WHETHER YOU KNOW JAMES DEAN from his influential (and tragically short) movie career or from his name drop in a Taylor Swift song, he is undeniably a cultural icon. A year before his death in a car accident in 1955, Dean arrived in Mendocino to film “East of Eden.” Based on John Steinbeck’s novel of the same name, the film was directed by Elia Kazan, whose filmography also includes 1951’s “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

While the story is set in 1917 Salinas and Monterey, California, by 1954 Monterey looked too modern for the movie. The film moved up the coast to join the long list of Hollywood productions filmed in Mendocino for its historic appearance. In late May, 150-200 crew members arrived in town. Calls went out for locals to work as extras. One article in the Mendocino Beacon said that Assistant Director Don Page was casting “25 men who, to use the term loosely, are fat, and who can be ready for immediate work as extras.”

Filming began on May 27 at Dr. Russell Preston’s Victorian mansion. Preston was in bad health and bedridden while the crew worked on the first floor of his home. He reportedly called Kazan to his bedside on the first day of filming, saying “Should I die while you are filming, you must proceed with your work. You have vast amounts of money invested, and you cannot afford to stop filming your picture because I happen to die. Proceed as though I never existed.”

The next day, Preston passed away at the age of 77. Filming paused for the day in his honor.

Residents have many stories about the filming of “East of Eden.” One person recalled that Dean was patient with kids who visited the set and would play catch with them between shots. Another resident took Dean and actor Timothy Carey fishing on Portuguese Beach. Julie Harris is perhaps the most fondly remembered of the cast; she frequently talked with staff at the Little River Inn and mingled with extras. Filming wrapped on June 2.

“East of Eden” was released on March 9, 1955; it was the only of Dean’s three films in a leading role that was released during his lifetime. He was posthumously nominated for Best Actor at the Academy Awards and has since been ranked as the 18th greatest male film star from the Golden Age of Hollywood by the American Film Institute.

Kelley House Museum curator Averee McNear writes a weekly column on Mendocino County history for Mendocino Voice.