In Elia Kazan’s most lavish Hollywood production, an adaptation of John Steinbeck’s novel, Dean plays Cal, a troubled Salinas Valley youth who, along with his competitive brother Aron (Richard Davalos), vies for the affection of his devout father (Raymond Massey).

Set at a time when America was about to enter World War I, the familial conflicts foreshadow a world in crisis. Dean’s performance earned one of the film’s four Academy Award nominations, and East of Eden has the notoriety of being the only film Dean appears in that was released before he died, the only one he got to see in its entirety.

This film is screening as part of our focus on James Dean, with new digital restorations of the three films that are the best part of his legacy (April 25th – May 1st).