After a few bit parts, James Dean played his first leading role in the film EAST OF EDEN. He would make two more films after this, Rebel without a Cause and Giant, before he died on 30 September 1955 as a result of a car accident, aged just 24.
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| East of Eden, 0:40:00 |
The film
East of Eden is based on the fourth and final part of John Steinbeck's 1952 novel of the same name. The story has parallels with the Bible story of the rivalry between the brothers Cain and Abel. The title of the book comes from Genesis 4:16: " So Cain went out from the Lord's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden". The film is set in 1917, against the backdrop of World War I. Filming took place from 27 May to 13 August 1954.
The movie was filmed on location in California, including Monterey and Salinas. In most blog posts, I mention in a side note that the remaining scenes were shot at the studio and then write about visiting the locations. This time however, the location is the studio. Warner Bros. Studios is located in Burbank, a suburb of Los Angeles.
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| Midwest Street, Warner Bros. Studios, 20 July 2023 |
As I wrote in my previous blog about
La La Land, the studios can be visited. We had chosen the
Classics Tour. Although selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, East of Eden was not mentioned once during the tour of the backlot, a permanent film set of different streets, each with its own theme. Fortunately, our photos turned out to match the film images quite nicely.
The parade held in Salinas to boost war bond sales was filmed on
Midwest Street, a town square with a white church and a gazebo surrounded by a courthouse, shops and houses. According to website The
Studio Tour, this set was first seen in the film
Four Wives (1939) and later extended. It is amazing to see how little has changed here since filming of
East of Eden nearly 70 years ago.
The parade is taken by prominent residents of Salinas; the church can be seen in the background.
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| East of Eden, 1:04:07 |
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| Midwest Street, Warner Bros. Studios, 20 July 2023 |
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| East of Eden, 1:06:42 |
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Midwest Street, Warner Bros. Studios, 20 July 2023
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Aron Trask (Richard Davalos), the eldest brother, visits the parade with his girlfriend Abra Bacon (Julie Harris), a volunteer for the Red Cross.
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| East of Eden, 1:04:13 |
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| Midwest Street, Warner Bros. Studios, 20 July 2023 |
Cal (James Dean), the youngest brother, is also at the parade. The facades of the shopping street have probably been repainted numerous times and a new set has been added on the right.
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| East of Eden, 1:05:31 |
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| Midwest Street, Warner Bros. Studios, 20 July 2023 |
Cal walks towards Aron and Abra standing behind a tree, somewhat hidden. Part of the courthouse can be seen in the background.
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| East of Eden, 1:05:58 |
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| Midwest Street, Warner Bros. Studios, 20 July 2023 |
Following on from Midwest Street is Kings Row, a street with five houses named after the 1942 film of the same name for which the set was originally built. The street is also known as Residential Street. Coming from Midwest Street, the second house on the left in the film can be seen as the house where Adam Trask (Raymond Massey) lives with his sons Aron and Cal.
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| East of Eden, 1:32:06 |
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| Kings Row, Warner Bros. Studios, 20 July 2023 |
To promote the film, James Dean was photographed in front of the white church by an unknown studio photographer.
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| James Dean, 1954 |
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| Midwest Street, Warner Bros. Studios, 20 July 2023 |
Screenshots © Warner Bros.
