The Grapes of Wrath

The Joad family loses their farm due to the mechanisation of agriculture in the 1930s. Chased away by the bank's credit collectors, the Joads set off from the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma to the orchards of California. Like thousands of others, they hire themselves out as harvest labourers and must continue to fight against exploitation. Ford's film adaptation of Steinbeck's instant classic novel was considered his most important black and white film, but in later, more cynical decades, attempts were made to dismantle it because of its emotional tone. Wrongly so: The Joads' journey westwards shows remarkable parallels to the “Landnahme” of a century earlier, only the racial struggle has become a class struggle. Gregg Toland's photography, alternating between stylised chiaroscuro and almost documentary realism, is masterful, the ensemble, led by Henry Fonda (‘Whenever there's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there’), is simply magnificent. (Christoph Huber)

Photo: Austrian Film Museum