After years in prison, Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) returns to his family farm in Oklahoma, only to find even grittier circumstances. The Joads set out on an epic journey to California in a worn-down truck, hoping for a better life, only to discover that the promises of jobs and prosperity are nothing but illusions.
John Steinbeck’s classic novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939) was considered controversial upon its release but soon became a bestseller. The screen adaptation was brought to life by auteur producer Darryl F. Zanuck, who laid the groundwork for director John Ford. Ford, working with virtuoso cinematographer Gregg Toland, cast his spell on the material. This hymn to human endurance became something of a prototype for road movies and is arguably Ford’s most left-wing film—one in which he unconsciously juxtaposed the famine and oppression of the Dust Bowl with the early struggles of his beloved Irish people.
Fonda’s performance is one of the most iconic of his career. Jane Darwell skillfully embodies the quintessential Fordian “Holy Mother” figure, and the film’s long, spirited dialogues are moments of prestige in American cinema.
Celebrated as a master of portraying community, Ford turns this biblical-communistic fable into a song of songs about solidarity—an emotionally stirring battle cry whose timeless ethos still resonates powerfully today.
Lauri Timonen