John Steinbeck’s
arguably greatest and also most controversial novel, The Grapes of
Wrath, was bound to become a Hollywood classic at some point. The fact
that it would be so at such an immediate point, considering some of the book’s
content, is a bit surprising. Just one year after Clark Gable shocked the world
by saying “damn” in Gone with the Wind, this movie was released,
based on a book with a record number of profanities and other lewd material.
The book was an angry morality tale; a visceral first-hand look at an era
mostly ignored. The movie turns this into one of the most inspirational of
films. It was a great feat of screenwriting.
Henry Fonda may be my
favorite actor. He was not one to give performances in the sense that he would
act big in the traditional Hollywood manner. He was a far more natural
presence. Reportedly, he was so self-conscious and introverted that he refused
to play roles that required him to be a “hero.” In The Grapes of Wrath,
he nevertheless embodied one of the greatest film heroes.
Tom Joad is an angry
man. He dotes on his good mother, referred to only as Ma Joad in the novel and
film, who insists that he do his best not to lose his temper and risk going
back to prison. Watch the scene where Tom hitches a ride home with a truck
driver, who asks a string of increasingly personal questions. Observe that
Fonda doesn’t noticeably build in his anger. It just gets released in one big
gust. Notice Tom also has a certain sense of humor when, as he leaves the
truck, he grinningly reveals why he was in prison: homicide.
Even as an angry man,
Tom is a great hero for two reasons. He does his best to keep his violent
nature locked up and he does what he knows is right whenever possible. In some
cases in this film, that means doing what is wrong in the eyes of the law. Such
were the times this movie depicts. When done wrong, and the people in this film
have been done very wrong, their answer tended to be to shoot the one
responsible. However, the deeds done here were not accomplished by individuals.
There’s a moment where the man informing a family that they have to evacuate
their home before it gets torn down informs them of the chain that goes back
several people. Nobody is to blame, he argues, it just happened.
At one point, a gas
station attendant watches as the Joads drive past, remarking that they can’t be
referred to as human beings.
“Human beings couldn’t
stand to be that miserable.”
We watch in similar
horror as this family to whom we have become so attached goes through all
manner of misfortune and discomfort. They lose their house like everyone else,
family members die off, some run off, they barely make it on the gas and money
they have, they’re treated like dirt, and ultimately, Tom becomes wanted for
murder.
I used to call this the
saddest movie ever made. I now consider it more hopeful than tragic, but be
sure there are some poignantly bitter moments. The image of Ma sadly going
through her box of various knick-knacks and burning most of them is one of the
most hauntingly sad moments in film. In fact, there’s a strange sadness in
general to Jane Darwell’s beloved performance. She is so easily associated with
mothers everywhere and as such, seems to spend most of her time in worry. There
are moments like when Tom first comes home and when they actually reach
California that make you feel weirdly joyous, as if your own mother were crying
tears of joy.
Despite some of the
film’s great sadness, there are also the counter-attacks of hope. A scene that
always stands out in my head is the one where a waitress, who was fairly
uncaring at first, sells one of the Joads a loaf of bread and afterwards two
nickel candies for a penny. There are good people scattered a bit in this
otherwise dreary world, including the almost freakishly perfect campsite the
Joads find by the film’s end. If all good things come to those who suffer, this
cheerful outcome is well-deserved.
This all leads to the
two fantastic, beautiful scenes that end the film. First, Tom discovers that
the police have found him in the camp and mean to arrest him later on, so he
decides to leave. Ma stops him on his way out and he convinces her that he must
go for the good of the family. He gives a very plain, down to Earth speech that
becomes surprisingly moving in its delivery. It also becomes memorable in its
context, implying that he knows he couldn’t last long on the run and that death
is imminent.
“I’ll be all around in
the dark. I’ll be everywhere, wherever you can look. Wherever there’s a fight
so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever there’s a cop beatin’ up a
guy, I’ll be there. I’ll be in the way guys yell when they’re mad. I’ll be in
the way kids laugh when they’re hungry and they know supper’s ready. And when
the people are eatin’ the stuff they raise and livin’ in the houses they build,
I’ll be there too.”
It gets me every time,
even if it sounds corny on paper. Then, there’s the very last scene when Ma,
apparently newly invigorated by Tom’s speech gives a brief one of her own. She
says that the Joads can never be beaten because they’ve become strong in the
battle. Thesemoments are perfect endings to a movie that, under the careful
direction of Hollywood legend John Ford, makes no mistakes. Especially at the
time, it couldn’t have ended in the same shocking way the book did, but the
results are nevertheless extraordinary. The time that The Grapes of
Wrath depicts is essentially behind us, but the film is timeless.
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