compounded by his role in 'Rebel Without a Cause' where again, only with more violence, he rebelled against his middle class family...

The impact he had made on the anxious, unhappy youth of that time was confirmed as much by his death as by the style and abandon of his life..

Dean was a youth who rebelled against the riches of the American Dream, though he finally denounced it all in a reckless moment... Dean therefore embodied the confused attitudes of a generation who had never suffered through the Depression and rejected the acquisitive attitudes of their parents, while at the same time they hankered after the American Dream... Dean gave physical form to the perplexing confusion of ideals, that haunted the majority of postwar American youth...