East of Eden (1955) on Netflix
Cal Trask is sure his father, Adam, favors his twin brother, Aron. When Adam's vegetable shipping plan fails and his fortune is gone, Cal enters the bean business to prove his worth.
- Netflix4.1/5
- IMDb7.8/1051,185 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes86%
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1917, Cal and Aron Trask are young adult fraternal twins. Their father, Adam, farms in the Salinas Valley and chairs the wartime draft board. Adam is a deeply religious Christian. The boys grew up believing their mother, Kate, had died when they were infants. Aron is dutiful and pious; Cal is moody and impulsive and believes he is sinful, and he is convinced his father loves only Aron. When Adam's plan to ship vegetables long distance collapses and costs him his fortune, Cal enters the bean-growing business, expecting prices to rise if the United States joins the war.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about East of Eden (1955)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Of James Dean's three films in which he played the lead, East of Eden was the only one released during his lifetime; he was killed in a car crash six months after its release.
- Director Elia Kazan first considered casting Marlon Brando as Cal and Montgomery Clift as Aron, but at 30 and 34 they were judged too old to play teenage brothers.
- Paul Newman was a finalist for the part of Cal, but it went to James Dean, 23, who was six years younger than Newman.
- Paul Newman and James Dean screen tested together for the rival brothers, and Richard Davalos ended up as Aron in what was his screen debut.
- Julie Harris was cast as Abra Bacon, but executive producer Jack L. Warner opposed her because she was ten years older than her character.
- Elia Kazan denied disliking James Dean, comparing him to a dog that snarls and then melts when petted, but he stepped in sternly when Dean began treating crew members disrespectfully.
- Nicolas Cage said in 2014 that he wanted to go into acting because of James Dean and his performance in East of Eden, saying nothing affected him the way Dean did in that film.
