The turtle didn't make it into this chapter of my quest to watch the AFI Top 100 (10th Anniversary Edition).
Film 89
89. "The Grapes Of Wrath" (AFI Rank #23)
I have been more than a little flabbergasted as I've gone through this list and encountered great literature put on film, that the average amount of time between the publication of the novel and the release of the film is usually VERY short. It seems odd to me that one could make an enduring, great film out of a story that is so fresh. Several major U.S. novels are included on the list, and at least two of them are considered "all time, required reading" kind of literature. This is one of them. As I alluded to above, I was required to read this my sophomore year in high school. I did, in fact, read all of John Steinbeck's long-ass novel in a day. I did it by skipping the "intercalary" chapters (all the stuff about the turtle), then coming back and reading those when I had finished with the story of the Joads. Yes, that was not what Steinbeck intended. Yes, I got a perfect score on the test the next day, so whatever Steinbeck intended was secondary to that for me. Anyway, it is mind-boggling to me that such a great film can be whittled out of a novel so quickly. This film debuted in 1940. The novel was released not even one year prior.
Guess what, gang? This is film number 89 on this quest. As I did blocs of films I hadn't seen/those I had, and as I'm closing out with 10 films I'd seen before this began (and most of the 10 I've seen a LOT of times), that means I have ONE film left on the list that I've not seen in my lifetime, and indeed only one with which I'm not already intimately familiar (there were several films I'd seen before that I didn't remember as well as I thought). That film? "The Wild Bunch." (Pssssssssst. Since I wrote this paragraph, I watched it. I've seen them all now, but have to finish this and one other piece.)
I called this film "great" above, and it is. I'm not sure it's as great as #23 all time, but it's a great film. Directed by John Ford, a staunch conservative, and maker of all manners of westerns, etc., with John Wayne, this film seems to be decidedly in the "wrong" hands. And yet Ford treats the subject with great care and sympathy. Stunning vistas appear occasionally, and the visual presentation of the film is decidedly artistic. Often placing the subjects of focus to the right or left of the screen, Ford uses many wide shots that serve to "weaken" the characters present, and make sure that we see the totality of what is affecting them, rather than just their faces. The focus of the film is Tom Joad, played with tremendous sincerity by Henry Fonda. Tom has just been released from prison, where he served 4 years of a 6 year sentence for homicide. He was in a fight, a guy stabbed him, and Tom killed him. The film opens with a shot of a crossroads, indeed, the opening scene takes place in parking lot of the "Cross Roads" store. Ford isn't exactly subtle about this, as our protagonist is most assuredly at a crossroad in his life. From there, Tom hitchhikes home, a couple of miles up the road in a delivery truck. When he's dropped off, he runs into the character of Casy (John Carradine), who's "lost the spirit," and no longer preaches. Striking up conversation with Tom, he joins him on the brief walk to the Joad farm. Except the farm is abandoned. There are traces of the Joads there, but the people have gone. Poking around the house, they stumble upon a character named Muley Bates (John Qualen), hiding in the shadows of the Joad house. Muley explains that the dust storms have wiped out the crops, the depression has wiped out the money, and that the banks have determined that sharecropping is no longer a viable option, and that they can compress 12 farms into one, and install one caretaker instead of multiple families. It's a cruel, but economically sound strategy, but leaves families like the Joads out of their homes, with nothing to show for it.
Muley's scene is told in flashback, and is filled with wonderful visuals, like a brief montage showing Caterpillar tractors tearing up the land. The final visual of the long shadows of his family after the house has been demolished in one quick push is exceptionally haunting. Tom is told by Muley that the Joads are headed to California, and that they've gathered at his Uncle John's before the trip. Tom and Casy head to see the Joads, and Tom is welcomed back warmly. It turns out that he got there just in time, as the family was leaving the next morning. There is an exceptional scene where Ma Joad (Jane Darwell, in an Oscar winning performance) rummages through her box of a few memorable items. We see her take a dangling pair of earrings, a luxury item that a farm woman would rarely need, look at herself in the mirror...and...we see just how miserable she is. Her reflection is not one of pride, nor joy, nor anything else in fond memory of times past with those earrings, it's all remorse. The following morning, the Joads (all 12 of them) load into the truck, and ask Casy if he wishes to join them. He readily agrees, and off they head to California, buoyed by a flyer promising good wages, plenty of jobs, a place to live, and a company store right on the farms.
The balance of the film is spent showing just how awful things were for the "Okies" as they were met with prejudice, unscrupulous bosses, and very few opportunities. Along the way, Grandpa and Grandma both die, one of the sons stays at the border (although he really just disappears) of California, a son-in-law abandons his pregnant wife (Tom's sister). The Joads do find work, picking peaches, and are given a little hovel to live in. Wages are just enough to buy food for the family, and no more. However, the farm is the subject of a workers' strike, and the Joads are breaking that. A series of events have separated Casy from the family, and Tom sets out one night to find out about the strike. Turns out Casy is one of the leaders. As Tom is discussing matters with the leaders of the strike, a group of men approaches, armed with pick handles, and Casy is killed by a deputy. Tom, in retaliation, kills that man, but is struck on the cheek, leaving an easily identifiable mark. Tom is no longer safe on the farm (or really anywhere), so the family must leave. It's pretty awful.
Ford is unflinching in the material that he shows, often taking the "side" of the downtrodden against the establishment. Rabble-rousers are treated with reverence, and authority figures are generally corrupt. There is one very wonderful, very hopeful sequence which takes place in a Government camp, run as a sort of collective. Frankly, without this sequence, I'm not certain I could have stayed with the film. Oh, I'd have gotten through it for the sake of writing this, but it was pretty damned bleak. I understand man's inhumanity to man. I think people can be really shitty to each other. This bright spot helped me, and its inclusion in the film came at just the right time. It is hard, in the 21st century, with so many of us choosing a side and thinking that the other side is just completely out of its mind, to understand how a film like this might actually make sense coming from such a conservative mind. I grew up in a Republican household, and while I do not share a lot of those values, never once did I feel that my parents were against the little guy. They are very charitable people, and acutely aware of injustice. I think that's what this film is really all about. It's a tale of survival against the injustices of the powerful. I can't really think of something more patriotic or "American" than that.
Acting in this film is generally very good. Jane Darwell's Ma is a wonderful portrayal. Steadfast, honest, caring, yet looking out for her own first, Ma Joad is a complex character, and Darwell gives a complex performance. I will admit, however, that there are times when we see "stock worried mother," but she's usually very, very good. Also of note is John Carradine's Casy. Wacky when he needs to be, earnest when he needs to be, it's a wonderful performance from start to finish.I need to say something that I'm not sure I want to say. I'm not entirely certain that I particularly care for Henry Fonda as an actor. The timbre of his voice is off-putting (I can hear Norman Thayer in the young man), and he generally sound annoyed whenever he speaks, even if he's not. Now, I know that Fonda is an iconic film star, but I'm not sure I like him. Of course, that may change in a film that's coming up soon in this list, but this film...and parts of that one...I feel...well. I see the naturalness behind his interpretation, at times, but I sense a certain "put on" quality. It's probably just his voice that annoys me. Bah. I feel like I've already ruffled feathers by not liking Cary Grant all that much. I hope I don't alienate too many people if I impugn Henry Fonda.
I do want to talk about one particularly moving moment in the film. There is a scene that happens in a campground where the Joads run into a guy who is leaving California and going home to the midwest. The time in California has cost him his entire family, two children and a wife, all dead from starvation. Contrasting that with the "hope" of the Okies headed west...it's stirring stuff.
I'm not entirely certain I'd call this a wonderful work of "art," but I'd call it a great film. I'd call it a story that needed telling, and that story carries a great deal of water for this film. So, in that sense, it is a great film. I can understand people who think Fonda is great in this. I just don't think that. I may be wrong.
I'm glad I saw this film. I'm not certain I will watch it again. Who knows? Maybe I need to see it again...to "get" it. It's a great film. Watch it if you want. I can think of far worse ways to spend a couple of hours.
Ebert has similar thoughts (although I am in stark disagreement with him about Henry Fonda). They can be found here.
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