Filmography
Patricia Hanson of the American Film Institute compiled this "Grapes of Wrath" filmography specifically for California Stories: Reading "The Grapes of Wrath." The list contains a wide array of films relevant to the themes in Steinbeck's novel.
- Films about the immigrant experience
- Films about the 1930s and social issues of the era
- Films about labor
- Films about prejudice and injustice
- Other films adapted from the John Steinbeck novels
Films about the immigrant experience
- AKA Don Bonus
(National Asian American Telecommunications Association, 1995)
Directed by Spencer Nakasako and Sokly Ny
Produced by Spencer Nakasako and Sokly Ny
Running time: 55 minutes
MPAA rating: Not rated
Home video: National Asian American Telecommunications Association
Synopsis: Filmmaker Sokly Ny, a Cambodian refugee whose family came to America in the late 1970s to escape the Khmer Rouge, settled in Sunnyvale, Calif. This documentary, called a video self-portrait, shows the life that Ny, who called himself Don Bonus in high school, led in the United States. The clashes between Cambodian and American cultures, and the economic and racial issues that can divide or unite an immigrant family are illustrated through interviews and looks into Ny's life. - ...and the earth did not swallow him
(American Playhouse, 1994)
Directed by Severo Perez
Directed by Paul Espinosa
Running time: 99 minutes
MPAA rating: Not rated
Home video: VHS, Kino Home Video Synopsis: Based on a semi-autobiographical novella by Tomas Rivera, this film produced for the PBS series American Playhouse dramatizes the relationship of a 12-year-old boy, the son of migrant Mexican-American workers, who travel throughout the Midwest seeking work. Despite the harshness of their life, the family's strong bonds keep them together. - Uneasy Neighbors
Directed by Paul Espinosa
This 1990s award-winning documentary profiles the relations between migrant worker camps and homeowners in north San Diego county, one of the richest and fastest-growing areas in the U.S. Here, sharing the same valleys, are homeowners concerned about property values and sanitation, and migrant workers living in conditions that most Americans expect only in the Third World. This documentary chronicles the life and death of the Green Valley camp, home to thousands of migrant workers.
"...shows the human side of a problem that is too-often couched in political rhetoric..." Los Angeles Times
"an illuminating lesson in the misery suffered by too many people in this smugly, callously prosperous community." San Diego Union - Bad Day at Black Rock
(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1955)
Directed by John Sturges
Produced by Dore Schary
Screenplay by Millard Kaufman; adaptation by Don McGuire; based on the short story "Bad Time at Honda," by Howard Breslin
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan
Running time: 81
MPAA rating: Not rated
Home video: VHS, Warner Home Video
Synopsis: In the summer of 1945, stranger John Macreedy arrives in a small, hostile Arizona town to give a medal, posthumously awarded to a Japanese-American soldier, to his father. Macready soon learns that the father has been murdered by racists who were trying to cheat him and drive him from his land. - La Bamba
(Columbia, 1987)
Directed by Luis Valdez
Produced by Bill Borden, Taylor Hackford
Screenplay by:Luis Valdez
Cast: Lou Diamond Phillips, Esai Morales, Rosana De Sota
Running time: 108
MPAA rating: PG-13
Home video: VHS, DVD, Sony Home Video
Synopsis: In the 1950s, Mexican-American Ritchie Valenzuela rises from poverty in central California to become "Ritchie Valens," one of the most popular singers of the rock and roll era. He strives to give his mother and younger siblings a good home, while his jealous older brother takes a different path; despite his fame, Ritchie's heritage installs prejudice in the parents of his Anglo girl friend Donna, made famous in his hit record. - Come See the Paradise
(Twentieth Century-Fox, 1990)
Directed by Alan Parker
Produced by Robert F. Colesbury
Screenplay by Alan Parker
Cast: Dennis Quaid, Tamlyn Tomita
Running time: 138
MPAA rating: R
Home video: VHS, Twentieth Century-Fox Home Video
Synopsis: At the outbreak of World War II, a loyal Japanese-American family living in Los Angeles is forced into a Japanese internment camp. The harshness of their lives in the camp is simultaneous to problems suffered by their Anglo son-in-law, a union organizer who cannot help his family and goes AWOL before the end of the war. - Hito-Hata: Raise the Banner
(Visual Communications, 1980)
Directed by Duane Kubo
Produced by Robert Nakamura
Cast: Mako, Pat Morita
Running time: 90
MPAA rating: Not rated
Home video: National Asian American Telecommunications Association
Synopsis: Hito-Hata, the first full length film produced by and about Asian-Pacific Americans, dramatizes the life of the elderly Oda, an Issei who worked on the transcontinental railroad and now lives alone in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles. Oda's difficult past is juxtaposed with his fight to save his neighbors from losing their homes to land developers. - Mi Familia/My Family
(New Line Cinema, 1995)
Directed by Gregory Nava
Produced by Francis Ford Coppola, Anna Thomas
Screenplay by Gregory Nava, Anna Thomas
Cast: Jimmy Smits, Edward James Olmos, Esai Morales
Running time: 126
MPAA rating: R
Home video: VHS, New Line
Synopsis: The film follows several decades in the lives of a Mexican-American couple as they go through life together, often facing poverty, prejudice, police brutality and family trials. As their children grow to adulthood, each takes a different path in life, and each reflects the changing atmosphere, opportunities and continued restrictions in Los Angeles' Hispanic community from the 1940s through the 1990s. - My Man and I
(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1954)
Directed by Stephen Ames
Produced by William A. Wellman
Screenplay by Joe Fante, Jack Leonard
Cast: Ricardo Montalban, Shelley Winters, Wendell Corey
Running time: 98 minutes
MPAA rating: Not rated
Home video: Currently unavailable
Synopsis: In Sacramento, recently naturalized Mexican farm worker Chu Chu Ramirez, greatly values his new citizenship and writes to the president to express his pride. The affable Chu Chu tries to better himself, despite his friends' scorn and girlfriend's cynicism. When an Anglo farmer falsely accuses him of robbery, Chu Chu's optimism is tested. - El Norte
(Artisan Entertainment, 1983)
Directed by Gregory Nava
Produced by Anna Thomas
Screenplay by Gregory Nava, Anna Thomas
Cast: Zaide Silvia Gutierrez, David Villapando
Running time: 139
MPAA rating: R
Home video: Currently unavailable
Synopsis: Originally produced for PBS's American Playhouse, "El Norte" is a Spanish-language film that focuses on brother and sister Enrique and Rosa Xuncax, who flee their native Guatemala and eventually make their way to "El Norte," the United States. Once in Los Angeles, the pair discover that their dreams are not so easily attained in the often harsh and hostile environment for illegal aliens in the city. - Oaxacalifornia
(University of California, 1995)
Directed by Sylvia Stevens
Produced by Trisha Ziff
Running time: 57 minutes
MPAA rating: Not rated
Home video: Currently unavailable
Synopsis: This documentary examines the lives and cultural contrasts between the generations of Mexican-American families, by focusing on the Medjia family of Fresno, Calif. Externally, the Medjias seem to be an "all American family," but their Jaltapic, Oaxaca, Mexico, heritage is never far from the surface, as this look at the daily life of the family reveals. - Zoot Suit
(Universal, 1981)
Directed by:Luis Valdez
Produced by Kenneth Brecher, Peter J. Burrell
Screenplay by Luis Valdez; based on his play of the same name
Cast: Edward James Olmos, Tyne Daley, Daniel Valdez
Running time: 103
MPAA rating: R
Home video: VHS, Universal Home Video
Synopsis: Los Angeles during World War II was the site of a highly publicized 1942 Sleepy Lagoon murders case. Following the murders, several young Mexican-Americans, called "Zoot suiters" because of their clothing were imprisoned, based on little evidence. This stylized musical film, based on a popular play, looks behind the scenes at the prejudice that caused the young men's imprisonment; told from the point of view of "The Grand Pachuco" and the female attorney who tries to gain their release.
Films about the 1930s and social issues of the era
- Dorthea Lange: A Visual Life
(Pacific Pictures, 1994)
Directed by Meg Partridge
Running time: 50 minutes
MPAA rating: Not rated
Home video: Pacific Pictures
Synopsis: The work of Dorthea Lange, who photographed ordinary life in the 20th century, is examined in this documentary. Her photographs of everyday people suffering the results of the Great Depression of the 1930s have survived as some of the most enduring images of the era. - Down an Old Road: The Poetic Life of Wilma McDaniel
(Chris Simon) *
Directed by Chris Simon
Produced by Chris Simon
Running time: 34 minutes
MPAA rating: Not rated
Home video: Chris Simon
Synopsis: This short documentary chronicles the life and work of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel, a German-Irish-Cherokee poet who emigrated to California from the Oklahoma "Dust Bowl" during the Great Depression. Her poetry includes themes of hardship and privation at times, reflecting the harsh life of a life-long farmer. - Fury
(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1936)
Director: Fritz Lang
Producer: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Screenplay by Bartlett Cormack, Fritz Lang; story by Norman Krasna
Cast: Spencer Tracey, Sylvia Sidney
Running time: 90 minutes
MPAA rating: Not rated
Home video: VHS, Warner Home Video
During the Depression, a young man traveling to a new job appears to be a transient and is falsely arrested for a brutal crime. When a lynch mob accidentally sets fire to the small town jail in which he is held, the man secretly escapes. With the world now assuming he is dead, the embittered man, decides to mete his revenge against the mob leaders when they are tried for his murder. - O Brother, Where Art Thou?
(Studio Canal, Touchstone, 2000)
Directed by Joel Coen
Produced by Ethan Coen
Screenplay by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen; based on The Odyssey by Homer
Cast:George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake
Running time: 106 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13
Home video: VHS, DVD, Touchstone Video
Synopsis: With a highly acclaimed soundtrack reproducing some of the great country and folk music of the Great Depression, the comedy follows the misfortunes of three convicts who have escaped from a chain gang and are trying to recover stolen money buried in an area about to be flooded in a federal works project. With ironic humor, the film is very loosely based on Homer's epic "The Odyssey," but also touches on various aspects of American life in the 1930s. - Sullivan's Travels
(Paramount, 1942)
Directed by Preston Sturges
Produced by Paul Jones
Screenplay by Preston Sturges
Cast:Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake and Robert Warwick
Running time: 91 minutes
MPAA rating: Not rated
Home video: VHS, Universal Home Video; DVD, Criterion
Sullivan, a Hollywood film director known for his successful comedies, determines to discover what the real problems of America are and takes to the open road, posing as a hobo. Sullivan wants to make a new, socially relevant drama to be called O Brother, Where Art Thou?, but after an incident results in his unjustly being imprisoned on a chain gang, he realizes that the world needs laughter.
Films about labor
- Harlan County, USA
(Cabin Creek Films, 1976)
Directed by Barbara Kopple
Produced by Barbara Kopple
Screenplay by Barbara Kopple
Running time: 103
MPAA rating: PG
Home video: VHS, First Run Features
Synopsis: Barbara Kopple's Academy Award-winning documentary focuses on a lengthy 1973 strike by Kentucky coal miners, but also gives insights into the history behind this and other labor disputes. The film also shows details of the lives of those involved, in sharp contrast to the huge companies for which they work. - Matewan
(Cinecom Entertainment Group, 1987)
Directed by John Sayles
Produced by Peggy Pajski
Screenplay by Maggie Renzel
Cast:Chris Cooper, James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell
Running time: 130 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13
Home video: VHS, Hallmark Home Entertainment; DVD, Artisan Home Video
Synopsis: In the 1920s, a West Virginia coal-mining town is the center of labor violence as some of the miners strike against the price-cutting of the coal company, while other miners are brought in. Eventually all of the miners unite, but it is a high cost to pay against the power of the coal company. The film was inspired by a true incident that became famous in the history of labor relations in the United States. - On the Waterfront
(Columbia, 1954)
Directed by Elia Kazan
Produced by Sam Spiegel
Screenplay by:Budd Schulberg
Cast; Marlon Brando, Rod Steiger, Eva Marie Saint
Running time: 108 minutes
MPAA rating: Not rated
Home video: VHS, DVD from Sony Home Video
Synopsis: On New York City's waterfront, dockworker and former boxer, Terry Molloy unwittingly sets up the murder of a fellow dockworker who has spoken out against the mob-run union. With the help of the dead man's sister and a defiant priest, Terry struggles with his conscience and feelings of failure, eventually finding the strength to break the waterfront code of silence and testify against the mobsters. - The River
(Universal, 1984)
Directed by Mark Rydell
Produced by Robert Cortes and Edward Lewis
Story and screenplay: Robert Dillon
Cast: Mel Gibson, Sissy Spacek and Scott Glen
Running time: 122 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13
Home video: VHS, DVD from Universal Home Video
Synopsis: In the mid-1980s, Southern farmer Tom Garvey stubbornly refuses to sell his family farm to the local power company, despite the ravages of a recent flood. To help with finances, Tom takes a job as a strike-breaking wielder in a nearby city, but soon recognizes a parallel between the strikers' struggle and his own fight against those who are trying to buy his land. His resolve becomes more intense as the farm once again faces the ravages of the river and pressures to sell. - Salt of the Earth
(Independent Productions Corp., 1954)
Directed by Herbert J. Biberman
Produced by Paul Jarrico
Screenplay by Michael Wilson
Cast: Will Geer, David Wolfe, Rosaura Revueltas
Running time: 94 min.
MPAA rating: not rated
Home video: VHS, Mpi Home Video
Synopsis: Made independently in New Mexico by several blacklisted Hollywood filmmakers, "Salt of the Earth" was inspired by an actual strike by mine workers against the owners of a large zinc-mining company. Esperanza Quintero, a young wife and mother, fights for the rights of her fellow workers to form a union and create a better life for their children. After setbacks, including being jailed, the workers are victorious.
Films about prejudice and injustice
- Do the Right Thing
(Universal, 1989)
Directed by Spike Lee
Produced by Spike Lee, Monty Ross
Screenplay by Spike Lee
Cast:Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee
Running time: 120
MPAA rating: R
Home video: VHS, Universal Home Video; DVD, Criterian
Synopsis: On a hot weekend in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant district, racial tensions erupt over a seemingly inconsequentially issue: no African-American photographs on the wall of an Italian-American owned pizzeria. The film shows how both overt and subliminal racism can come through in everyday life, leading to violent results. - The Good Earth
(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1937)
Directed by Sidney Franklin
Produced by Albert Lewin
Screenplay by Talbot Jennings, Tess Slesinger, Claudine West; based on the novel of the same name by Pearl S. Buck
Cast: Paul Muni, Luise Rainer, Keye Luke
Running time: 138
MPAA rating: Not rated
Home video: VHS, Warner Home Video
Synopsis: In China, in the early part of the 20th century, Wang, a poor young man, marries O-Lan, a former slave. The young couple rears their children and works their farm, enduring famine, storms and locusts. By middle age, Wang has become a rich farmer who prefers a younger woman to O-Lan, but eventually comes to realize his love for the devoted and selfless O-Lan. - The Oz-Bow Incident
(Twentieth Century-Fox, 1943)
Directed by William A. Wellman
Produced by Lamar Trotti
Screenplay by:Lamar Trotti; based on the novel of the same name by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
Cast: Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Anthony Quinn
Running time: 75
MPAA rating: Not rated
Home video: VHS, Fox Home Video Synopsis: In the 1880s, two ranchers become witnesses when a mob lynches three strangers incorrectly assumed to be guilty of cattle rustling and murder. Although initially fearing that they, too, will be deemed guilty, the ranchers stand with a few others to prevent the lynching, but the mob is not swayed. After the lynching, it is learned that the men were innocent and the final letter left by one of the victims is a powerful indictment against injustice. - Philadelphia
(TriStar, 1993)
Directed by Jonathan Demme
Produced by Jonathan Demme, Edward Saxon
Screenplay by Ron Nyswaner
Cast:Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Antonio Banderas
Running time: 119
MPAA rating: PG-13
Home video: VHS, Columbia-TriStar Home Video
Synopsis: Andrew Beckett, a successful young Philadelphia attorney, is fired from his law firm when it is discovered that he has AIDS. He has difficulty finding an attorney to take his lawsuit for wrongful termination, but eventually hires Joe Miller, an undistinguished lawyer who has his own fears of Andrew's homosexuality and AIDS. While Andrew fights discrimination in the courts, he loses his battle against the disease. - A Raisin in the Sun
(Columbia, 1961)
Directed by Daniel Petrie
Produced by David Susskind, Philip Rose
Screenplay by Lorraine Hansberry, based on her play of the same name
Cast: Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Diana Sands
Running time: 128 minutes
MPAA rating: Not rated
Home video: VHS, Sony Home Video
Synopsis: When a poor, multi-generational African-American family living a small Chicago apartment learns that they will be receiving a $10,000 life insurance payment, members of the family diagree on what to do about the money. Family members' reactions to the money reflect the changing relationships and the climate of the times for poor African-American people in America in the late 1950s. - The Shawshank Redemption
(Castle Rock, 1994)
Directed by Frank Darabont
Produced by Nick Marvin
Screenplay by Frank Darabont; from the short story "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" by Stephen King
Cast: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman
Running time: 142
MPAA rating: R
Home video: VHS, DVD, Warner Home Video
Synopsis: In the 1940s, when accountant Andy Dufresne is sentenced to prison for murdering his adulterous wife and her lover, he soon learns to use his intelligence and accounting skills to survive and in the process help some of the other prisoners. The film shows the diverse society within prisons, often depicting prisoners as good men who made mistakes, rather than monsters.
Other films adapted from John Steinbeck's novels
- East of Eden
(Warner Bros., 1955)
Directed by Elia Kazan
Produced by Elia Kazan
Screenplay by Paul Osborn; based on the novel of the same name by John Steinbeck
Cast: James Dean, Julie Harris, Raymond Massey
Running time: 115
MPAA rating: Not rated
Home video: VHS, Warner Home Video
Synopsis: In the Salinas valley, just prior to America's entry into World War I, a young man grapples with his own identity and life-long quest to gain the love of his father, who favors his older brother. While his progressive father tries to perfect a method of freezing vegetables, the younger son seeks out his estranged mother and realizes he is in love with his brother's fiancée. - Of Mice and Men
(Hal Roach, 1940)
Directed by Lewis Milestone
Produced by Hal Roach, Lewis Milestone
Screenplay by Eugene Solow; based on the novel of the same name by John Steinbeck
Cast: Burgess Meredith, Betty Field, Lon Chaney, Jr.
Running time: 104
MPAA rating: Not rated
Home video: VHS, DVD, Image Entertainment
Synopsis: During the Great Depression, George Milton and his simple-minded friend, Lennie Small, go from farm to farm, eking out a living and trying to stay ahead of the sheriff because of gentle giant Lennie's unintended violence. When they arrive in the San Joaquin Valley, George dreams of someday buying a ranch for himself and Lennie, but events at their latest job leads to the end of that dream. - Of Mice and Men
(MGM/UA, 1992)
Directed by Gary Sinise
Produced by Alan C. Blomquist, Gary Sinise
Screenplay by Horton Foote; based on the novel of the same name by John Steinbeck
Cast: John Malkovich, Gary Sinise
Running time: 115 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13
Home video: VHS, DVD, MGM Home Video
Synopsis: During the Great Depression, George Milton and his simple-minded friend, Lennie Small, go from farm to farm, eking out a living and trying to stay ahead of the sheriff because of gentle giant Lennie's unintended violence. When they arrive in the San Joaquin Valley, George dreams of someday buying a ranch for himself and Lennie, but events at their latest job leads to the end of that dream. - Tortilla Flat
(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1942)
Directed by Victor Fleming
Produced by Sam Zimbalist
Screenplay by:John Lee Mahin, Benjamin Glazer; novel of the same name by John Steinbeck
Cast:Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamar, John Garfield
Running time: 105
MPAA rating: Not rated
Home video: VHS, Warner Home Video
Synopsis: Danny, a free-spirited Mexican-American who feels he is rich because he owns two houses, lives in an area near Monterey, California known as Tortilla Flat. The conflicted Danny strives to maintain his independence from his girl friend, cannery worker Dolores "Sweets" Ramirez, who wants him to look toward the future, while his friend Pilon, and others try to keep Danny from becoming tied down.
Patricia King Hanson is executive editor and project director, American Film Institute Catalog of Feature Films