Grapes of Wrath (1940)

There is something seriously wrong with our education system. For some reason students are constantly attacked on all sides by good literature. Why is this a bad thing? Most of the time the literature being shoved down the students' necks is way beyond their level. When I was in High School there were still kids in my classes that had a hard time reading Dr. Suess. How are they supposed to read such greats as Steinbeck or Dickens? Not only that but the content is way beyond their comprehension. Are you going to stand there and tell me that a 9th grader is going to give a crap about racism or the Great Depression? Of course not. All they care about is that Cindy just started wearing bras, or that Jack has facial hair. I'm bringing all this up because it was mandatory for a lot of 9th graders to watch The Grapes of Wrath (they were also required to watch To Kill A Mockingbird which I will talk about later because it too is on AFI's list). Let's be honest, as a 9th grader The Grapes of Wrath would be torture. As a full grown man, however, The Grapes of Wrath was a decent show.

The Grapes of Wrath follows Tom Joad, a man fresh out of prison for homicide. Tom comes home to find that his family has been forced off their land in Oklahoma. They have no choice but to pack up everything they own and go find work in California. It was a lot like the Beverly Hillbillies, except instead of being rich they were poor. Speaking of Beverly Hillbillies here is a lovely little ditty by Weird Al from the movie "UHF."



A road trip of that magnitude was a lot harder then than it is now. Nowadays people make that drive in a day, stopping off at the occasional Maverik to buy a Bahama-Mama. Back then it took weeks, and people died along the way. This movie was no exception. I ain't gonna say who dies, but just know that people die trying to make the trip. I can think of several people I would take with me on a road trip if it meant their death.

This movie was pretty depressing, but that's what it was like back then. On a lighter note, John Carradine is in this movie. Don't know who he is? Well he is none other than the father of David Carradine, star of the T.V. series Kung-fu. David also plays Bill in the movie Kill Bill. Pretty neat, huh? Well I thought so anyway.

The bottom line:
Rating: 3.9
Would I own it? No. I'm happy I watched it, but may never watch it again. I like feel-good movies.
Would I recommend it? I would, but not to 9th graders.