The Grapes of Wrath

The travails of Tom Joad, famous in part for his memorable "I'll be there" speech. And it looks like Lloyd Bridges (Mandelbaum! Mandelbaum!) as Grandpappy Joad. A story of people who, in their words, ain't been treated decent in a while. I like the scene where the farmer who's getting kicked off his land is trying to figure out who to shoot -- not the bank, or the manager (just doing what he's told). "Then who do we shoot?" It perfectly sums up the indignant desperation of the poor.

It's hard not to think of the Okies as stupid (they believe anything a handbill tells them). But you'd have to be heartless not to sympathize with them -- they're poor and don't really have the option of not believing what people tell them to. When a passing motorist says there's work eighty miles that way, they've got to go that way. Good movie, but I think I liked the book better.