I agree that The Grapes of Wrath is a great film, lifted almost verbatim from Steinbeck's novel, also a classic. It is the story of the migrant workers who moved to "Californy" to pick fruit during the Great Depression.
Henry Fonda is the best of an excellent cast, probably his very best performance, ever. Brian Koller is correct in noting the strong Socialist undertone of the film. The depression poor looked to FDR as messiah and he tried to oblige them, not necessarily to help them as much as to APPEAR to help them, just so he could be a messiah (and keep getting re-elected!!).
Fonda's black-jowled Tom Joad is the picture of dignified desolation. It gave me chills to hear his deadpan delivery when asked, "What were you in prison for?", he laconically replied, "HOME-i-cide."
The use of black and white is a great help in that it delineates the central question, "hope or despair?" The faces and dialog are priceless. For a better understanding of the depression, see "The Grapes of Wrath!"
Similar effective use of black and white can be seen in "My Darling Clementine," "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," "The Maltese Falcon", and "The Hustler".
The years have not lessened the impact of Oscar-winning director John Ford s 1940 screen version of John Steinbeck s powerful novel. From its early sc...More at Buy.com
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