The Great American Novel

Rating: 10/10 (13 June 2008)

Often cited as a prime example of 'The Great American Novel', John Stienbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" was hailed more for tackling unpalatable political truths at a time when the nation as a whole would rather have buried its head in the sand, than for its literary merits, though they are many. In filming the book in 1940 producer Darryl F Zanuck and director John Ford pulled no punches; even seventy years on this extraordinary film still has the power to shock as American moves ever closer to the possibility of recession: it is just as relevant today as it ever was.
It's about the Great Depression, essentially about the Oakies forced off their land, initially by nature itself, thereafter by the banks which took over their share-holdings, and about their migration to California. It's a bleak, harrowing film with no real happy ending. Speeches by Tom Joad and his mother about 'how he'll be there when ever there is a fight so hungry people can eat' or about how 'they can't lick us 'cause we're the people' may have the whiff of optimism but 'not licking us' isn't quite the same as putting bread on the table. Consequently, the film's success has largely been critical and while Ford and Jane Darwell won Oscars the film itself was overlooked in favour of "Rebecca", (an oversight rectified the following year when Ford's far inferior "How Green Was My Valley" won Best Picture).
In the hands of a lesser director it is unlikely the film would have been quite so grim. It's certainly not flawless; there is a penchant for Fordian sentimentality and the characters of Grandpa and Grandma never rise above caricature, but it's still remarkably faithful to Stienbeck's original and thanks, in the main, to Gregg Toland's superb black and white cinematography a good deal of it has the look of a documentary.
It is also very well acted. John Qualen's Muley is a beautifully etched study in despair and John Carradine has one of his best roles as 'The Preacher' who finds himself in the unlikely role of a union leader. At the centre, of course, are two great performances. Henry Fonda brings his gangly, liberal integrity to the part of Tom Joad which fits him like a glove while Darwell's stoic, Mother Courge of a Ma Joad rises above the sentimentality and the penchant for caricature into the realms of the truly tragic.