Whatever you do, don't confuse East of Eden with Exit to Eden. One movie is a classic, a revealing allegory on many levels; the other features Rosie O'Donnell in a leather dominatrix outfit. Go with the former, do whatever you can to avoid the latter.
There are a few telltale signs that East of Eden was made in 1955. Still reeling from the devastation of the Second World War, Elia Kazan's Eden takes place in 1917 during the First World War and features a lot of parallels between the two events: America's role in them, united patriotism against Germans, and the impending fear of national, financial instability. Kazan himself can be symbolized by the lead character, James Dean's Cal Trask as an outsider and misfit for his part in naming people during the McCarthy hearings.
The biblical story of Cain and Abel is more or less depicted here, although the names have been changed to Cal and Aron (Richard Davalos). They are the sons of Adam (Trask, impressively played by a bible-thumping Raymond Massey); Aron is the good and dutiful son, and Cal is the jealous son who can't impress his father no matter how hard he tries. Cal discovers that his mother Kate (Jo van Fleet, who won an Oscar for her supporting role) is not dead as his father had told him, but is actually employed in a brothel in a neighbouring town. The discovery leads Cal to a scrambled theory -- he has inherited his mother's badness, and brother Aron has inherited his father's goodness. Cal is determined to change for the better and embarks on a scheme to raise money for his father's ailing lettuce business, and his father's unexpected reaction is the most electrifying sequence of the film.
Six words could sum up the best thing about this movie: James Dean, James Dean, James Dean. Only Dean, in his first major film role, could pull off the challenging dialogue here. With swaggers, slurs, and unabashed confidence, he tears through scene after scene with a keen awareness and a spark few actors -- veteran or novice -- have portrayed on the big screen ever since. As the girl that threatens to divide the two brothers, Julie Harris seems adequate as Abra, but next to powerhouse performances by Massey, Kavalos and Dean, she kind of gets lost in the shuffle.
The ironic flaw I found with East of Eden is in its Oscar-nominated script by Paul Osborn. Based on a John Steinbeck novel, one would think it would be riveting throughout, but there are definitely some slow scenes that drag the pace in spots. The absence of any substantial subplots is apparent, and is heightened by the bluntly direct dialogue that borders on melodrama. Some of the biblical references have the subtlety of an elephant in a china shop, but they still retain their potency as the movie unfolds.
The conclusion is particularly rewarding because Kazan has built up Cal's desperation and longing to be accepted and loved again. We suspect there will either be complete tragedy or complete redemption and until the final scene, we don't know which way the wind will blow. This is a picture with influences of Arthur Miller's Death of A Salesman and Dean's other picture from that same year Rebel Without A Cause, plus the touching heart of Best Picture winner Marty all rolled up into one.
