The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Nunnally Johnson (screenplay)
John Steinbeck (novel)

Release Date:

15 March 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The thousands who have read the book will know why WE WILL NOT SELL ANY CHILDREN TICKETS to see this picture!

Plot:

A poor Midwest family is forced off of their land. They travel to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression.

Plot Keywords:

California | Farm | Jail | Oklahoma | Great Depression

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 5 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Tue. Dec. 1

12:00 AM

TCM

Cast

Henry Fonda	...	Tom Joad
Jane Darwell	...	Ma Joad
John Carradine	...	Casy
Charley Grapewin	...	Grandpa
Dorris Bowdon	...	Rose of Sharon
Russell Simpson	...	Pa Joad
O.Z. Whitehead	...	Al
John Qualen	...	Muley
Eddie Quillan	...	Connie
Zeffie Tilbury	...	Grandma
Frank Sully	...	Noah
Frank Darien	...	Uncle John
Darryl Hickman	...	Winfield
Shirley Mills	...	Ruth Joad
Roger Imhof	...	Thomas
Grant Mitchell	...	Caretaker
Charles D. Brown	...	Wilkie
John Arledge	...	Davis
Ward Bond	...	Policeman
Harry Tyler	...	Bert
William Pawley	...	Bill
Charles Tannen	...	Joe
Selmer Jackson	...	Inspection Officer (as Selmar Jackson)
Charles Middleton	...	Leader
Eddy Waller	...	Proprietor (as Eddie Waller)
Paul Guilfoyle	...	Floyd
David Hughes	...	Frank
Cliff Clark	...	City Man
Joe Sawyer	...	Bookkeeper (as Joseph Sawyer)
Frank Faylen	...	Tim
Adrian Morris	...	Agent
Hollis Jewell	...	Muley's Son
Robert Homans	...	Spencer
Irving Bacon	...	Driver
Kitty McHugh	...	Mae
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Leon Brace	...	Migrant
Henry Brahe	...	Migrant
Scotty Brown	...	Migrant
Cal Cohen	...	Migrant
Cecil Cook	...	Migrant
Helen Dean	...	Migrant
Billy Elmer	...	Migrant
Sidney Hayes	...	Migrant
E.J. Kaspar	...	Migrant
L.F. O'Connor	...	Migrant
Walton Pindon	...	Migrant
Wally Albright	...	Boy who bragged of eating chicken (uncredited)
Erville Alderson	...	Arkansas storekeeper (uncredited)
Josephine Allen	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Frank Atkinson	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Arthur Aylesworth	...	Father (uncredited)
Trevor Bardette	...	Jule, bouncer at dance (uncredited)
John Binns	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Joe Bordeaux	...	Migrant (uncredited)
George P. Breakston	...	Boy (uncredited)
Buster Brodie	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Hal Budlong	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Nora Bush	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Russ Clark	...	Guard (uncredited)
Shirley Coates	...	Girl in migrant camp (uncredited)
Harry Cording	...	Deputy (uncredited)
Jim Corey	...	Buck Jackson, witness at dance (uncredited)
Gino Corrado	...	Chef (uncredited)
Delmar Costello	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Jane Crowley	...	Migrant (uncredited)
W.H. Davis	...	Migrant (uncredited)
John Dilson	...	Bookseller (uncredited)
Lillian Drew	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Ralph Dunn	...	Deputy (uncredited)
Thornton Edwards	...	Motorcycle cop (uncredited)
Pat Flaherty	...	Deputy (uncredited)
James Flavin	...	Guard (uncredited)
Francis Ford	...	(unconfirmed) (uncredited)
Emily Gerdes	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Tyler Gibson	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Barney Gilmore	...	Migrant (uncredited)
William Haade	...	Deputy with shotgun (uncredited)
Ben Hall	...	Gas station attendant in Bakersfield (uncredited)
Dean Hall	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Edna Hall	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Cliff Herbert	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Charles Herzinger	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Herbert Heywood	...	Gas station attendant (uncredited)
Harry Holden	...	Migrant (uncredited)
David Kirkland	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Rex Lease	...	Cop (uncredited)
Hazel Lollier	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Mae Marsh	...	Muley's wife (uncredited)
Louis Mason	...	Man in camp (uncredited)
Harry Matthews	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Scotty Mattraw	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Walter McGrail	...	Gang leader (uncredited)
Jules Michelson	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Walter Miller	...	New Mexico border guard (uncredited)
Philip Morris	...	Guard (uncredited)
Frank Newburg	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Frank O'Connor	...	Deputy #1 (uncredited)
George O'Hara	...	Clerk (uncredited)
Ted Oliver	...	State policeman (uncredited)
Inez Palange	...	Woman in camp (uncredited)
Steve Pendleton	...	Gas station attendant #2 in Needles (uncredited)
Jack Pennick	...	Camp helper (uncredited)
Walter Perry	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Rose Plumer	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Chauncey Pyle	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Bob Reeves	...	Deputy (uncredited)
Gladys Rehfeld	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Waclaw Rekwart	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Dick Rich	...	Keene Ranch guard (uncredited)
Gloria Roy	...	Waitress (uncredited)
Peggy Ryan	...	Hungry girl (uncredited)
Robert Shaw	...	Gas station attendant #1 in Needles (uncredited)
Lee Shumway	...	Deputy (uncredited)
Georgia Simmons	...	Woman (uncredited)
C.B. Steele	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Al Stewart	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Harry Strang	...	Fred, trucker #2 at diner (uncredited)
Paul Sutton	...	Deputy (uncredited)
Harry Tenbrook	...	Deputy / Troublemaker (uncredited)
Charles Thurston	...	Migrant (uncredited)
D.H. Turner	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Tom Tyler	...	Deputy handcuffing Casy (uncredited)
Pearl Varvalle	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Eleanore Vogel	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Max Wagner	...	Guard (uncredited)
Harry Wallace	...	Migrant (uncredited)
John Wallace	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Glen Walters	...	Woman who gets shot (uncredited)
Jack Walters	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Frank Watson	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Jim Welch	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Charles West	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Dan White	...	Poor man walking with woman in transient camp (uncredited)
Norman Willis	...	Joe, shot at Floyd (uncredited)
Bill Wolfe	...	Square-dance caller (uncredited)
Bill Worth	...	Migrant (uncredited)
Darryl F. Zanuck	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
John Ford

Writing credits
Nunnally Johnson		(screenplay)
John Steinbeck		(novel "The Grapes of Wrath")

Produced by
Nunnally Johnson	....	associate producer
Darryl F. Zanuck	....	producer

Cinematography by
Gregg Toland

Film Editing by
Robert L. Simpson		(as Robert Simpson)

Art Direction by
Richard Day
Mark-Lee Kirk

Set Decoration by
Thomas Little

Costume Design by
Gwen Wakeling

Makeup Department
Myrtle Ford	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Gustaf Norin	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Ralph Dietrich	....	production manager (uncredited)
Bernard McEveety	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Otto Brower	....	second unit director (uncredited)
Edward O'Fearna	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Wingate Smith	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Eddie Jones	....	props (uncredited)
Andy Kisch	....	assistant property master (uncredited)
William Sittel	....	assistant property master (uncredited)

Sound Department
Roger Heman Sr.	....	sound (as Roger Heman)
George Leverett	....	sound
W.P. Mathewson	....	assistant boom operator
Edmund H. Hansen	....	sound (uncredited)
Harry Kornfield	....	assistant sound (uncredited)
Jack Miller	....	cableman (uncredited)
Robert Parrish	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Arthur Dorien	....	best boy
Charles G. Clarke	....	director of photography: second unit (uncredited)
Paul Garnett	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Eddie Garvin	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Ralph Hoge	....	grip (uncredited)
Lou Kunkel	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Bill McLellan	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Emmett Schoenbaum	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Bert Shipman	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Cliff Shirpser	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe supervisor (uncredited)
Harry Kernell	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Josephine Perrin	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Mary Crumley	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Robert Parrish	....	negative cutter (uncredited)
Jack Wells	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Alfred Newman	....	musical director
Danny Borzage	....	musician: accordion (uncredited)

Other crew
Tom Collins	....	technical director
Meta Stern	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1940) (USA) (theatrical)
• Fox Films (1941) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1947) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Centfox (1953) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1956) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• FS Film Oy (2005) (Finland) (DVD)
• Fox Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Key Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1968) (1979) (Finland) (TV) (MTV1)
• TV3 (1990) (Finland) (TV)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1985) (Finland) (TV)

Also Known As:

Highway 66 (USA) (fake working title)

Runtime:

128 min | West Germany:108 min (cut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | Canada:G (Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | UK:PG (video rating) | West Germany:12 (f) | South Korea:12 | Soviet Union:(Banned) | Argentina:13 | USA:Approved (certificate #5789) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Brazil:12 | Australia:G (original rating) | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Finland:K-16 | Portugal:M/12 (re-release) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Although the script conformed to the provisions of the Production Code, a number of potential "problems" had to be addressed. The list of suggested alterations or eliminations included a warning "not to characterize Muley as insane", the rewording of "certain of the lines which have reference to Rosasharn's pregnancy", the removal of a "toilet gag about Grandma", the elimination of "specific mention of Tulare County [California]" and a request not to identify a town as "Pixley" (a town in Tulare County, CA, notorious for its ill treatment of migrant workers). It was also suggested that the film not show "Tom killing the deputy in self-defense".

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Tom Joad's semi-retarded brother, Noah, vanishes after the swimming-in-the-river sequence. In the book, Noah believes he's a burden on the family and runs away. In the film, no explanation is given for his disappearance.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Ma Joad: Rich fellas come up an' they die, an' their kids ain't no good an' they die out. But we keep a'comin'. We're the people that live. They can't wipe us out; they can't lick us. We'll go on forever, Pa, 'cause we're the people.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Fedora (1978)

Soundtrack:

Red River Valley

My experience of living the movie, its so true to life

This movie is so real..at least to this person, who lived these things that happened in the movie. I will tell a short version of my personal life to let you know how it affected me from my own experience of growing up in the Thirties

I think their must have been more then one car because ours was full of stuff in the back seat, clear up almost to the roof. Frankie, Bill and me (my brothers) all was on top of the stuff in the back seat, had to stay lying down was not enough room to set up. What I remember most about the trip was it was awful hot when we went through Arizona and we had not much water, the water we had was in a canvas bag, hooked to the front bumper to help keep it cool. We did not get much because dad was saving it for the car when the car got to hot. Mom told us to suck on pebbles, and we did. It was a bad time every where. No jobs or anyway to make any money.

We were going to California because their was suppose to be some picking work their, after we got to California we saw miles of potatoes all loose piled up high my guess would be about six feet high, they had put lime or something that looked like lime it was a white powder to keep people from taking them to eat.

We found a place to pick plums that they used to make prunes and we lived in a Quonset hut made of corrugated metal setting on a concrete slab. The public toilets were near were we stayed, Joe and his wife (Family friends)had their own Hut…this was the time that dad & Joe would sell tickets for people to watch them box each other in a ring at the recreation hall on the property. Also they joined a baseball team and played baseball, dad played left field. We got to watch them play for free.

Seems like Frankie and I played together a lot don't think Bill did because he was still a baby his self, Doris and Dorothy (my sisters) was still crawling so Bill could not have been very old at that time. Frank & I would go pick up plums off the ground and we would bring them home, Doris and Dorothy would set in the box and eat them. You can guess what they would look like when mom and dad got home, their was no air condition back then so they would take a hose and squirt water on the tin Quonset hut to try and cool it off some, I know when we went west we looked like those grapes of wrath folks in the movie.

That area was the first time I ever saw a frog walk, it was to hot for them to hop, when they tried to hop their bellies would touch the ground ( gravel) and would burn them, any way that's what we thought at that time. I saw the movie of Grapes of wrath a long time ago, and I remember it so well, I cried most of the time it was on because it reminded me of the hard time we all had back then, I was born in Oklahoma and it was just a terrible time in the late thirties I would love to see the movie again, its to me a history of my family, I am 71 1/2 years old now and still remember it very clearly.

Gene McDaniel