The stark reality of the 1930's brought to the screen by John Ford

Rating: 10/10 (22 February 2013)

If you have never seen John Ford's classic film The Grapes of Wrath it's highly recommended that you do so at least once in your lifetime. The Grapes of Wrath is more than just a good old fashioned movie; it's a lesson in American history. Many of us have probably heard a grandparent or older family member talk of "The Dust Bowl" days, "The Depression Era" and of banks foreclosing on farms during the 1930's. Director John Ford brilliantly captures all this in The Grapes of Wrath as it follows one Oklahoma family through all these hardships as they migrate from their foreclosed farm to California in hopes of finding work in a depressed economy. Superb acting by Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell and John Carradine bring raw emotion to a well written script based on the novel by John Steinbeck. Both the novel and the movie were extremely controversial during their initial period of release. The novel was actually banned in several states because of its true depiction of the life of strife that many families encountered while living in migrant worker camps in California. This is a great must see movie for the whole family.