The Grapes of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath is a 1940 American drama film directed by John Ford. It was based on John Steinbeck's 1939 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by Nunnally Johnson and the executive producer was Darryl F. Zanuck.

The film tells the story of the Joads, an Oklahoma family, who, after losing their farm during the Great Depression in the 1930s, become migrant workers and end up in California. The motion picture details their arduous journey across the United States as they travel to California in search of work and opportunities for the family members, and features cinematography by Gregg Toland.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) It's extremely faithful to Steinbeck's original 1939 novel, and it also manages to cut out a lot of the very slow bits that went nowhere, making the film adaptation more memorable. Plus the film adaptation contains an additional ending that optimistically and sentimentally affirms the strength and human dignity of the individual spirit, which both the novel and screenplay lacked. This film was the most popular left-leaning, socialistic-themed film of pre-World War II Hollywood.
 * 2) On the screen, the film honestly and realistically recreates the socio-economic impact of the Great Depression and a mid-30s drought upon one representative family - the Joads. Its theme of an oppressed people's epic move to a new home parallels the Biblical story of Exodus. Their family name, Joad, also evokes the Biblical character of Job.
 * 3) Excellent and sometimes symbolic and groundbreaking performances from the actors especially from the following:
 * 4) Henry Fonda is magnificent as an unmercifully-harrassed Okie who refuses to be beaten and crushed by misfortune.
 * 5) Jane Darwell is marvelous (although her accent is inappropriate) as the strong center and backbone of the migratory family that must leave its ancestral land. She even won the Best Supporting Actress award for her portrayal.
 * 6) As it's filmed in journalistic, documentary-style black and white textures with some low-key lighting and chiaroscuro (often provided by a candle or low light source) - beautifully captured by Gregg Toland's expert cinematography, the film records with astute realism rural America in the 30s, enhancing the image of just how tough life was in that era. Toland's visual images in this film resemble the migrant worker photographs taken by still photographer Dorothea Lange during the Depression. And the musical score by Alfred Newman used variations of "Red River Valley" to give the film added flavor.
 * 7) The film's main themes include the central importance of the family, the suffering and oppression of the farmers, the hollowness of the American Dream, the display of human dignity and spirit in the face of adversity, and issues of social and economic justice.
 * 8) *The plight of the Joad family is universalized as a microcosm of the thousands of other tenant farmers during the country's time of crisis, who suffered from oppression imposed by the banks and big mechanized farm interests. The dispossessed, migrant family's departure from their windy and dusty land, and their slow disintegration provides insight into the thousands of Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas Panhandle, and W. Kansas families who were evicted and uprooted from their "Dust Bowl" farm land, and forced to search westward in the inhospitable Eden of California for jobs and survival with thousands of other migrant workers.
 * 9) Tom Joad (Henry Fonda)'s famous "I'll be there" speech towards the end as mentioned above is not only an extremely iconic moment in cinema history, it also serves as a beacon of hope for whether the country would go through another dark age.

The Only Bad Quality

 * 1) Noah Joad disappears from the story midway, without a proper explanation.

Trivia

 * This novel is based on John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the Great Depression.
 * 20th Century-Fox requested the loan of Spencer Tracy to play Tom Joad even though the studio had already announced Henry Fonda for the part.
 * Producer Darryl Zanuck not only offered Fonda the lead role but also had him sign a seven-year contract with the studio.
 * Zanuck sent a team to investigate the migrant workers’ plight only to be informed that conditions were actually much worse than those depicted in John Steinbeck’s novel.
 * Actress Beulah Bondi, believing that she had the part of Ma Joad, reportedly bought an old jalopy and moved to Bakersfield, California to live among the migrant workers as research for the role. Jane Darwell was ultimately cast in the part.
 * Director John Ford banned all makeup and perfume from the set on the grounds that it was not in keeping with the tone of the picture.
 * Alfred Newman, head of a family of major Hollywood film composers, wrote the film score.
 * This film took home two Academy Awards. John Ford earned the Oscar for Best Director and Jane Darwell (Ma Joad) won Best Supporting Actress.
 * The 1990 stage adaptation of “The Grapes of Wrath,” which starred Terry Kinney, Gary Sinise and Lois Smith, won the Tony Award for Best Play.