A still from “East of Eden” (Photo courtesy Harbor Theater)
The Harbor Theater ends its 2023-2024 classic film series on great directors with “East of Eden,” directed by Elia Kazan, about whom Roger Ebert said, “More than any other single person, he presided over the modernization of American film acting.”
Kazan was one of the three founders of The Actor’s Studio, and he recruited Lee Strasberg who became its artistic director. Using an entirely new approach to acting, “The Method,” actors trained at the studio were told to reach inside themselves to find emotions to call upon for the characters they were playing. The result was a realism never seen before on the American screen.
When movie goers saw performances by Marlon Brando in “On the Waterfront” and “A Streetcar Named Desire” or James Dean in “East of Eden,” they were watching searing, messy, raw emotions that had never been seen before on screen and that would totally change the face of acting.
As for the stars of “East of Eden,” it was said that Kazan basically picked the whole cast from The Actor’s Studio. Of course, the most well known of those actors was James Dean. Of the three films Dean made before his death, “East of Eden” was Dean’s first leading role. His character, Cal Trask, was mirrored in the other two roles he played, Jim Stark in “Rebel Without a Cause,” and Jett Rink in “Giant.”
“East of Eden” is Kazan’s adaptation of John Steinbeck’s classic novel and tells the story of Cal Trask (Dean), the son of a California farmer (Raymond Massey), who feels that his father cares only about his brother, Aron (Richard Davalos). When Cal embarks on a business venture to gain his father’s favor, he finds himself dealing with his estranged mother (Jo Van Fleet), now the owner of a brothel. Tensions in the family rise even further when Cal begins to fall for Aron’s girlfriend, Abra (Julie Harris).
“East of Eden” will show at 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 14 and Saturday, March 16, with introductory video commentary by Bates College film professor and Harbor Theater friend, Dr. Jon Cavallero.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for members and children under 18. For more information about the theater, membership, and other upcoming films, go to boothbaycinema.org or call 633-0438.
Harbor Theater is a nonprofit cinema located at 185 Townsend Ave., at the junction of Routes 27 and 96, in Boothbay Harbor, across from Hannaford Supermarket.
