This Day in Indie History: The Grapes of Wrath

by MovieMaker Staff | Published January 23, 2007

It was this day in 1940 that John Fordâ€™s The Grapes of Wrath made its premiere in New York. Starring Henry Fonda and Jane Darwell, and based on John Steinbeckâ€™s Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name, The Grapes of Wrath depicted the trials of the Joad family as they traveled across the U.S. in search of reliable work. It is the typical tale of numerous families who attempted escape from the countryâ€™s dustbowl to a land of promiseâ€”only to find disappointment upon arrival. In 1941, Ford received one of two Oscars awarded to the film (the other went to Darwell for Best Supporting Actress), preparing him for the following year when he would win the same prize for How Green Was My Valley.

Film Factoid: The filmâ€™s cinematographer, Gregg Toland, spent his entire career contracted by Samuel Goldwyn, working on some of the most celebrated films of all time. In addition to The Grapes of Wrath, Toland went on to work with Ford in The Long Voyage Home and spent the following year alongside Orson Welles, filming the iconic Citizen Kane. His experimentation with deep focus and other innovative camera techniques quickly became the gold standard of Hollywood moviemaking.