John Steinbeck's sprawling, wordy novel about two brothers vying for their father's love here becomes a sprawling, wordy movie. We're in Cain and Abel territory, and the biblical parallels are rammed home by Elia Kazan's heavy-handed direction. The film has dated somewhat, but is still well worth seeing for James Dean's first starring role, in which he came to embody the frustrations of American teenagers. It was writer Paul Osborn who recommended Dean, though Kazan was set on casting Marlon Brando, but when Kazan met Dean - "a heap of twisted legs and denim rags, looking resentful for no particular reason" - he recognised the potential.

In the Salinas Valley in and around World War I, Cal Trask feels he must compete against overwhelming odds with his brother for the love of their father. Cal is frustrated at every turn, from his reaction to the war, how to get ahead in business and in life, and how to relate to his estranged mother.