East of Eden
Directed by	Elia Kazan
Produced by	Elia Kazan
Written by	Paul Osborn, John Steinbeck (uncredited)
Starring	James Dean, Raymond Massey, Burl Ives, Richard Davalos, Jo Van Fleet
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Released	1955
Running time	115 min
Language	English
IMDb profile

East of Eden is a 1955 movie, directed by Elia Kazan, and based on the novel of the same name by John Steinbeck written in 1952.

It stars Julie Harris, James Dean, Raymond Massey, Burl Ives, Richard Davalos and Jo Van Fleet, and was adapted by Paul Osborn and John Steinbeck (uncredited).

Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The story is set in 1917 in the Central coast towns of Monterey and Salinas, California. The underlying theme of the picture is a biblical reference to the brothers Cain and Abel. James Dean plays a young son of a modestly successful farmer in the fertile Salinas valley. The youngster's mother had been a prostitute at the time of his birth, and had now become a very successful bawdyhouse madam in the seaside fishing community of Monterey, about 15 miles from Salinas. That was a fairly long distance in 1917, as only the doctors, Sheriff, and the more affluent families had cars. The Dean character has a more popular, less moody brother almost the same age. The Dean character knows that his mother, who ran off years before, is now a wealthy madam and reluctantly confronts her at her Monterey bordello and asks her financial help. He wants to go into the bean growing business, as America was about to enter World War I. He thinks his disapproving father will respect him more if he can make some money with his enterprising idea. The relationship with the father is very stressful, and is basically not resolved in the story until late, when his father is paralyzed by a massive stroke, having failed utterly in his own riskier money making efforts with a perishable lettuce growing/long haul, lettuce shipping scheme. He shows finally, in his paralyzed state, his suppressed love for the boy. There were some wonderful touches in the theatrical version of the film that were cut out of the TV shorted version. These were very evocative, such as the scene where Dean's character is down on his knees in the bean field, with shadows of fast moving clouds passing across the land. He is trying to see the over-night growth of his bean crop. Another was a local pro-war parade of women, marching in dresses made of American flags. The editors in the TV market failed to understand the historical context of these "period recreations". Raymond Massey, a highly respected character lead actor, played the father. Burl Ives played a friendly Sheriff. A famous and touching scene of first love on a stopped Ferris wheel, with actress Julie Harris is another memorable moment. The movie won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Jo Van Fleet) as his mother, the madam. It was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (James Dean), Best Director and Best Writing, Screenplay.