Directed by John Ford • 1940 • United States
Starring Henry Fonda, John Carradine, Jane Darwell
One of the rare prestige literary adaptations to capture the power and majesty of its source material, John Ford’s renowned film version of John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel is one of the peaks of studio-era Hollywood filmmaking. In perhaps his defining role, a soulful Henry Fonda stars as the plainspoken ex-con Tom Joad, who leaves behind the Depression-era Oklahoma Dust Bowl with his family for the promise of California—only to find struggle of a different kind. Engraved in Gregg Toland’s expressive chiaroscuro cinematography, this by turns devastating and ennobling tale of injustice and the will to endure has ascended to the level of myth.
Up Next in Season 1
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The Bad and the Beautiful
Directed by Vincente Minnelli • 1952 • United States
Starring Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Walter PidgeonAppearances are everything in Hollywood. Kirk Douglas gives a magnetic, Oscar-nominated performance as conniving producer Jonathan Shields, who turns talent, charisma and ruthlessness into fil...
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L.A. Confidential
Directed by Curtis Hanson • 1997 • United States
Starring Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kevin SpaceyPerhaps the finest neonoir since CHINATOWN, Curtis Hanson’s masterful adaptation of the novel by James Ellroy brings the sleazy underbelly of 1950s Los Angeles to the screen with sizzle and punch. F...
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From Here to Eternity
Directed by Fred Zinnemann • 1953 • United States
Starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah KerrBurt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr make waves in this landmark blockbuster about raging passions and stormy personal dramas on a Hawaiian military base in the lead-up to the attack on Pearl Har...
