The Grapes of Wrath [Blu-ray]

Director: John Ford John Ford

Overview

The adaptation of Nobel Prize-winner John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of dirt-poor Dust Bowl migrants by 4-time Oscar-winning director John Ford starred Henry Fonda as Tom Joad, who opens the movie returning to his Oklahoma home after serving jail time for manslaughter. En route, Tom meets family friend Casey (John Carradine), a former preacher who warns Tom that dust storms, crop failures, and new agricultural methods have financially decimated the once prosperous Oklahoma farmland. Upon returning to his family farm, Tom is greeted by his mother (Oscar-winner Jane Darwell), who tells him that the family is packing up for the "promised land" of California. Warned that they shouldn't expect a warm welcome in California--they've already seen the caravan of dispirited farmers, heading back home after striking out at finding work--the Joads push on all the same. Their first stop is a wretched migrant camp, full of starving children and surrounded by armed guards. Further down the road, the Joads drive into an idyllic government camp, with clean lodging, indoor plumbing, and a self-governing clientele. When Tom ultimately bids goodbye to his mother, who asks him where he'll go, he delivers the film's most famous speech: "I'll be all around...Wherever there's a fight so hungry people can eat...Whenever there's a cop beating a guy, I'll be there...And when the people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they build. I'll be there too."

Product Details

Release Date:	06/05/2012
UPC:	0024543773160
Original Release:	1940
Rating:	NR
Source:	20Th Century Fox
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	2:09:00
Sales rank:	824

Special Features

Commentary by Joseph McBride (film scholar) and Susan Shillinglaw (John Steinbeck Scholar); Fox Movie Channel presents Fox Legacy with Tom Rothman; Darryl F. Zanuck: 20th Century filmmaker as seen on biography on the A&E Network; Fox Movietone news; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Henry Fonda	Tom Joad
Jane Darwell	Ma Joad
John Carradine	Casey
Dorris Bowdon	Rosaharn
Charley Grapewin	Grandpa Joad,Grandpa Joad
Russell Simpson	Pa Joad
O.Z. Whitehead	Al
John Qualen	Muley Graves
Eddie Quillen	Connie Rivers
Zeffie Tilbury	Grandma Joad
Frank Sully	Noah
Frank Darien	Uncle John
Darryl Hickman	Winfield Joad
Shirley Mills	Ruth Joad
Grant Mitchell	Guardian
Ward Bond	Policeman
Frank Faylen	Tim Wallace
Joe Sawyer	Accountant
Harry Tyler	Bert,Sheriff
Charles Middleton	Conductor,Leader
John Arledge	Davis
Hollis Jewell	Muley's Son
Paul Guilfoyle	Floyd
Charles D. Brown	Wilkie
Roger Imhof	Thomas
William Pawley	Bill
Arthur Aylesworth	Father
Charles Tannen	Joe
Selmer Jackson	Inspector,Inspector
Eddy Waller	Proprietor
David Hughes	Frank
Cliff Clark	Townsman
Adrian Morris	Agent
Robert E. Homans	Spencer
Irving Bacon	Conductor
Kitty McHugh	Mae
Georgia Simmons	Woman
James Flavin	Guard
George O'Hara	Clerk
Thornton Edwards	Motor Cop
Jack Pennick	Committeeman
Walter McGrail	Gang Leader
Paul Sutton	Deputy
Pat Flaherty	Deputy
Ralph Dunn	Deputy
George Breakston	Boy
Ted Oliver	State Policeman
Gloria Roy	Waitress
Norman Willis	Joe
Erville Alderson	Arkansas Storekeeper
Harry Strang	Fred the Truck Driver
Rex Lease	Cop
Inez Palange	Woman in Camp
Louis Mason	Man in Camp
Harry Tenbrook	Deputy/Troublemaker
Walter Miller	New Mexico Border Guard
Trevor Bardette	Jule
William Haade	Deputy Driver
Peggy Ryan	Hungry Girl
Wally Albright	Boy Who Ate
Mae Marsh	Floyd's Wife
Francis Ford	Actor
Shirley Coates	Actor,Actor
Eddie Quillan	Connie
Doris Bowden	Rosasharn
Harry Cording	Actor
Ben Hall	Actor
Herbert Heywood	Actor
Frank O'Connor	Actor
Dick Rich	Actor
Robert Shaw	Gas Station Attendant
Lee Shumway	Actor
David Hilary Hughes	Frank
Gaylord Pendleton	Attendant
Alfred Newman	Composer

Technical Credits

Nunnally Johnson

John Ford	Director
Nunnally Johnson	Screenwriter
Darryl F. Zanuck	Producer
E.H. Hansen	Sound/Sound Designer,Sound Effects
Roger Heman	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
George Leverett	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
Harry Kornfield	Sound Effects

Editorial Reviews

It's rare for cinematic adaptations of classic novels to attain the same status as their sources, but John Ford's 1940 version of The Grapes of Wrath is every bit as meritorious as John Steinbeck's novel about displaced dirt farmers making their way to California during the darkest days of the Great Depression. Some of Steinbeck's most memorable bits -- including the novel's startling but poignant ending -- are softened or eliminated for the movie, but overall Ford captures the book's essence with remarkable skill and sensitivity. Henry Fonda, in one of his best-remembered roles, plays the scion of an Oklahoma family, the Joads, forced off their land by extended droughts and desperate economic conditions. Like so many others seduced by the promise of employment in California, the so-called "land of milk and honey," they pack their meager belongings into a ramshackle car and head west. Their odyssey exposes the Joads to all sorts of people -- some of them willing to exploit the downtrodden Okies, and others equally willing to lend a hand to fellow Americans down on their luck. Fonda's gradual transformation from mild-mannered farm boy to committed political activist culminates in a memorable curtain speech that's only one of the highlights of a masterful job of acting; indeed, his Tom Joad is among the most vividly drawn characters in Hollywood history. Supporting player Jane Darwell won an Oscar for her turn as the strong-willed matriarch of the Joad clan, and Charlie Grapewin, Russell Simpson, John Carradine, John Qualen, and Eddie Quillan also turn in top-drawer performances. Yet Ford's directorial contributions go far beyond steering the actors: He stages sequences and frames shots with sublime attention to detail. The saga of the Joads is tragic in many ways, but this movie doesn't wallow in the mire -- instead, it celebrates the uniquely American qualities of self-sufficiency and perseverance. And it offers, from the viewpoint of milepost 1940, the promise of social change that, ironically, is not yet complete.

Barnes & Noble - Ed Hulse

John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath is arguably the director's greatest movie, and the rare Hollywood film superior to its literary source (a view shared by the novel's author, John Steinbeck). Indeed, it is the movie that sums up the impact of the Great Depression, at least on rural America, better than any other film of its time (and there were hundreds that tried, by everyone from Frank Capra to Preston Sturges). From the opening shot of Tom Joad's return to the ruined land where he grew up, the movie is a study of people whose dreams and hopes wither away like the drought-stricken crops. Yet Ford managed to make a movie that wasn't utterly pessimistic, despite its story and setting: the performers and script availed him of indomitable characters, convincingly portrayed, with the result that even the most cynical viewers were persuaded of Ford's artistic vision. Henry Fonda, who'd been an up-and-coming leading man, solidified his image as an upright hero with an almost mystical bent in his portrayal of Tom Joad; Jane Darwell became the archetypal rural matriarch; and even the bit players, such as Ward Bond and Grant Mitchell, got relatively rare opportunities to play against their usual types as beneficent characters. The movie became a strange case of fiction transcending fact, as Ford's images (photographed by the great cinematographer Gregg Toland) became more representative of the period than most documentary photography. Countless filmmakers have quoted from The Grapes of Wrath (there's a very funny audio-visual reference in Close Encounters of the Third Kind), and Ford himself never made a more compelling social statement despite several attempts (The Sun Shines Bright, Sergeant Rutledge, and others) over the next 20 years.

All Movie Guide - Bruce Eder