2024 Blind Spot Series: East of Eden

Based on the novel by John Steinbeck, East of Eden is the story of a young man in the early 1900s during World War I who vies for the affection of his father who tends to favor his brother where he goes on a journey for his own identity. Directed by Elia Kazan and screenplay by Paul Osborn, the film is a take of the Cain and Abel story in which two brothers spar for the devotion of their deeply religious father as one of them copes with his own issues while learning about his estranged mother. Starring James Dean, Raymond Massey, Julie Harris, Burl Ives, Richard Davalos, Lois Smith, and Jo Van Fleet. East of Eden is a majestic and intoxicating film from Elia Kazan.

Set in 1917 North California in the town of Salinas and the nearby town of Monterey, the film revolves around a young man trying to win the love of his father while competing with his twin brother whom their father favors. It is a film that is really an interpretation of the Cain and Abel story as it plays into two brothers vying for their father’s affection with one of them being this pacifist, strait-laced figure with a girlfriend and is a lot like his father. The other is an angst-ridden young man who feels like he could never please his father no matter how much work he can do and such. Paul Osborn’s screenplay is largely straightforward in how it plays into the journey that Cal Trask (James Dean) endures as he feels like he doesn’t do enough to please his father where he would often venture out Salina towards the neighboring Monterey where he follows a woman named Cathy Ames (Joy Van Fleet) whom he realizes is his mother that had abandoned his father just after he and his brother Aron (Richard Davalos) were born.

Their father Adam (Raymond Massey) is a man that is devoted to God in his beliefs, but he is also someone who has ideas with his crops as he is a farmer and a draft board chairman. He had an idea in keeping vegetables fresh as he has a lettuce crop as Cal helps along with Aron’s girlfriend Abra (Julie Harris) who is often concerned for Cal and his moody behavior. Yet, a weather storm crushes Adam’s dreams though Cal has an idea to go into the bean-growing business with one of his father’s partners knowing that stock will rise in case the U.S. decides to go to war as a way for Cal to get his father’s money back. Even as he turns to Cathy for help where he learns about why she left him as it makes Cal more determined to help his father where even Abra learns about what he is doing as she starts to fall for him. Yet, the script would reveal that Aron would find a way to upstage Cal in some way as it adds this sense of entitlement to someone who does everything his father does but is unable to cope with reality.

Elia Kazan’s direction is truly wondrous in his approach to imagery and the compositions that he creates that almost look and feel like a painting in some shots. Shot on location in coastal areas of Northern California in Salinas, Salinas Valley, and Mendocino County as they are important characters in the film such as shots of Cal riding on top of a train that would go from Salinas to Monterey. Kazan’s usage of the Cinemascope format allows him to go to great lengths to create shots such as a train riding away towards its destination as it plays into Adam Trask’s promise of a great future. While Kazan does use a lot of wide and medium shots to play into the locations including a fair where the bond between Cal and Abra becomes closer. There is also an intimacy in some of the medium shots but also in the close-ups along with a few slanted angles that play into Trask’s dominance towards his son with Aron often sitting either beside his father or in the middle of a table but closer to his father. Kazan also plays into the many differences between Cal and Aron as the latter is often seen in a clean-cut look with the former sometimes looking disheveled.

Kazan also plays into the events of World War I as Cal knew that there’s money to be made as he hopes he can use the money he makes to regain the money his father had lost. While Cal is aware about the horrors of war as there is this sense of optimism relating to the U.S. entering World War I. That optimism is destroyed when some of the young local men are killed with Trask’s longtime family friend Gustav Albrecht (Harold Gordon) is harassed because he’s German. The incidents relating to Albrecht make things for Trask uneasy with Aron also unable to cope with the realities of war as his pacifism becomes unwanted. The film’s third act relates to not just Cal’s desire to win over his father’s approval as he had kept the knowledge of his mother secret from both his father and Aron. It also plays into a young man who is often overshadowed by his brother whose selfishness is unveiled leading to a breakdown and some harsh truths for a family who have kept too many secrets from themselves. Overall, Kazan crafts a riveting yet intense film about two brothers vying for the affection of their father.

Cinematographer Ted D. McCord does incredible work with the film’s cinematography as it is filled with gorgeous colors for many of the film’s daytime exteriors with some stylish lighting for some interior scenes in the day and night including some soft-looking shots as it is a highlight of the film. Editor Owen Marks does excellent work with the editing as it is straightforward with some stylish transitional dissolves to help play into the drama . Art directors James Basevi and Malcolm C. Bert, along with set decorators George James Hopkins and William Wallace, do brilliant work with the look of the Trask family ranch as well as the home where Abra lives in as well as other locations within the town.

Costume designer Anna Hill Johnstone does fantastic work with the costumes from the refined look of Trask and Aron to a more rugged look that Cal has as well as the stylish clothing that Cathy wears. The sound work of Stanley Jones is terrific for its approach to sound in the way things sound from afar as well as some of the sparse moments in the film. The film’s music by Leonard Rosenman is amazing for its soaring orchestral score that plays into some of the film’s melodrama along with some moments of dramatic suspense as it is a highlight of the film.

The casting by Harvey Clermont is wonderful as it features some notable small roles and appearances from Lois Smith as a young waitress working for Cathy at her brothel, Timothy Carey as Cathy’s bouncer Joe, Lonny Chapman as a mechanic who showed Trask how a car works, Richard Garrick as Dr. Edwards who appears late in the film, and Barbara Baxley as a nurse late in the film who annoys both Cal and Abra. Harold Gordon is terrific as Trask’s friend Gustav Albrecht as a German salesman whom the Trask family is fond of as they try to protect him from the locals. Albert Dekker is superb as Will Hamilton as a businessman who teams with Trask in his refrigerating idea only for things to fall but still wants to help Trask out by teaming with Cal in growing beans as it would be profitable. Burl Ives is fantastic as the local sheriff Sam who knows about Cathy being in Monterey as he is also a close friend of Trask where he does what he can to help Cal with news about his mother.

Jo Van Fleet is excellent as Cathy Ames/Kate Trask as a brothel madam who wears gloves to cover her hands that are described as white as ivory as she is also the estranged mother of both Cal and Aron as she discovers the former searching for her where she agrees to help his father as well as make money into Cal’s bean business. Richard Davalos is brilliant as Aron Trask as Cal’s twin brother who is a lot like their father in terms of being strait-laced and not getting into trouble yet is also unable to cope with reality where he would neglect Abra and later use her to win his father’s approval and humiliate Cal. Raymond Massey is amazing as Adam Trask as a farmer/draft board chairman who is trying to be this idea of purity as well as being someone who prefer to see success through small things instead of bigger things despite some ideas that would prove to prosperous despite the realities he had to face.

Julie Harris is incredible as Abra Bacon as Aron’s girlfriend who is this beautiful soul that is always good to everyone while shares her own issues with her father with Cal which adds to their growing bond as her relationship with Aron starts to falter as she would fall for Cal and be sympathetic towards him. Finally, there’s James Dean in a tremendous performance as Cal Trask as a young man who is eager to win the approval of his father while is often tormented by his own flaws as well as having to compete with his brother. Even as he is always full of energy and is willing to work hard yet is often conflicted in wanting to win his father’s love but also hates him for favoring Aron whom he feels is always undermining him as it showcases Dean as this acting powerhouse that is filled with angst and determination to be loved and understood.

East of Eden is a spectacular film by Elia Kazan that features great performances from James Dean, Julie Harris, and Raymond Massey. Along with its supporting cast, gorgeous visuals, its exploration of sibling rivalry, and an evocative music score by Leonard Rosenman. It is a film that is not just this intense melodrama but also a film that displays a young man that is yearning to be accepted for who he is from those who are close to him. In the end, East of Eden is a phenomenal film from Elia Kazan.

Elia Kazan Films: (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) – (The Sea of Grass) – (Boomerang!) – (Gentleman’s Agreement) – (Pinky) – (Panic in the Streets) – A Streetcar Named Desire - (Viva Zapata!) – (Man on a Tightrope) – On the Waterfront - (Baby Doll) – (A Face in the Crowd) – (Wild River) – Splendor in the Grass - (America America) – (The Arrangement) – (The Visitors (1972 film)) – (The Last Tycoon)

© thevoid99 2024

A Matter of Life and Death

Written and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, A Matter of Life and Death is the story of an airman who survives death as he falls for an American radio operator while angels are trying to get him to the other side. Set during World War II, the film is an exploration into a man facing and cheating death while trying to continue his life without compromise. Starring David Niven, Kim Hunter, Roger Livesay, Marius Goring, and Raymond Massey. A Matter of Life and Death is an extraordinarily rich film from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

The film is about a man who had just survived a near-death experience as his bomber plane crashed where he jumped off his plane without a parachute. While he was on his plane, he communicates with an American radio operator where the two fall for each other as they eventually meet and become a couple. For the people in Heaven, they realize the man was supposed to die as they send an angel (Marius Goring) to meet with the man to tell him he’s supposed to be in Heaven. The angel gives the man time while Dr. Frank Reeves (Roger Livesay) examines the man as he would defend him in a trial to see if this man should stay alive or be sent to Heaven. It’s a film about life and death as well as the power of love where the people from above are to see if this man in Peter Carter (David Niven) should stay alive to fall in love with the American woman June (Kim Hunter).

The film’s screenplay explores the world of life and the afterlife where Peter Carter has accidentally cheated death where angels and those in the afterlife question should Peter Carter fulfill what has been expected him in life or should he continue to go on living? Yet, the people in Heaven didn’t expect for Peter and June to fall for each other in a moment like this as they send this French aristocratic angel to talk with Peter about what he should do. Dr. Frank Reeves listens to Peter talking about his meeting with the angels as he believes there is more to something that is beyond anything. Yet, he would play a crucial role into defending Peter in front of the people of the afterlife as he has to face a jury that despise the British led by its American prosecutor Abraham Farlan (Raymond Massey). What would happen in the third act is a trial for the life of a man as Peter would also face a judge and jury to see if he deserves to stay alive.

The direction of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger is definitely out of this world in terms of what they presented. Notably as they go for two very different approaches to life on Earth and the afterlife where the former is presented in gorgeous Technicolor and the latter is presented in black-and-white. The direction is often filled with a sense of style from the sense of danger that is presented in the opening moments of the film where Peter is flying his bomber plane as he talks to June. A lot of the scenes set on Earth do have some degree of style in some of its location shots as well as a scene of Dr. Reeves looking out at the town through a magnifying table. Other stylish shots in the film are the conversations between Peter and the angel where everything around them stops while the people who aren’t Peter or the angel stay still.

The scenes set in Heaven are very stylized in the set pieces that is created where there are things the dead have to do once they arrive in Heaven. There is a sense of control that occurs while the trial scene itself is filled with some wide shots to establish the scope of the case in hand. There is also the staircase scenes that is presented in black-and-white but also in color to establish the link between the two worlds. The third act is about the two worlds colliding to set the fate for Peter Carter as where some big decisions occur as well as the idea of life itself. Overall, Powell and Pressburger create a magnificent story about life and the power of love.

Cinematographer Jack Cardiff does exquisite work with the film‘s beautiful photography from the wonderful look of the scenes in Heaven shot in black-and-white with some amazing lighting schemes to the lush Technicolor look of the scenes on Earth from the look of the British countryside to some of the interiors in the film as Cardiff‘s work is a major highlight of the film. Editor Reginald Mills does excellent work with the film‘s editing with the use of abrupt cuts to play out some of the strange things that are happening around Peter to the use of freeze-frames and other stylish cuts to help give the film a brisk pace. Production designer Alfred Junge does amazing work with the set pieces from the look of the staircase to the look of Heaven itself as it is a work of beauty.

Costume designer Hein Heckroth does wonderful work with the costumes to play up some of its coloring in the scenes on Earth while keeping things simple and stylish for the scenes in Heaven. The special effects work by Douglas Woolsey and Henry Harris is terrific for its use of optical effects to create some look of the universe as well as the backgrounds for the staircase scenes. Sound recorder C.C. Stevens does nice work with the sound to create sound effects for the film‘s opening sequence of Peter‘s plane crumbling as well as some intimate moments between characters as well as the scenes where sound isn‘t used. The film’s music by Allan Gray is superb for its lush orchestral score to play out the drama and some of its humor through some sweeping string arrangements and a few bombastic moments in the percussions.

The film’s cast is brilliant as it features some small appearances from Richard Attenborough as an English pilot who arrives to Heaven, Abraham Sofaer as Heaven’s judge and the surgeon performing surgery for Peter, Robert Coote as Peter’s deceased co-pilot Bob Trubshawe, and Kathleen Byron as the head angel who greets the dead to Heaven. Raymond Massey is excellent as Abraham Farlan who believes that Peter should die and be sent to Heaven while Marius Goring is marvelous as the very charming French aristocrat who has become an angel as he tries to get Peter to Heaven while realizing the severity of the situation. Roger Livesay is superb as Dr. Frank Reeves as a man who believes Peter’s stories as he tries to help him in every way while finding himself in a situation of his own where he can play a crucial role in Peter’s trial.

Kim Hunter is remarkable as June as an American woman who falls for Peter through their radio conversation while trying to wonder what is wrong with him as she turns to Dr. Reeves for help. David Niven is fantastic as Peter Carter as a man who had just experienced a near-death experience as well as love as he realizes his fate is in the hands of people beyond him as he tries to comprehend the idea of life itself.

A Matter of Life and Death is an incredible film from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Armed with a great ensemble cast that includes David Niven, Kim Hunter, Roger Livesay, Raymond Massey, and Marius Goring as well as Jack Cardiff’s rapturous cinematography. It’s a film that explores the idea of life itself as well as how a man can put his own life in the hands of other to see if he should live. It’s also a film about the power of love and how strong it can be for a man’s fate. In the end, A Matter of Life and Death is a tremendous film from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

Powell/Pressburger Films: The Spy is Black - (The Lion Has Wings) - Contraband - (An Airman’s Letter to His Mother) - 49th Parallel - One of Our Aircraft is Missing - The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp - (The Volunteer) - A Canterbury Tale - I Know Where I‘m Going! - Black Narcissus - The Red Shoes - The Small Black Room - (Gone to Earth) - The Tales of Hoffman - (Oh… Rosalinda!!!) - (The Battle of the River Plate) - Ill Met by Moonlight - Peeping Tom - (They’re a Weird Mob) - (Age of Consent) - (The Boy Who Turned Yellow)

© thevoid99 2013

49th Parallel

Directed by Michael Powell and written by Emeric Pressburger, with additional work by Rodney Ackland, 49th Parallel is the story of a World War II U-boat crew who arrive in Canada after their boat has sunk. In order to avoid the Canadian army, the crew make their way to the U.S. to avoid capture. A film made during World War II, the project marks the third official movie by the team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger as they would become of the key forces for British cinema. Starring Leslie Howard, Laurence Olivier, Anton Walbrook, Raymond Massey, and Eric Portman. 49th Parallel is a superb yet suspenseful film from the team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

After sinking a boat nearby the Hudson Bay in Canada, a German U-boat commander (Richard George) asks Lieutenant Hirth (Eric Portman) and Lieutenant Kuhnecke (Raymond Lovell) along with four crew members to go to a nearby camp to get food and fuel. During the journey, Hirth, Kuhnecke, and their men see their submarine attacked by the Canadian air force as they realize they have to escape Canada. Arriving into the camp, they take shelter into the home of a French-Canadian hunter (Laurence Olivier) and the camp leader (Finlay Currie) only to take over and deal Eskimo tribes and later steal a plane.

Arriving nearby a Hutterite community close to Winnipeg, the remaining gang led by Hirth seek shelter by the community as its leader Peter (Anton Walbrook) take them in. When one of the U-boat sailors in Vogel (Niall MacGinnis) finds comfort in the community, Hirth believes that the community could be of help when he gives a stirring speech about Nazism. Yet, Peter finds Hirth and his men trouble though he does accept Vogel who explains about his old life prior to Nazism. Hirth and his remaining men leave the camp as they continue to trek into Canada in hopes to reach Vancouver as there’s a bounty on them. During the journey, the men would encounter eccentric figures such as a novelist (Leslie Howard) and a deserting Canadian soldier (Raymond Massey) leaving them to wonder if they would ever escape.

While the film was made during the early years of 1941 as a propaganda piece of sorts for the then-neutral U.S. at the time. It is a film about survival but from the perspective of the Nazis as they trek through Canada in hopes to make it to the U.S. and return safely to Germany. During the journey which starts off with six men in the beginning, the team would eventually become smaller as the journey to the unarmed U.S.-Canada border near Vancouver. Yet, they would encounter places and people during this journey as one of their superiors want them to enjoy the splendor of Nazism in his belief that Germany will win the war. Unfortunately, a Hutterite leader disagrees while one of the sailors in that group regains his love for baking and comforts a young Hutterite girl (Glyins Johns) who lost her family because of the Nazis.

Emeric Pressburger, with help from Rodney Ackland on the scenario, creates a script that allows these men who are supposed to be the villains become more real during the journey. Particularly Vogel and Hirth where they would have some development during their journey while Hirth maintains his belief in the greater good that Adolf Hitler will bring with Nazism. What makes the journey more interesting are the people they meet such as a French-Canadian hunter who has been away from the world for some time along with the Hutterites and various people throughout Canada. In the end, the stakes of being caught or killed by 11 million Canadians is something Hirth and his men can’t endure while they hope to return to Germany as heroes.

Michael Powell’s direction is truly engaging in the way he captures the Canadian landscape as he got the chance to shoot the film on location in Canada. Yet, he also makes the country a character of its own from its gorgeous forest, vast mountains, and large wheat fields. It’s a place that is very different from Germany where Powell keeps the camera in tact of everything that is going on. From some great wide shots to close-ups, Powell makes sure the camera is always making sure something is happening. Yet, he allows characters such as Hirth and Peter to have their moments about the idea of the world as Hirth is the one character struggling to maintain his beliefs. While the film does have a few flaws as a propaganda piece, notably the way the film ends on a humorous note. It is a film that is a great piece of survival largely due to the writing of Emeric Pressburger and Powell’s compelling direction making it one of their finer collaborations.

Cinematographer Freddie Young does excellent work with the film‘s black-and-white photography to bring a wonderful bright yet broad look to the Canadian mountains and forests along with some great nighttime shots for the cities and places the character live in. The editing by future acclaimed filmmaker David Lean is very good for maintaining a leisured pace while keeping the film straightforward with some transitional dissolves and fade-outs to keep the film moving along throughout the film.

Art director David Rawnsley does some nice work with the look of the cabin the Nazis embark on along with the Hutterite homes and teepees they would seek shelter in. Sound supervisor A.W. Watkins does fantastic work with the sound from the way bombs fall to gun shots and the crowd interacting in the cities and town meetings. The film’s music by Ralph Vaughn Williams is superb for its intense yet serene score for many of the film’s tense moments along with some lighthearted pieces for some of the low-key and relaxing moments of the film.

The cast is definitely a highlight in the film as it includes some notable small performances from Ley On as an Eskimo in cabin scenes, Charles Victor and Frederick Piper as a couple of Hutterites, and Theodore Salt as a U.S. Customs officer. In other small roles, there’s some fantastic work from Glynis Johns as Anna, Raymond Massey as an AWOL Canadian soldier, and Finlay Currie as the Eskimo camp leader. For the roles of the Nazi sailors, there’s Basil Appleby, John Chandos, and Peter Moore as the three men who help along with Richard George as the U-boat commander. Raymond Lovell is very good as Lieutenant Kuhnecke, an officer who tries to get everyone to calm down as he tries to save everyone by flying the plane they stole. Niall MacGinnis is excellent as Vogel, a sailor who finds peace at the Hutterite home as he deals with Hirth’s brutal leadership and how much Nazism has changed his life for the worst.

Leslie Howard is superb as Phillip Armstrong Scott, a novelist Hirth and his men meet where Howard brings a great sense of charm to a man that is an outsider only to be aware of who he is facing. Anton Walbrook is phenomenal as Peter, a Hutterite community leader who takes the Nazis in only to be alienated by Hirth’s speech as he counters it with a wonderful monologue about the Hutterite life. Laurence Olivier is great in a very funny role as a French-Canadian hunter who learns about what’s going on in World War II while trying to aggravate the Nazis. Finally, there’s Eric Portman in a brilliant performance as Lieutenant Hirth. Portman’s performance is very captivating as a man trying to maintain his beliefs and instill them in the people he meets.

49th Parallel is a compelling war film from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger featuring a superb cast that includes Eric Portman, Leslie Howard, Laurence Olivier, and Anton Walbrook. While it’s a film that might not have the grandeur as later Powell-Pressburger films like The Red Shoes, it is a film that is intriguing for its study of men who are on the other side of war. Particularly as it gives a more dimensional characterization to men who are Nazis during the early stages of World War II. In the end, 49th Parallel is stellar film from the great duo of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

Powell-Pressburger Films: The Spy in Black - (The Lion Has Wings) - Contraband - (An Airman’s Letter to His Mother) - One of Our Aircraft is Missing - The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp - (The Volunteer) - A Canterbury Tale - I Know Where I’m Going - A Matter of Life and Death - Black Narcissus - The Red Shoes - The Small Black Room - (Gone to Earth) - The Tales of Hoffmann - (Oh… Rosalinda!!!) - (The Battle of the River Plate) - Ill Met by Moonlight - Peeping Tom - (They’re a Weird Mob) - (Age of Consent) - (The Boy Who Turned Yellow)

© thevoid99 2011