The film ends on a flagrant miscalculation which typifies Kazan at his worst.

It's far from a dull movie, but it's certainly a very strange one; it's an enshrinement of the mixed-up kid.

John Steinbeck's painful biblical allegory -- Genesis replayed in Monterey, California, circa 1917 -- is more palatable on the screen, thanks to the down-to-earth performances of James Dean as Cal/Cain and Richard Davalos as Aron/Abel.

...a handsome yet mostly inert and uninvolving endeavor...