High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! East of Eden is a 1955 film, directed by Elia Kazan, and loosely based on the second half of the 1952 novel of the same name by American author John Steinbeck about a wayward young man who, while seeking his own identity, vies for the affection of his Bible-toting father against his favored brother. It is, in essence, a retelling of the biblical story of Cain and Abel.