Sour Grapes Make Strong Medicine

The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

Starring: Jimmy Stewart, Minnie Pearl Directed by: John Ford Rating: UR Genre: Drama Other

Review Orson Welles' lyrical tribute to the plight of dumb oakies nearly outlasted my attention span but I couldn't help but be moved as Jimmy Stewart, Buddy Ebsen, Walter Brennan and Minnie Pearl set out in their gimcrack jalopy for California and the orange plantation grandpa bought with his heart medicine money. Various family members are picked off along the way by coyotes, vultures and anti-social hill people but eventually the kinfolk make it to the promised land. The orange grove is a bust but (spoiler!) the snakebit nimrods find black gold (oil!) just a bubblin' out of the ground. Stewart is a bit of a pill, whining about President Roosevelt and the Marshall Plan. But, as usual, grandma saves the day with a funny story, a reluctant tear and a heart attack. Ebsen later sucked this picture to the marrow by replaying Festus in the long-running Beverly Hillbillys. Later remade as "The Hills Have Eyes."