Not as connected story wise as the book

Rating: 8/10 (18 August 2018)

The film is somewhat choppy as a story, the book isnt. The book has a much different ending. The supporting actors in the film are excellent and are seen again and again in Fords westerns. The main characters are fiery Tom Joad and his rock of the family mother "Ma". They dominate the film.The black and white scenery is typical Ford. the situations are too - good or bad. The dialogue is straight forward and the sound quality shows its age.I dont think the condemning of the capitalist system is as strong as in the book. The book has more nuance. The govt camp run by the people and govt by extension is the better way togo. Most of the existing society outside of this camp is fascist, police controlled, American Legion Nazi, exploitive and very greedy. Its a decent movie made to showcase the Depression Era effects on " white Anglo Saxon "American" land owners." No people of black, or brown hue are in the movie. Evidently their problems did not exist. Its a classic , kind of dated ,yet relevant for today. California, the golden land, is a metaphor for the United States. Evidently the streets are not paved with gold and the reality falls short of the rhetoric in the US....People are exploited, greed rules, the game is rigged against average people. Socialism at that time, was a viable alternative. Capitalism had failed.