"I'll be everywhere, wherever you can look".

Rating: 10/10 (19 September 2010)

It's been way too long since I've read the book, and I've seen the movie now a couple of times in the past year. In a political discussion, I'd come across as the conservative, but I don't find issue here with the struggle of the Joad's to find a better life for themselves. History can't easily be defined in black and white terms, and the idea that government programs can be legitimately used to provide for citizens in dire need is to be commended. Those same programs, when used to create class warfare is where I take issue. Because director John Ford was such good friends with conservative stalwarts like John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart, one would think that he was a Republican as well. In fact, he was an activist liberal Democrat, who admired FDR and JFK. So perhaps it's true he was stirring the pot with this picture, pitting the haves against the have-nots in a way that can be viewed as left leaning. The term 'Reds' was used a couple of times by Henry Fonda in the picture in a questioning way.
All that aside, "The Grapes of Wrath" is one of the truly great movie classics of all time. It works as story telling and as pure cinema. Ford's direction is impeccable and Gregg Toland's work with the camera is among the best in the business. The characters are perfectly cast, and even though Ford was working with a stock group of his players (Fonda, John Carradine, Ward Bond), their work in the picture transcends their personalities. For Fonda and Carradine, this has to rank right up there as among their best work. The other outstanding performance undoubtedly belongs to Jane Darwell, Best Actress for her role as Ma Joad, keeping the family together through every bad turn the road takes them.
There are so many riveting scenes in the picture that it's hard to pick a favorite. But perhaps the most touching one for me was when Pa Joad takes Winfield and Ruthie into Bert's Diner while on the road. Bert orders the waitress to honor Pa's request to buy a dime's worth of bread, as Pa also contemplates a two for a penny candy purchase for the youngsters. While the truck drivers watching this exchange seem to be derisive in their observation, it's they who make good for the nickel candy. In that brief moment, Ford captures everything anyone needs to know about the good will of Man and the inherent goodness of what it means to be an American. You don't replace that with government programs, or legislate it with fancy sounding bureaucracy.