The Grapes of Wrath Reviewed by Bruce Cantwell If you weren't assigned to read John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" in school, you probably never read it. Though movie viewing requires a lesser time commitment, if you never stumbled across it, chances are you never sought it out. Sure, it chimes in at number 21 on American Film Institute's all time top 100 list but let's face it, it looks like it would be kind of depressing to watch. True, things don't bode well for the Joad clan as they embark on their cross country odyssey from their dust bowl depleted tennant farms to bounteous Californee but the focuses on challenge rather than hardship. John Ford foreshadows the dangers that lie ahead as soon as the truck is loaded. The rickety old jalopy is so over-burdened that the fender barely clears the patched rear tire. Despite this and the Joads' limited resources, they have a hundred bucks and change for twelve people to get to California from Oklahoma, the family good-naturedly invites the former preacher Jim Casey (John Carradine) to come along. It's a good move. They're going to need him and from the look of him, he only adds fifty-two pounds. At the edge of the desert, they fuel up for the run. Attendant: You people got a lot of nerve...crossing the desert in a jalopy like this. Pa: You been across? Attendant: Sure, plenty but never in no wreck like that. Tom: If we break down, maybe somebody'll give us a hand. Attendant: Well, I'm glad. Even I'd hate to be doin' it. It takes more nerve than I got. Tom: It take no nerve to do somethin' ain't nothin' else you can do. Gregg Toland's gritty, black & white compositions add resonance to the bleak settings. Alfred Newman's score based on quotations from "Red River Valley" seems overly sunny at first but is ultimately suitable in suggesting the family's underlying optimism. Henry Fonda and Jane Darwell (Ma Joad) are particularly good among the uniformly fine performances. If you've put off watching it because you thought it would be good for you, stop worrying. It's an engaging, well-crafted story either in book form or on film.

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