Laborfest: Grapes of Wrath - Film and Presentation

Screening of Grapes of Wrath and Presentation by San Jose State University Professor Susan Shillinglaw
This famous 1940 movie is directed by John Ford and stars Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine. In 1941, Oscars for their performances in this movie went to Jane Darwell, Best Actress in Supporting Role and John Ford, Best Director. Oscar Nominations went to Henry Fonda for Best Actor in Leading Role, Robert Simpson for Best Film Editing, Edmund Hansen for Best Sound for Recording, Nunnally Johnson, Best Writing for Screenplay. In 1940, it won the National Film Review Board's award for Best Film and John Ford won the National Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director. In 1963, it won a Blue Ribbon Award for Best Foreign Language Film. This movie is a shining star in the history of American film. The gripping tale and the outstanding acting will stay with you forever.

Recognition must be given to the small scenes of class solidarity: When the family enters a truckstop coffee shop to get a loaf of soft bread for grandma who has no teeth on their journey from dusty Oklahoma to the golden state of California, the waitress agrees to let them have the loaf for a nickel or so, at a time when a nickel could buy one a meal. After the family leaves, the truck drivers tease the waitress for going soft. As the waitress clears away the truck drivers' dishes, she finds a pile of quarters as her tip. She laughs as she softly says, "just truck drivers."

This is the 70th anniversary of the publication of John Steinbeck’s book, The Grapes Of Wrath. This book, a classic of American literature, was so hated by some of the agricultural owners that there were burnings of it in San Jose and Monterey. The conditions of farmworkers are still a critical issue today for the people of California and the United States and this hidden history of bookburning is part of the hysteria of that period.
See also:
http://www.steinbeck.sjsu.edu/home/index.jsp
http://www.laborfest.net/2009schedule.htm