Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: The Grapes of Wrath (1940) - Ford's Steinbeck adaptation is a cinematic crown jewel

2/24/2021

The Grapes of Wrath (1940) - Ford's Steinbeck adaptation is a cinematic crown jewel

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Henry Fonda centered in the Joad family on this grand poster for John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath

Tom Joad gets released from prison and finds his Oklahoma family home dramatically altered: Dust storms and the 1930s Depression has, along with the invention of the motorized tractor, made necessary the uprooting of the Joad family. - To a hopefully lighter future in California?

The Grapes of Wrath is written and produced by Nunnally Johnson (Baby Face Harrington (1935)), based on the same-titled 1939 novel by John Steinbeck (Sweet Thursday (1954)), and directed by Mainer master filmmaker John Ford (Cameo Kirby (1923)), whose 47th feature it was.

It is a thoroughly well-made, razor sharp adaptation, which hasn't softened the political (Socialist) sting of Steinbeck's novel: Company owners are brutal and solely oriented towards profits, while qualities such as morality, kindness and community are found in governmental programs and among workers.

Although one possibly isn't oriented towards the left, the film is still formidable. Every one in the cast give luminous performances, seemingly aware that they are acting in something very special. Henry Fonda (Battle of the Bulge (1965)), Jane Darwell (A Yank in London (1945)) as Ma Joad and Charley Grapewin (Eight Bells (1935)) as Grandpa Joad as well as the children are eminent. The scene at the gas station may well be among the most touching in the history of cinema.

The Grapes of Wrath is an extremely engrossing film, very wise on the nature of man.

John Ford: Fort Apache (1948) - Wayne and Fonda clash in Ford's solid western of a massacre of Indians

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 800k $

Box office: 1.5 mil. $ (North-American rentals alone)

= Uncertain, but most likely at least a box office success

[The Grapes of Wrath premiered 24 January (New York) and runs 129 minutes. Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was the bestselling in America in 1939. Shooting took place in New Mexico, Arizona, California, including Los Angeles, and in Oklahoma from October - November 1939. Executive producer Darryl F. Zanuck sent an investigative team to Oklahoma to inspect whether the general Depression conditions were or had been as bad as the novel said and in order to be able to counter any attacks that the film was 'pro-Communist'. The investigation showed that they indeed were terrible. The only gross number available is regrettably a 1.5 mil. $ North-American gross. Still the film was most likely a box office success, in spite of the onslaught of WWII. It was nominated for 7 Oscars, winning 2: For Best Supporting Actress (Darwell) and Director. It lost Best Actor (Fonda) to James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story, Editing to North West Mounted Police, Best Picture to Rebecca, Sound to Strike Up the Band and Screenplay to David Ogden Stewart for The Philadelphia Story. It also won 3 National Board of Review awards, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Ford returned with The Long Voyage Home (1940). Fonda returned in Lillian Russell (1940). The Grapes of Wrath is certified fresh at 100 % with a 9.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (14-24)

2/24/2021

The Grapes of Wrath (1940) - Ford's Steinbeck adaptation is a cinematic crown jewel

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