There comes a time when a man gets mad

Rating: 9/10 (11 February 2017)

When John Steinbeck wrote THE GRAPES OF WRATH it became a highly controversial book, which eventually became a highly controversial movie. For my money it's a near perfect film. The direction by two time Oscar winner John Ford is spot on. He tells his story and it moves along at a very brisk pace. One thing I always find that bothers me most about older films is that the pace tends to lag, a result of the film not aging well or it never had a good pace. This film, upon release, was highly successful and earned several academy award nominations including nominations for best picture and best actor for Henry Fonda. Fonda plays Tom Joad, a man on parole who returns home and discovers that his family has been driven off their land and now must leave Oklahoma and head to the promise of work out in California. The film has a dark view of life in the depression, but to view it any other way in regards to this family's story would be doing Steinbeck's material a great disservice. The family has to struggle to stay together. Grandma and Grandpa are quite old when the journey begins; Rosasharn is pregnant and, to leave with them, Tom must violate his parole. The characters in this film are very relatable because of the idea of family. We can all relate to the various things the characters do to help the family and sometimes to get away from it. One of the films biggest assets is Jane Darwell's touching performance as Ma Joad, a wise woman who is the glue that holds together the family unit. This is a film that must be seen, it's a true landmark film and a cinema classic.