East of Eden

Cain and Abel. Simba and Mufasa. Stories of jealous brothers, sons wanting a blessing from their fathers; that is what East of Eden is all about. I wanted to see James Dean in his first big movie roll. I was rather let down. I was not impressed with his acting at all.

The film was really dark and moody. In the very beginning we see Cal, Dean’s character, following an older woman to the bank and then to her home. Strange way to start a movie. However, we learn later that it is his mother, who is now a madam a couple of towns away. He and his brother have been told by their father that she passed away when they were young.

His father loves Aron, his brother, more than him. His brother is an outgoing guy that has a wonderful girlfriend. Cal, on the other hand, tends to get into trouble, comes home early in the mornings, and is always preached to by his father. Cal thinks that he must have the evil of his mother in him.



Cal and Aron’s father loses most of his fortune in a business venture and Cal really wants to make it up to his Dad. He goes into business in beans, after getting a loan from his mother. He ends up making a small fortune and tries to give it to his father for his birthday and his father will not accept it. At the same time, Aron announces his engagement to Abra, (Julie Harris, who is fabulous in the movie). This leads to a whole host of tragic episodes for everyone involved.

The story is a great story, but I just could not get past James Dean acting. I will be looking at his later movies, so that I can see how he progressed in his acting.