An epic of the 1930's

Rating: Null/10 (31 March 2003)

As a film of the 1940's, the Grapes of Wrath does a wonderful thing. It shows us humanity in only the way that someone like John Ford could show it. Primarily known as a director of westerns, Ford helms this project with all the love and care you'd expect from someone entrusted with such a great and beloved work of American Literature.
Even seen as a bit dated, the film harkens back to a time in American History when the government was literally throwing people off their land just so they (the government) could have more and more room for agriculture and farming purposes. So, the Joad family like millions of other families in the midst of the Great Depression flees to California. They do this simply because they believe that work, not to mention a better life will be found there. However, once they arrive in California the Joads begin to see just how wrong they were with so many of their assumptions.
This has to be the definitive Henry Fonda film. Fonda plays Tom Joad with sort of an everyman type of quality. However, Fonda lost the Best Actor Oscar to James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story. The Grapes of Wrath received two statuettes that year, Best Supporting Actress for Jane Darwell's iconic portrayal of Ma Joad, the undeviating strength at the core of the Joad clan and Best Director for John Ford (his second Oscar after 1935's The Informer). The Grapes of Wrath was also nominated in the categories of Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing and Best Sound Recording, losing in all three instances. The film lost Best Picture to Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca.
All in all, this is an important piece in a director's legacy of great films. John Ford would follow The Grapes of Wrath with Oscar wins for both 1941's How Green Was My Valley and 1952's The Quiet Man, not to mention what I consider his greatest film ever, 1956's The Searchers with John Wayne.
My rating: 2 and a half stars