She was far too homely to get the romantic lead. Very unattractive. Was there a scarcity of girls in town? Her casting wrecked the whole movie .
shareI suppose you could say so if you are just looking at outer beauty, but she had an inner beauty. She was, however, quite a bit older than Dean.
maggimae83
She wasn't homely, just not glamorous.
--
LBJ's mistress on JFK:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcXeutDmuRA
I read Julie's book & she said she felt too old for the part as JD was so much younger than her. However, she's a great actress.
I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul....... Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!" Julie Harris was already, at the time of this film, recognized as an attractive, extremely talented actress on both stage and screen. And, she delivered an outstanding performance in this film. Her role was not focused on Abbra's looks but rather about the inner character and the complex feelings that she, Cal and Aaron are dealing with as the story progresses.
Surely the overwhelming percentage of millions of those who have ever seen this film would neither consider her unattractive nor homely, just a simple young woman who was attractive and fulfilled certain inner needs of both brothers, as they offered the same to her.
In any case, I honestly believe your view that she was horribly 'miscast' due to being too homely is ridiculous and irrelevant. It's also a rather insulting, dismissive comment to make about an actress who amassed an
incredibly adoring, devoted following for her lifetime of Award-winning work on stage and screen.
At best, your comment seems rather shallow and perhaps rather 'American', as if every female role has to be played by some young tabloid 'babe'. None of the characters in this wonderful, classic Steinbeck story are played by unusually attractive actors -- they're simply playing average people in an average town USA. We're looking beyond as well as beneath the surface of the characters and the challenges in their lives.
I was really enjoying and agreeing with your comments about Julie Harris,
right up to the part where you say "your comment seems rather shallow and perhaps rather 'American'"
then you lost me,
Chef Sam - the cook
Hey, Sam . . .
Back at ya!
[deleted]
As am I . . .
sharewell, welcome home.
Chef Sam - the cook
As am I . . .
Thanks for the apology, samnotsob. However, I really hope you can consider how thin-skinned your over-reaction to my comment suggests we 'Americans' are . . . I give you the benefit of the doubt but, even if I was from a different country, does it make your calling me an 'A-hole' right or reasonable, simply because I expressed an opinion/observation about the way 'Americans' seem to expect all lead actresses to be great looking? Obviouly, I don't know you so I'm going to assume my comment hit you wrong because you feel 'Brit' comments have too often
been unfair. I'm hoping that we 'Americans' are a little less sensitive than that but maybe you've had personal issues with 'Brits' . . .
Who knows? All I hope for, 'samnotsob', is to able to participate in interesting discussions on IMDb as well as consider other people's viewpoints. Hope that's your intention, too.
Respectfully,
Your 'not-ugly' American
compatriot
I
Tullyboy, was watching East of Eden recently and never once considered Julie Harris ugly or miscast but was taken by her acting abilities, she was a pro and a damn good one, everyone in that movie was perfectly cast, and a super job directing by Elia Kazan, so it's not like the book, the movie was made for movie goers not book snobs, if they followed the book it probably would have been a horrid movie, I think they knew what they were doing, most movies are just "based" on a book, they're not in the business of making "talking video Books"
Chef Sam - (the cook)
I'm from the Philippines and my mom and I find her homely too.
shareAlmost as bad as Iben Hjejle in High Fidelity. She looks like Angela Martin from The Office! At least we get Wood and Taylor in the next two films, beauty and talent.
shareShallow Americans, with her red hair and freckled face, she's gorgeous.
Only those with no valid argument pick holes in people's spelling and grammar.
She just seemed far too old for the role. She looked to be at least 30-35 years old.
shareLooks aside, she is certainly the film's weakest link. Not terrible though.
Hey there, Johnny Boy, I hope you fry!