East of Eden at the Astor

Sixty-seven years ago today, “East of Eden” premiered at the Astor Theater in New York City and the world of movies was never the same again, thanks to its lead actor, James Dean.



Dean was not at the premiere of his own film, but Jo Van Fleet (who played his mother) and Richard Davalos (who played this brother) were there to hand out programs. Actor Red Buttons is on the left:



From the gushing publicity release of the day:

An all-celebrity world premiere audience made Wednesday, March 9th’s N.Y. Astor Theatre opening of “East of Eden,” Elia Kazan’s Warner Bros. CinemaScope production of the John Steinbeck best-seller, the most newsworthy event in recent Broadway history. A distinguished opening night audience of some of the nation’s most famous people paid $50 a ticket for the premier given for the benefit of the Actors Studio. A corps of volunteer celebrity usherettes showed the capacity audience to their seats. Following the premiere, an after-theatre supper and private all-star entertainment at the Sheraton Astor Roof was attended by the $50 ticket holders. Members of the cast of “East of Eden” were present for the opening, including Raymond Massey who co-stars in the drama with Julie Harris and James Dean, and Jo Van Fleet and Richard Davalos, who play leading featured roles. Jack L. Warner, executive producer; Elia Kazan, producer-director, and John Steinbeck were also among the “East of Eden” first-nighters. Mrs. Averell Harriman was honorary chairlady of the premiere evening, whose entire proceeds go to the non-profit Actors Studio for its work in the advancement of the professional arts of the theatre.

This detailed view shows the program that guests received as they entered the theatre:



Thanks to Google, you can see it in color:



One usherette was more popular than all the rest: Marilyn Monroe. At the left of this image is her press agent, Jay Kanter. Not sure who the leering creep on the right of the image is.



From the Book “The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe” by Donald H. Wolfe:

With the news of Marilyn’s participation the benefit was an instant sellout. The magic name of Monroe caused a run on tickets, which were being scalped at triple their sales price. One of the crowd at the Astor Roof who was anxiously waiting to see the usherette was Arthur Miller, who attended the Actor’s studio benefit with his sister, actress Joan Copeland. Marilyn had been very much on Miller’s mind. He stated, ‘I no longer knew what I wanted – certainly not the end of my marriage, but the thought of putting Marilyn out of my life was unbearable.’

Marilyn fan supreme, James Haspiel, was a young man at the time of the Astor premiere. Here is his breathless account from his book, Marilyn: The Ultimate Look at the Legend:

I came upon wooden police horses set up on both sides of the entrance to the hotel, holding back hundreds of Monroe admirers. In addition, there was a long line of people that wrapped around onto Park Avenue, fans who had cameras and autograph books awaiting the Monroe image and signature. With her limousine sitting at the curb, what had been arranged for the more ambitious fans was that when Monroe came down in the elevator these people would be allowed to go one at a time to the elevator door and either take a snapshot or obtain an autograph. Little by little, finally everyone had been serviced, as it were, and I got on the end of the line and was the last person to reach the door of the elevator. With a feeling of dismay that I didn’t have my camera along, I walked right into the cubicle, looped my arm through hers, and said, “I’ll take you out to your car, Marilyn.” She was wearing an off-white brocade gown with a fur-trimmed stole, I was dressed in jeans and a black leather jacket. We must have been a sight and a half! As we came through the hotel’s revolving doors, probably seventy-five or so flashbulbs exploded into a virtual sea of bright light, yet I have never seen even a single photograph taken of that moment. I escorted Marilyn into the limo, helped her inside and closed the door. Having just usurped his job, I then noted her chauffeur standing there quite mute. I went around to the other side of the car to look at Marilyn through the window. Although she was to me consistently beautiful, there were few moments, this being one of them, when Marilyn looked so outrageously gorgeous that it was actually hard to look at her. But I did. She went on to the premiere, and the word quickly spread throughout Times Square that ‘Marilyn Monroe is over at the Astor Theatre!’ Soon people in the thousands picked up that information along Broadway. Marilyn was going to a post premiere party at the Astor Roof atop the Astor Hotel, directly across the street from the movie theatre. By the film’s conclusion, there was no way to move along that block bridging the theatre and the hotel. To one side of the hotel, next to an entrance, was a very large display window with a healthy-sized cement sill that I managed to take refuge on. Side doors to the theatre were opened, and celebrities like Sammy Davis Jr. came walking through the crowd, and were welcomed and shouted at and applauded. One by one the celebrities came across, and then the doors were closed again, with everybody still there waiting for Marilyn. As if on cue, at exactly midnight the doors reopened and you could see about eleven or twelve policemen and a tousled blonde head in the middle of them. It was no small task getting Marilyn across that jammed street. I remember more than one person suddenly pirouetting out of the crowd, screaming hysterically ‘I touched her!’ When she got up close to where I was, heading for the entrance of the hotel, she was out of breath. I gazed at her face and there were tears streaming down her cheeks with joy and exhilaration, the excitement and love that was happening all around her. I didn’t go into the hotel, but someone who did told me there were people in the Ladies Room standing in the line outside the bathroom stall that Marilyn took refuge in, passing papers and pens underneath the stall for her to sign.

Here are two videos from YouTube that show the premiere and Marilyn’s entrance to the event:





The Astor Theatre was demolished in 1982 and replaced by the Marriott Marquis Hotel. I guess L.A. isn’t the only place where historic buildings get razed. See more James Dean photos at my main website.