Directed by John Ford (Stagecoach, Drums Along the Mohawk), 1940’s The Grapes of Wrath is a film adaption of John Steinback’s novel worked into a screenplay by Nunnally Johnson. The film stars Henry Fonda (12 Angry Men, The Tin Star) as Tom Joad, the amazing Jane Darwell as Ma Joad, John Carradine as Casy, and a host of others to round out the Joad family and supporting characters. The film would pick up two Oscars, one for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Darwell) and one for director John Ford. It was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Fonda), Best Film Editing, Best Sound Recording, Best Screenplay, and Best Picture. In 1963, The Grapes of Wrath won a Blue Ribbon Award for Best Foreign Language Picture. It also won the 1940 USA National Board of Review prize for Best Picture.
The Grapes of Wrath is John Ford’s masterpiece, a film that captures in on the social protest themes of some of Ford’s other films instead of the magic of the Westerns by which he was so well known. Ford, instead, tells a sweeping story of tragedy and epic struggle against “the man”. He pulls it together in lush black and white cinema, moving characters and pulling in the audience like a master at work. The direction is truly something as the subtle touches pull on the heartstrings of the viewer while the grandeur of it all do the same.
Henry Fonda is tremendous as Tom Joad, bringing out the “good man” character to great levels. He really urges the audience through the picture, rising up to injustice and delivering classic lines with such intensity and grace that you almost forget you’re watching a film.
Jane Darwell as Ma Joad deserved every accolade she received for this film. She is simply mesmerizing as the matriarch of the Joad family, struggling to keep her precious family together and supporting her son in all he does. Ma Joad is given tremendous grace by Steinback in the novel and Darwell pulls it off perfectly, playing Ma Joad to a tone that many would select to overdo. Her consistency and emotional range plays out through a subtlety that is rare in cinema.
The film is packed with moving dialogue that captures the plight of the Joad family through this historical event and moves the viewer through the time as if they were perched on the back of the family jalopy and skittering across country looking for work. It is the type of film that both creates anger against injustices and creates a feeling of joy for the uprising of the human spirit in the face of tragedy and hardship. The time is captured beautifully and the mood is stunningly dark and yet victorious.
The Grapes of Wrath is a true film classic in every sense of the word and perfectly captures the time in a sensibility that is owed to Ford’s tremendous direction, the cast’s tremendous work with the characters, and Steinback’s legendary novel of the Joad family.
10/10
