[In East of Eden] Kazan has done more than master the static temptations of Cinemascope. For the first time in his film career, he has harnessed his violent technique to the emotional content of his material.

As a consequence, East of Eden is the deepest film Kazan has ever made and, in many respects, the best. The shock effects in East of Eden are even more jarring than those of On the Waterfront because they occur within the feelings of his characters rather than without. Also, there is none of the superimposed melodrama in Eden that we find in Waterfront just as there are no easy melodramatic solutions….

Where Steinbeck had reinforced his biblical parable with a well-observed social background, [the screenwriter Paul Osborn] and Kazan have stripped away social details to concentrate on the feelings of the characters.

Unfortunately, East of Eden fails to develop its characters...