No, you won’t catch me lecturing someone to “read the book” when discussing film adaptations, but anyone who sees “The Grapes of Wrath” should indeed read the book too. Not because it is “better” or “worse” per-se, but because they are two wildly different pieces of work. Going into this project I was incredibly nervous about how much I may or may not like a film based on what is essentially my favorite book; thankfully though, John Ford did right by it; probably the only way you can do right by it- by making it different enough from the source material that it is allowed to be a stand-alone piece instead of something that can be compared side-by-side.
Of course the basic premise is still the same; a family of Depression-Era Oklahoman refugees flee the Dust Bowl for California, lured by promises of good paying work for everyone and all the grapes you can eat. The chief protagonist in an extensive crew of protagonists is Tom Joad (Henry Fonda), a recently paroled son of farm people making his way back home. Along the way he encounters Jim Casey (John Carradine), the pastor who once baptized Tom but is now seemingly crazy or overcome by alcoholism, or both.
The dialogue in the scene where they meet is a good indication as to how abbreviated the film will be, as the conversation is hurried, unnatural and way more summational than would typically make sense. Literally within two lines of the apparent strangers seeing each other the preacher blurts out that he recognizes Tom and that he had baptized him. Within four lines he is lamenting that he has lost his desire to minister. The back and forth between the men is awkward largely because they are given lines that are laced with hillbilly inflection but both actors deliver them with far too refined of accents, though I don’t think I should fault people for being classically trained actors. Without so much as an invite, Casey joins Tom in his voyage home.
A prevailing theme of pessimism rears its head for the first time when the two men reach the Joad homestead which looks to be abandoned. In a shockingly cavalier way Tom surmises that his family is dead; though given the fact that he was serving jail time for essentially killing a man in self-defense, his jadedness is easily excusable. Fortunately, it turns out the Joads haven’t died, rather been evicted, as they learn from a fellow sharecropper Muley. Muley’s narrative effectively condenses events far better than the aforementioned conversation with Tom and Casey; his tale is told with vivid flashbacks of being removed from their land and tractors razing the land. Though the server who delivers the news appears to be human, albeit sterile as he tries to explain the eviction to Muley, the true antagonists are the merciless tractors and bulldozers indiscriminately looming over his former property; the more disturbing when you take into account the fact that Muley reveals that several of his family members are buried on that same land.
The next scene introduces us to the rest of the Joad clan, and in various ways all are shown to be generally likeable characters. Tom’s grandparents are the typical crazy old couple who has been together too long and good-naturedly give each other shit, Uncle John seems to be the optimistic leader and Tom’s parents are nothing but loving and caring. As Tom is reintroduced to his extended family, a sort of running gag ensues with every family member assuming Tom has escaped from prison. The family is in the process of loading up a truck and heading to California for fruit picking jobs with little more than vague assurances from mass-spread flyers advertising work. It is so pathetic it is actually almost comical to see the size of the truck the Joad family expects to pile nearly a dozen people into.
On the eve of their departure, Tom’s mother sifts through her meager possessions to determine what to keep and what to leave behind. The tragedy of this scene is not just the lack of material possessions but also the lack of anything giving her any real identity. A news clipping about Tom, a postcard from New York, a knickknack from an expo in St. Louis she may or may not have gone to. This scene is one of the saddest in any film I have ever seen and is indicative of the plight of the entire Joad family and everyone like them.
Once the Joads pile into the truck and head for California, the movie begins to play out like a really unfortunate game of “The Oregon Trail;” complete with wheels breaking, rations running low and family members dying. Through it all, the Joad family remains optimistic almost to an annoyance. Though it is implied heavily, it is never really said that the reason for this is because their hope is basically all they have. It is clichéd and contrived, but it works for no other reason than because of the fact that the film was made so soon after the Great Depression.
One of the most unnerving aspects of “The Grapes of Wrath” is the shabby treatment the Joad family is subjected to as their trip progresses. Despite the fact that they are inching closer to their goal, the people they encounter are progressively ruder and harsher than the ones before; an obvious foreshadowing as to the unforgiving and ultimately fruitlessness (no pun intended) of their circumstances. In fact, their arrival at the first of many migrant worker camps sees the Joads having to sacrifice even further to feed several of the child inhabitants, despite not even having enough food for themselves- yet another foreshadowing of what kind of despair lies ahead.
“What is these 'Reds' anyway? Every time ya turn around, somebody callin' somebody else a Red. What is these 'Reds' anyway?” (Tom Joad, “The Grapes of Wrath”)
When the prospect of work finally does surface even more foreshadowing comes into play, though this time it is more rooted in morality than mortality. A disgruntled worker who has been in California for significantly longer than the Joads begins to explain worker’s rights to the other residents and even implies that a strike could lead to better wages and working conditions. He is labeled an “agitator” and I think we all know where this is going from here.
A sort of communistic overtone begins to take shape, culminating in the arrival at a government-run socialized work camp, which they first spot as “a light up ahead.” The differences between this camp and the others they encounter are very pronounced. Their sign is professionally made rather than crudely written, the units are painted white and resemble cottages as opposed to shantytowns and they are provided with clean accommodations and running water. The film’s final and primary conflict becomes a showdown between the camp residents, who have all been labeled as “reds” and police infiltrators looking to quash any organization of the laborers. In a scuffle that results in Casey being murdered, Tom again commits a justified murder which results in him realizing he has to leave his family behind. His iconic speech/declaration to his mother is another very synthetic piece of dialogue but it does serve to unmistakably drive home the socialistic agenda of the film; most notably Tom’s reference to everyone representing pieces of “the one big soul that belongs to everybody.” Tom decides to embark on a vague crusade of social justice, all but ensuring his travels will lead him from one doomed situation to the next.
The film ends very open-endedly with the remaining Joads leaving the idyllic government camp behind chasing another prospect of work; though this time it is suggested they will actually get it- though most significantly, the ending appears to be more optimistic simply because it doesn’t even begin to compare to the dark ending of the book. Also, the implication exists that what we have seen the Joad family go through is so terrible that the only reason they wouldn’t show us that happens is because their fates actually turn around. That or unspeakable atrocities await them…
“The Grapes of Wrath” is not a perfect movie, and I can nitpick it to death as far as the dialect and advancement of storyline, but ultimately the film has a very specific point and agenda it tries to make and it pulls it off remarkably and more to the point it seems to be a very ballsy movie to have made at any point in history, let alone the time it was made.
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