This is the John Steinbeck classic. This 1940 movie is John Ford
directed and stars Henry Fonda as Tom Joad. He returns to the family
after four hears in prison for killing a man in fight. He finds
everything different. The land in Oklahoma has been bought by
speculators, and the people put out by the banks. California is where
everyone is going to start over. So Tom joins the family, and they take
along a preacher, Casy (John Carradine). Casy stays with the family,
until he takes the blame for a fight at a camp, and is run out of town.
The family finds work picking peaches. They are in fact breaking a
strike. Tom goes to check things out. He finds Casy there, leading the
strikers. When the goons come out to chase away the camp, they go for
Casy, as he talks a lot. The kill him, and Tom retaliates by killing a
goon. He gets a hit on the face in the scuffle. The family has to
move on, or loss Tom.
Ma Joad (Jane Darwell) is the strength of the family. It is she who
keeps them together. As they family is moving on yet again at the end
of the movie, she observes that women are steady, while men go in
jerks. By this she means women find strength in whatever circumstance,
while men are dependent on their environment.
I really liked the characters of Tom, Ma, and Casy as presented in this
film. My only complaint is the ending is different than the book. In
the book there is a show of strength, that we take from Ma's words, but
which we don't see in action the same way as the book.
