There was a good movie this past Saturday on KPBS which starred James Dean. The movie was call East of Eden and after you get pass the very dry acting you start appreciating the story and the actors involved. Often described as Steinbeck's most ambitious novel, East of Eden
brings to life the intricate details of two families, the Trasks and
the Hamiltons, and their interwoven stories. The plot description I got from Wikipedia "
The story is set in 1917, during World War I, in the central California coastal towns of Monterey and Salinas. Cal (Caleb) (James Dean) and Aron (Richard Davalos) are the young adult sons of a modestly successful farmer and wartime draft board chairman named Adam Trask (Raymond Massey). Cal is moody and embittered by his belief that his father loves only Aron.
The Trask family has a farm in the fertile Salinas valley. Although both Cal and Aron had been led to believe that their mother had died "and gone to heaven" (or East of Eden. In fact, Adam is a deeply religious man), the opening scene reveals that Cal knows that his mother is still alive, owning and running a successful brothel.
After the father's idealistic plans for a long-haul vegetable shipping business venture end in a loss of thousands of dollars, Cal decides to enter the bean-growing business, as a way of recouping the money his father lost in the vegetable shipping venture. He knows that if the United States enters the war, the price of beans will skyrocket. Cal hopes this will finally earn him the love and respect of his father. He goes to his mother Kate (Jo Van Fleet) to ask to borrow the capital he needs. She reluctantly lends him the five thousand dollars.
Meanwhile, Aron's girlfriend Abra (Julie Harris) finds herself attracted to Cal.
Cal's business goes quite well. He makes a birthday present of the money to his father. However, Adam refuses to accept any money earned by war profiteering. Cal does not understand, and sees his father's refusal to accept the gift as just another rejection. When the distraught Cal leaves the room, Abra goes after him, to console him as best she can. Aron follows and orders Cal to stay away from her.
In anger, Cal takes his brother to see their mother, then returns home alone. When his father demands to know where his brother is, Cal tells him. The shock drives the pacifistic Aron to get drunk and then board a troop train to enlist in the army. When Sam (Burl Ives), the sheriff, brings the news, Adam rushes to the train station in a futile attempt to dissuade him.
The old man then suffers a stroke, which leaves him paralyzed and unable to communicate. Cal tries to talk to him, but gets no response and leaves the bedroom. Abra pleads with Adam to show Cal some affection before it is too late. Then she drags Cal back into the room. When Cal makes his last bid for acceptance before leaving town, his father manages to speak. He tells his son to get rid of the annoying nurse; then he tells Cal to tend him himself. " Good movie and now I finally know were the picture of one of the Smiths greatest hit volume came from, it is from one of the characters in the movie who was called Aron.. Also, based on the author he got his inspiration from a classic bible reference of Abel and cane...good movie,,,a must see..
Good post.
Posted by: Carolyn | October 28, 2008 at 02:25 AM