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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Grapes of Wrath" airs on TCM at 2am EDT
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/76817/Grapes-Of-Wrath-The/Brief Synopsis
Tom Joad returns from prison, where he was serving time for manslaughter, to his family's Oklahoma farm and finds the house abandoned. Muley, his half-crazed neighbor, tells Tom about the recent dispossession of the sharecroppers, who have been driven out by drought and the greedy land companies. Tom finally locates his family as they are about to pack their belongings on a dilapidated truck and head West, lured by promises of work and high wages in California. Joined by their friend Casy, a former "fire and brimstone" preacher, the Joads begin their long trek west on Route 66. Soon after, Grandpa dies and is buried alongside the road. Their hopes for a bright future are dimmed when a man at a roadside camp warns of no work in California, but the family continues on. As the Joads cross the great California desert, Grandma dies, and the remainder of the family emerges from the desert to find no jobs and hoards of starving migrants. Poverty and desperation begin to break apart the family as the husband of pregnant daughter Rosasharn leaves her. Despite rumors of labor violence, the family nonetheless hits the road once again. Hounded by the law and the local citizenry, the Joads find work as strikebreakers. Casy warns Tom that strikebreaking will only drive down wages, and when a deputy murders Casy for his labor organizing, Tom fights back and kills the deputy. With Tom now hunted as a murderer, the family steals away under cover of night and finds temporary refuge in a government agricultural camp. When the police track Tom down at the camp, however, he is forced to bid farewell to his family, knowing he may never see them again. As the family leaves the haven of the camp for promise of work in Fresno, Ma Joad voices the faith to carry on.
Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)Citizen Cain.
DCBob
(24,689 posts)great acting, superb storyline and message, timeless. Must see movie.
Bolo Boffin
(23,796 posts)From Citizen Kane to The Grapes of Wrath to Wuthering Heights. A lot of really well-made films tonight.
demosincebirth
(12,540 posts)John Steinbeck: Greatest author of all time.
The Grapes of Wrath is a good film too. I'm not sure it's even remakeable, or else
studios and/or tv are afraid to touch it.. being all corporate now.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)It's great literature but damn! It's more depressing than reading Thomas Hardy. It goes from unrelenting misery to even more crippling unrelenting misery. I suspect Steinbeck wanted that reaction from the readers.
DefenseLawyer
(11,101 posts)It's all part of the same thing.' . . . . I says, 'What's this call, this sperit?' An' I says, 'It's love. I love people so much I'm fit to bust, sometimes.' . . . . I figgered, 'Why do we got to hang it on God or Jesus? Maybe,' I figgered, 'maybe it's all men an' all women we love; maybe that's the Holy Sperit-the human sperit-the whole shebang. Maybe all men got one big soul ever'body's a part of.' Now I sat there thinkin' it, an' all of a suddent-I knew it. I knew it so deep down that it was true, and I still know it. - Jim Casey