Year Released: 1940
Directed by: John Ford
Written by: Nunnally Johnson
Grade: B+
"Tom Joad: Then it don't matter. I'll be all around in the dark - I'll be everywhere. Wherever you can look - wherever there's a fight, so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready, and when the people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they build - I'll be there, too."
John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath is a literary classic. We all know this, but even I had a hard time getting into it. While I admired the story and characters, and how it spoke to many people, it just didn't entrance me. However, the movie is very good and is able to condense the sturdy novel into a shorter, succinct slice of life that many of us might be stunned to see.
The film centers on "Tom Joad" (Peter Fonda) who has just been released from prison, and his family. He arrives at home only to discover it abandoned, his family gone. Their farm has been foreclosed on them by the bank. All farmers in the area were forced from their farms by the deed holders of their land. "Tom" meets up with his family again at his uncle's house where he is informed that they will be trekking to California in search of employment.
The journey to California is filled with tragedy, doubt, and an unshakable fear of not being able to secure work or a place to settle. However, through it all the "Joad" family manages to stick together and support each other even through some dire circumstances. The spotlight placed on the extreme poverty during the time is devastating to watch, with many poor and starving workers with their families populating the camps the "Joad" family stay at along the way, as well as the migrant workers protesting and striking. The film also demonstrates that sticking together and having the solid love and support of your family is enough to get through the darkest times.
The whole cast is great with the exceptional Peter Fonda and Jane Darwell, as "Ma Joad," standing out the most. The script by Nunnally Johnson is also great, capturing the long novel nicely without sacrificing too much prose. In the end, The Grapes of Wrath is a valuable film that everyone should have the chance to view. There is still so much poverty in the world, and this film only illuminates that it's a problem people have struggled with time and time again.
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