James Dean nailed this performance on the head you could see the angst and frustration oozing out of him as Cal. Especially in the scene where he gives his father the money and he rejects it, i just wanted to hug him his face was adorable. Also Aron said he was getting engaged at that moment just to spite Cal. Bastard.
Also it helps that James Dean was extremely sexy in this film
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James Dean truly was an exceptional actor. People often get distracted with the fact that his face adorns t-shirts, and the romantic nature of his devastatingly premature death. But he was a genius. The best advice I could give to someone about to watch a Dean film, is this: Watch him, Just really watch him. It is hard enough to take your eyes off of him (he has an incomprable presence) but just try to focus your attention there--you will not be disappointed. His eyes reveal so much. Martin Sheen once said, "If you can say it here {points to eyes} you don't have to say it here {points to mouth}". This is never so true as with James Dean. I must have seen this movie a dozen times, and each time there is something that I notice and am impressed by in his performance. There is not an actor even today that can do what he did, he was brilliant.
It is funny that you mention how sexy he was in this film. I didn't really think that he could get much better than he was in his other two movies. But I found him at his sexiest in this film. That little boy charm is at its strongest here, especially in the scene with the barmaid--it just makes your knees weak! I'd sure as hell show him where his mother was! And it is his only film where he has a butt. Kazan made him gain a few pounds for the role, and you really can't see it, he doesn't look at all heavy--but, I think it all went to his backside. Not to be crude, but it's there! And pretty hard to miss, I read an article where it solely discusses the powerful sexuality of James Dean in East of Eden--the mixture of innocence and animal prowess. Probably one of the sexiest performance on film, and it was just him--no sex scenes, nudity, etc. What a talent he was.
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his performance was amazing in this film
he truly was an excellent actor
I truly loved James Dean's potrayal as Cal and I've seen this movie billions of times. I just love how effortlessly he manifested the sufficient amount of boyish allure, mischief, affection and adroitness to the role of this wayward guy. The ending most of times leaves me in tears, particularly when he carries the chair to sit next to his ailing father and then throws a brief glance full of mirth and hope to Abra. It's these little things, these barely perceptible gestures which add tremendously to the story that makes me appreciate him as an actor so much.
shareThat's true, everytime I watch this movie, I notice something new in his performance. It is always something inventive and exciting and adds so much to the character or the story. He overwhelms me.
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FINALLY!!! Some talks about how incredible his butt was in this movie. I'm not even someone who notices that. I like eyes & hands, but the whole time I'm watching EOE, I'm staring at his spectacular butt.
I hope that statement in no way takes away from James Dean being an amazing actor and just a beautiful soul.
There did seem to be a lot of shots of his butt in tight pants and in full view of the camera. I wonder if that was deliberate?
shareomg, the scene where he tries to give his father the money is HEARTBREAKING!!!! It pissed me off SO much how they were treating him! Even when he called his father out on something we KNOW the father did wrong and was standing up for himself, the girl (Don't remember her name) said he should apologize to his father. WTF??????
I didn't think Rebel without a Cause was his best, if anything the less best out of his three movies. It was that vacant dinner scene around the end of Giant where I saw how great he was. He always seemed to play those tragic heros....
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If you know the backstory of Adam (Cal/James Dean's Dad in EoE), then it isn't fair to judge him too harshly for holding back and not telling his sons the whole truth about their mother. When they were little, it would have done them more harm than good to know anything about her.
It wasn't just that Kate, Cal & Aron's mother, was a "madam" who ran seedy establishments, but how that she had spent her whole life ruining the lives of other people and even commiting outright murder! Would you want YOUR kids to know about a mother like that, if she had up till now pulled the wool over your eyes, so to speak, and then showed her true colors and went on to inflict bloodshed and abandon the family FOREVER, in pusuit of her own, selfish agenda in life?
Give Adam some credit for doing his best to answer Cal's questions about Kate; Adam realized that Cal was ready to know the truth, but Aron certainly NEVER WAS, judging by how he fell apart at the seams when he finally learned the truth! Besides, Adam was actually leveling with Cal, for once, when CAL suddenly decided he didn't want to hear anymore of it and ran out on him! Sure, Abra was RIGHT to tell Cal he owed his dad an apology!
I think Dean's performance was a superb, tour-de-force and he was aptly chosen by director Kazan because most of the young "talent" in Hollywood were bland Tab Hunter-types who lacked the acting rage demanded for the role of Cal Trask.
I do think (and always have, even when I first watched it as a teen-ager) that the "heart break scene," where he runs out wailing after his father's rejection of the money, was a bit over-played--Dean actually ad libbed this!--but nevertheless quite forgiveable for any performer who was as young as Dean was. The rest of Dean's scenes throughout the film are nothing short of cinematic GOLD and he truly deserved the Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
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I agree.
His breakdown after his father rejects the money is the only real weak point in his performance, IMO. It was just a bit too hammy. I blame the director/editor for that as well though, they should have used a different take. The rest of his performance I liked, however. A good and raw portrayal of a troubled boy.
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He played the tragic heroes so well because deep down inside he was a tragic figure himself. And ironically, his life ended tragically too and now he truly is a tragic hero in reality. I didn't like Rebel Without a Cause too much, but his performance stood out. Then I saw East of Eden and not only did the film move me, but his performance was just mind blowing. Absolutely mind blowing. I never could understand what was so special about Dean, he only made 3 films his whole life. But his acting in this movie was beyond words. Did he win the Oscar for this movie?
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Agree. He showed us a real Cal Trask.everytime I browse the book,I can't imagine Cal without Jimmy's face.really immortal
I love you Jimmy Dean
I often get very deeply sad watching this and hearing the tune and thinking of him and how it's just all so tragic. I'm 25 myself. Being 24 once, I remember what it was like. I never realised until recently but he was just a kid. Who took care of him? Everybody my age tends to still live with their folks. He had himself. Was that it?
So upsetting.
CDEGFEDCC. (Shhh!)
Yes he did a wonderful job. He was an amazing actor <3
There's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.
I think he was drawing on his feelings for his own father for this role
His peformance was brilliant though - there was an alchemy between James Dean & the camera which I'm not sure has ever been equalled. Benicio Del Toro's performance in Things We Lost in the Fire come fairly close though IMO.
Are you sure you're not just comparing them because they look eerily alike?
CDEGFEDCC. (Shhh!)
He deserved the Oscar that year, what an amazing, deep performance and that scene at his father's birthday was really tough to watch and brilliantly acted by everyone involved. I'm sure James Dean would've gotten an Oscar if he had had the chance to make at least one more film.
shareThat scene tears me apart every time.
James Dean is one of my favorite actors of all time. He was a natural.
And that scene pretty much sums it all up.
I'm gonna get alot of crap for this but....
I don't think he was a good actor at all. Every film he was in his performance was always extremely fake.
However this performance was much better than his terrible Rebel Without A Cause performance.
Don't think I'm trolling please. I just saw the film and loved it. Just didn't like his acting really.
Every film he was in his performance was always extremely fake.
I'm going to go ahead and half agree with you. I didn't think he was fake as much as untrained. East of Eden is probably his best performance, save that scene with his father refusing the money. Some trivia here says that Dean came up with that; the script called for him to get angry and walk out. Kazan probably should have stayed with the script.
I thought he was unremarkable in Giant.... actually, no, I thought Giant was unremarkable.
Rebel Without A Cause was all about Sal Mineo. Dean spent most of the film chewing everything in sight; "YOU'RE TEARING ME APART!!!!!!!!!!!" Please. He needed WAY more training and he would have been an excellent actor.
"YOU'RE TEARING ME APART" is always the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Rebel Without A Cause, and that's not a good thing. It's literally Showgirls bad of a line.
Agree that Sal Mineo was good.
I also agree that needed Dean ALOT more training. People try to make him out to be one of the greatest actors of all time. He wasn't. He's a great pop culture figure, and really interesting to read about, but the acting? He could've been terrific with time. With the three he was in? No.
In Dean's defense, shred-com, REBEL was a very dated, maudlin movie (although I'm fond of it) and his performance is in keeping with the posing melodrama, unfortunately.
He's much better in EDEN and GIANT because the films are much better.
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I love classic movies and actually prefer the style of acting then believe it or not, but I'm not impressed with Dean's acting in any of the three films he did. I do however love Giant and East Of Eden despite that, and do think Dean is a fantastic pop culture figure. If it were today, people would likely agree that he couldn't act, and he'd be seen more as a trainwreck than anything. Take his obsession with Marlon Brando for example. The media would be all over that crap.
His life was very tragic, and like I said I do think he's an icon in his own right. His acting however is another thing. I'm not gonna change anyone's minds though, and it's just my opinion of course :).