East of Eden (1955)
East of Eden on the IMDb
Return to the Main Index
Warner Brothers 2-disc Special Edition. James Dean, Julie Harris, Raymond Massey, Jo Van Fleet. I last read this book about fifteen years ago as at that time John Steinbeck was my favorite author and I literally read everything that he ever wrote that was published in book form, both fiction and non-fiction. I love everything that Kazan has ever done, but I must admit that having read the book just prior to when I first watched the film that I recalled being left a little dissatisfied. As is mentioned in the short documentary about the film, Kazan basically chopped out the last 80 or so pages of the book for his film. The book is as I recall about a 700 page multi-generational tale, which in my mind the most interesting story was that of the mother, Kate, played here by Jo Van Fleet. After having watched the film again recently, I can say that first, I'd like to re-read the novel when I find the time, and secondly I probably wasn't mature enough at the time to understand how great of a picture Kazan had turned out. While I did find Dean prone to going a little overboard at times, I can now see and understand the complicated relationship with his father, played by Raymond Massey, that Kazan captured for us. The pacing of Dean's relationship with Abra, played by Julie Harris, is also perfect. Another thing that escaped me at the time, but that I could appreciate so much more so now was some of the off-kilter, somewhat startling camera angles employed throughout the film, helping to set the mood in some of the more emotionally traumatic scenes. In fact, those unsettling shots were what made the film completely fresh to me, I did not recall them at all, and now they stand out more than any other feature in the film. By the way, the transfer is beautiful with vivid colors and excellent audio. Not a grain on the screen or a glitch in the sound throughout my experience. The twenty minute East of Eden documentary that I mentioned is excellent, with the clips from John Steinbeck's son most interesting to me, though they also speak with Julie Harris and Elia Kazan among others. There is a very entertaining ten minute or so feature from the original New York premier of the picture which includes brief interviews with Steinbeck and Kazan as well as other celebrities of the period such as Milton Berle and Carol Channing. Marilyn Monroe is not interviewed, but her arrival does cause quite a commotion! There's also a Dean documentary which I have yet to watch, but will update this entry with my comments as soon as I do.
Update: The Dean documentary was okay, at least the actual content and information that it delivered was, but an update would be nice as this 1988 production uses mostly old grainy footage from Dean's films as well as some absolutely terrible 80's song about Dean that's making me cringe as I write this. It's about an hour long though and is pretty good if you're just looking for a brief bio on Dean.
- Home
- Shopping
- Blog
- Movie Stars
- Movie Collectibles
- More Movies
- Magazines