A depression era classic

Rating: 10/10 (14 October 2007)

By the time John Ford begun filming his adaption of John Steinbecks' depression-era novel late in 1939, a whole decade had passed since the Wall Street Crash sent the USA spiralling into economic crisis, yet its effects were still very much apparent with many Americans out of work and short of the money they lost on the stock market. Film studios did their best to help ordinary Americans forget their troubles with lavish musicals and comedies of the screwball variety, but with this picture Ford used his remarkable movie making skills to document the true harshness of the situation depicted in Steinbecks' book.
The picture is given its much needed authenticity by the opening scene. On a bleak, dusty, open road in Oklahoma, we see Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) walking alone against a howling wind as he heads towards his family home ("We lived here fifty years same place") for the first time since he was released on parole from the state penitentiaries ("You can't keep a Joad in jail"- Grandpa Joad). Here he meets Casy (John Carradine), a preacher who no longer preaches because "I got nothing' to preach about no more". We learn that decent, hardworking families such as the Joads are being forced off their land by the greed of the bank. Many such people have farmed their land for decades and yet their homes are being destroyed and they are forced to seek their fortunes elsewhere.
The story is a heartbreaking one, especially since the life that the Joads are forced to leave behind is all that they have known. Grandpa Joad (Charlie Grapewin) has to be forced off the territory by his own family- "This is my land and I belong here...my dirt." The family face an arduous journey to the promised land of California, a journey which has tragic consequences for them. Upon arriving at a campsite they find starving children and other families who are very much in the same boat. One telling moment comes when the Joads see their faces for the first time. All of these people look glum, hopeless and devastated. Their expressions reveal the hardships of life at the campsite- "It sure don't look none too prosperous"-Tom Joad. The little work that is on offer is hardly enjoyable- picking peaches for five cents a box for example- "a man can't make his dinner on that". Furthermore, just as it seems the family have found a better place to stay for at least the time being there is more heartache around the corner-"I guess it had to come, sooner or later"-Ma Joad.
The film not only presents an unfavourable picture of the bank who force people to live like "pigs" but also the police who are brutal, and the first camp which is far more inhabitable than the next camp the Joads move on to. Here they are stunned to find the luxury of toilets, showers, washtubs and entertainment every Saturday night. The tone is overall very bleak but there is always a glimmer of hope-"We'll go on forever pa because we are the people"- Ma Joad.
The performance of Henry Fonda as Tom Joad is exceptional and he excels as the main character of the film whose flaw perhaps is his inability to restrain himself when he sees injustice before him- "Whenever there's a cop beating up a guy, I'll be there". Jane Darwell is very effective as Ma Joad in an Oscar-winning portrayal of a highly sympathetic character who tries to hold the family together through the series of crises they face. Also worth looking out for amongst the cast is Ford favourite Ward Bond as a policeman.
The much acclaimed Greg Toland provides the films' impressive cinematography- he would famously work on Orson Welles' 1941 masterwork Citizen Kane. The film was cited by Bruce Springsteen as a big influence on his moving 1995 song 'The Ghost of Tom Joad'. Overall this is an excellent picture and it certainly made me think next time I face up to a problem- does it really seem bad when compared with what the Joads faced up to?