YoFiFest Film Festival: Elia Kazan & John Steinbeck

In partnership with the 2016 YoFiFest Film Festival, the New Rochelle Public Library will be showing two classic films written by John Steinbeck and directed by Elia Kazan, who grew up in New Rochelle. East of Eden, filmed in 1955, stars James Dean, Julie Harris, Raymond Massey, Jo Van Fleet, Burl Ives, Richard Davalos, and Albert Dekker. The 1955 film is loosely based on Steinbeck’s book about two brothers’ rivalry for the love of their father. Steinbeck wrote the 1952 movie, Viva Zapata, which was based on the novel, “Zapata, the Unconquerable,” by Edgcmb Pinchon that was also directed by Kazan. Starring Marlon Brando, Jean Peters and, in an Academy Award-winning performance, Anthony Quinn, the film is a fictionalized account of the life of Mexican Revolutionary Emiliano Zapata. Brief commentary will be provided before and after each film.