À l'est d'Eden

Jane Seymour's absolutely astounding performance is reason enough to watch this all the way through. She is by turns kittenish, sweet, ruthless, self-serving, tormented and tormentor often just flat out evil but always watchable. She is able by small gestures to show Cathy/Kate's internal struggle, at first, wishing to be good but unable to accomplish that since something inside her is intrinsically rotten and finally surrendering her soul to pure villainy. She's a wonder, unfortunately she has not been presented with the opportunity to play this sort of full bodied character since. As for the rest of the show Lloyd Bridges almost matches Jane's work in one of his best latter day portrayals as the stern level headed Samuel. Their shared scene where Cathy is in labor is some of the best acting you will ever see in a miniseries. Soon Tek-Oh is fine as the faithful Lee and Bruce Boxleitner does some good work as the deeply flawed Charles. There are also some nice contributions in smaller roles by fine actors like Howard Duff as the cuckold whore-monger and Anne Baxter, full of brio as the madame Faye. The true weakness of the piece, and it is a big one, is the borderline terrible performance by Timothy Bottoms as Adam. While Cathy/Kate was always the strongest character of the book Adam is its focal point and to have the at best middling Bottoms in the part hurts the story as the stronger actors all but erase him from the screen whenever he shares scenes with them. The second portion is hampered in the same way by Sam Bottoms, although he is better than brother Timothy, and the fact that both he and Hart Bochner plus Karen Allen as Abra are too old for their roles. Still the Cain vs. Abel story at its center is strong enough to hold your interest and Jane's master class in acting compelling. While the James Dean version is also a superior picture with great acting from Julie Harris, Raymond Massey, Jo Van Fleet and him it only covers the second part of the book, for a full rendering of the novel this is about as close to perfect as you are likely to see. Once again Jane is great here, she won many well deserved awards for her work, don't miss it.

I have to say that I loved the book and was not impressed by the earlier movie with James Dean because I didn't think it did justice to the storyline of the book.

This miniseries follows the book fairly faithfully, the way it was written. I do seem to remember Sam Hamilton's wife being more fleshed out in the book, though. I also liked the scenery, sets, and other production items of this series.

There were times, though, were the acting made me cringe. For one, when Cathy was being beat up, it was obvious that the fists missed her by a mile. I did think that Soon-Tek Oh did a fantastic job as Lee and Jane Seymour did a great job as Cathy/Kate.

One thing that I felt should be improved is in make-up. They could have done a little more to show the characters aging. For example, they could have at least made Adam's and Kate's hair appear more gray as they aged. Afterall, they were in their sixties at the end of the story. And, they could have done more to Kate's hands to make her arthritis seem more convincing.

With all due respect to the James Dean classic, that fine work only took in roughly 1/3 of the novel. The 1981 TV miniseries is a great example of how to transfer a literary work onto film.The writers managed to keep all the main characters, most of the secondary ones, and keep true to the story too....no small feat. The cast was impeccably chosen--they looked and acted just as they were written. (A curious exception: Kate and Aaron--described as fair and blonde in the book--and Cal--dark and somber--were physically just the opposite in Jane Seymour, Hart Bochner and Sam Bottoms)....but why nitpick? Their performances make THAT inconsequential. Miss Seymour will probably be best remembered as Dr. Michaela Quinn, or as TV-movie royalty, but her performance as Kate should be the standout---she walked right out of the pages of the novel. She's electric in her scenes with Bruce Boxleitner, who is excellent as kindred spirit Charles Trask. And when with her husband (Timothy Bottoms, restrained and aloof, just as Adam was written)she does the spectrum, from loving innocence to the incarnation of evil. A must-see for anyone who's ever read the book--SEE IT. You won't be sorry.

This was an exciting series from start to finish. I love adaptations&this one did not disappoint me! The actors chosen were suited to their roles&played their parts perfectly! I wholeheartedly recommend this movie because it is so enjoyable. The time I spent watching the series went by quickly! BTW, I have not read the book yet,but now that I have saw the mini-series, I'm going to! Jane Seymour never disappoints. The Bottoms brothers(only Joseph was missing)are all fine actors. I also think the film taught a few life lessons. People will see them unfold as the series plays out! Also, as an added bonus, the California scenery is gorgeous!

I read the book, saw the mini-series, then viewed the James Dean version.

Simply put, the mini-series was hands down the better version. Beautifully filmed, intelligently written (keeping true to the novel) and impeccably cast, the mini-series is inspired stuff.

Every important aspect of the novel was captured. Timothy Bottoms and Bruce Boxleitner fleshed out their respective characters faithfully to those conceived by Steinbeck. But it is Jane Seymour's convincing portrayal, almost beyond description, of the evil Kate, that is the kind of thing movie legends are made. She made a believer out of me in a matter of a few frames.

Other standout performances include Warren Oates as the patriarch both boys rival to please and Lloyd Bridges as the ultra good father of the Hamilton clan.

Of the best mini-series prevalent around this time - Rich Man, Poor Man, Sho-Gun and East of Eden would rank in my top three, and not necessarily in that order.