Julie Harris, James Dean, Raymond Massey, Burl Ives, Dick Davalos, Jo Van Fleet

This truncated screen version of John Steinbeck's best-seller was the first starring vehicle for explosive 1950s screen personality James Dean, who plays Cal Trask, the "bad" son of taciturn Salinas valley lettuce farmer Adam Trask (Raymond Massey). Although he means well, Cal can't stay out of trouble, nor is he able to match the esteem in which his father holds his "good" brother Aron (Richard Davalos). Only Aron's girl friend Abra (Julie Harris) and kindly old Doctor Sam (Burl Ives) can see the essential goodness in the troublesome Cal. In an effort to win his father's love, Cal purchases a fresh lettuce crop to replace the ruined beans that threatened to bankrupt his family. But Adam rejects the gift. Adam now realizes that Cal knows that Kate is Cal and Aron's mother, long thought dead.