Trivia: During the "punishment" bible reading scene, while James Dean was reading out loud, he was swearing under his breath. This was to evoke anger from the actor who played his father - he was a devout Christian.
![East of Eden](/images/titles/0-999/397_sm.jpg)
Continuity mistake: When James Dean's mom writes out a check for $5000 and gives it to him, she licks the envelope first, but when she actually hands over the envelope to him, it's clearly not sealed.
Suggested correction: I noticed this, too, but as it's all one shot, it's not a continuity error; it's simply that she didn't properly seal the envelope. Not a film mistake.
Question: Shouldn't there be more people on bicycles? I think a lot of people rode bicycles during this time. At least in the Monterey area. Probably not on the farm as much. People became very car happy in the 50s. Also, the haircuts are very 1940s / early 1950s.
Answer: Many earlier Hollywood movies were often less concerned about recreating a precise historical time period and instead evoked the era's atmosphere. Audiences then were less discerning or knowledgeable about history and details regarding hairstyles, makeup, clothing, manners, etc. which were sometimes diluted, glossed over, and often wrong. More people may have ridden bicycles during that era but many had cars, though it's unessential to the plot either way.
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