Movie #116: The Grapes of Wrath

Movie #: 116
Movie Title: The Grapes of Wrath
Year Released: 1940

Director: John Ford
Notable Cast: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, Russell Simpson, Shirley Mills, John Qualen, Eddie Quillan

Short Description: A poor Midwest family is forced off of their land. They travel to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: #23
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: N/A

Note: This is the highest ranking movie that only appears on AFI.com's list.



Date Watched: 5/25/2015

Grade: 2 out of 5 (Fair)

Rationale: I look forward to someday reading the Pulitzer Prize-winning book this movie was adapted from. I can only hope it’s more exciting of a read than the movie was, though. I waited and waited for something to grip me while watching, but it never did. It was almost like the cast was sleepwalking through their performances. Jane Darwell is the only one I felt displayed any conviction, almost like she thought she was actually Ma Joad. On top of that, the production value sorely lacked at times. Early in the movie you see Henry Fonda as Tom Joad and John Carradine as Jim Casy walking down a road, but even childlike observation can tell you they’re on a soundstage given the blatantly obvious echo of voices, the lack of clouds moving in the sky, and only foreground trees moving when a strong wind picks up. I expected so much more overall from a supposed classic.