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The Grapes of Wrath (1940) ft. Kieran B.

  • Writer: Thomas Duncan
    Thomas Duncan
  • Mar 19
  • 6 min read

Updated: 2 days ago




Guest:


Cast:

  • John Ford, Director

  • Nunnally Johnson, Writer

  • Gregg Toland, Cinematographer

  • Alfred Newman, Music

  • Henry Fonda as Tom Joad

  • Jane Darwell as "Ma" Joad

  • John Carradine as Jim Casy

  • Charley Grapewin as William James "Grandpa" Joad

  • Dorris Bowdon as Rose of Sharon "Rosasharn" Joad

  • Russell Simpson as "Pa" Joad

  • O. Z. Whitehead as Al Joad

  • John Qualen as Muley Graves

  • Eddie Quillan as Connie Rivers

  • Zeffie Tilbury as Grandma Joad

  • Frank Sully as Noah Joad

  • Frank Darien as Uncle John

  • Darryl Hickman as Winfield Joad

  • Shirley Mills as Ruth "Ruthie" Joad

  • Roger Imhof as Mr. Thomas

  • Grant Mitchell as Caretaker

  • Charles D. Brown as Wilkie

  • John Arledge as Davis

  • Ward Bond as Policeman


Background:

  • The Grapes of Wrath was wide released on March 15, 1940.

  • It was met with widespread critical acclaim of the time, and it would go on to be nominated for six Oscars: Best Picture, Actor (Fonda), Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, and Sound. It would win John Ford his 2nd Best Director and Supporting Actress for Jane Darwell.

  • American Film Institute recognition:

    • AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies – #21

    • AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains:

      • Tom Joad – #12 Hero

    • 100 Years...100 Cheers – #7

    • 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary) – #23

  • In 1989, it was one of the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, and it has been widely cited as one of the greatest films of all-time.

  • The Grapes of Wrath currently holds a 100% rating among critics on RT, a 96 score on Metacritic, and a 4.2/5 on Letterboxd.


Plot Summary: The Grapes of Wrath, directed by John Ford and based on John Steinbeck’s novel, follows the Joad family, struggling to survive during the Great Depression. After being evicted from their Oklahoma farm, they journey west to California in search of work and a better life. Led by Tom Joad (Henry Fonda), the family faces hardship, exploitation, and disillusionment as they encounter the harsh realities of migrant labor. Despite suffering immense loss, their resilience endures, with Ma Joad (Jane Darwell) embodying the family’s unwavering hope. The film is a poignant exploration of poverty, injustice, and the strength of the human spirit.


Did You Know:

  • Prior to filming, producer Darryl F. Zanuck sent undercover investigators out to the migrant camps to see if John Steinbeck had exaggerated about the squalor and unfair treatment meted out there. He was horrified to discover that Steinbeck had actually downplayed what went on in the camps.

  • John Steinbeck loved the movie and was particularly enamored with the performance of Henry Fonda as Tom Joad, feeling that he perfectly encapsulated everything he wanted to convey with this character. He said that Henry Fonda as Tom Joad made him "believe my own words". The two became good friends. Indeed Fonda did a reading at Steinbeck's funeral.

  • 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.

  • According to Henry Fonda, John Ford preferred only one take and little or no rehearsal to catch the most spontaneous moment. For the key climactic final scene between Tom and Ma, Ford didn't even watch the rehearsal. When the time came to shoot, Ford led Fonda and Jane Darwell through the silent action of the scene, preventing them from starting their lines until the two actors were completely in the moment. It was done in a single take and Fonda said on screen it was "brilliant."

  • The pro-union stance of the film led to both John Steinbeck and John Ford being investigated by Congress during the McCarthy "Red Scare" era for alleged pro-Communist leanings.


Best Performance: Henry Fonda (Tom)/John Ford (Director)

Best Secondary Performance: John Carradine (Casy)/Jane Darwell (Ma)/John Ford (Director)

Most Charismatic Award: Charlie Grapewin (Grandpa)/Jane Darwell (Ma)/John Steinbeck (Novel Writer)

Best Scene:

  • Coming Home

  • Grandpa's Death

  • The Diner

  • Police Interference

  • Casy's Demise

  • Farewell

Favorite Scene: Police Interference/The Diner

Most Indelible Moment: Farewell/The Diner


In Memorium:


Best Lines/Funniest Lines:

Ma Joad: Rich fellas come up an' they die, an' their kids ain't no good an' they die out. But we keep a'comin'. We're the people that live. They can't wipe us out; they can't lick us. We'll go on forever, Pa, 'cause we're the people.


Tom Joad: Seems like the government's got more interest in a dead man than a live one.


Casy: I wouldn't pray just for a old man that's dead, 'cause he's all right. If I was to pray, I'd pray for folks that's alive and don't know which way to turn.


Tom Joad: If there was a law, they was workin' with maybe we could take it, but it ain't the law. They're workin' away our spirits, tryin' to make us cringe and crawl, takin' away our decency.


Ma Joad: Well, Pa, a woman can change better'n a man. A man lives sorta - well, in jerks. Baby's born or somebody dies, and that's a jerk. He gets a farm or loses it, and that's a jerk. With a woman, it's all in one flow, like a stream - little eddies and waterfalls - but the river, it goes right on. Woman looks at it thata way.


Al Joad: Ain't you gonna look back, Ma? Give the ol' place a last look?

Ma Joad: We're going' to California, ain't we? All right then let's go to California.

Al Joad: That don't sound like you, Ma. You never was like that before.

Ma Joad: I never had my house pushed over before. Never had my family stuck out on the road. Never had to lose everything I had in life.


Tom Joad: I been thinking about us, too, about our people living like pigs and good rich land layin' fallow. Or maybe one guy with a million acres and a hundred thousand farmers starvin'. And I been wonderin' if all our folks got together and yelled...

Ma Joad: Oh, Tommy, they'd drag you out and cut you down just like they done to Casy.

Tom Joad: They'd drag me anyways. Sooner or later they'd get me for one thing if not for another. Until then...

Ma Joad: Tommy, you're not aimin' to kill nobody.

Tom Joad: No, Ma, not that. That ain't it. It's just, well as long as I'm an outlaw anyways... maybe I can do somethin'... maybe I can just find out somethin', just scrounge around and maybe find out what it is that's wrong and see if they ain't somethin' that can be done about it. I ain't thought it out all clear, Ma. I can't. I don't know enough.

Ma Joad: How am I gonna know about ya, Tommy? Why they could kill ya and I'd never know. They could hurt ya. How am I gonna know?

Tom Joad: Well, maybe it's like Casy says. A fellow ain't got a soul of his own, just little piece of a big soul, the one big soul that belongs to everybody, then...

Ma Joad: Then what, Tom?

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.

Ma Joad: I don't understand it, Tom.

Tom Joad: Me, neither, Ma, but - just somethin' I been thinkin' about.


Tom Joad: Takes no nerve to do something, ain't nothin' else you can do.


Ma Joad: I ain't never gonna be scared no more. I was, though. For a while it looked as though we was beat. Good and beat. Looked like we didn't have nobody in the whole wide world but enemies. Like nobody was friendly no more. Made me feel kinda bad and scared too, like we was lost and nobody cared...


The Stanley Rubric:

Legacy: 7.17

Impact/Significance: 8.33

Novelty: 8.83

Classic-ness: 9

Rewatchability: 6

Audience Score: 8 (72% Google, 88% RT)

Total: 47.33


Remaining Questions:

  • Where does Tom end up?

  • Do the Joads survive in California?

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