‘THE GRAPES OF WRATH’

Evening Star, Issue 23723, 2 November 1940, Page 5

‘THE GRAPES OF WRATH’

What other Hollywood directors consider a tough assignment provides a field day for John Ford. To translate the work of a great author in terms of film entertainment is no task at all for the man who directed Darryl F. Zanuck’s production of ‘ The Grapes of Wrath,’ John Steinbeck’s widelyacclaimed best-seller, which Twentieth Century-Fox is shortly to release in New Zealand. Other Hollywood directors are sometimes wary about accepting responsibility for getting the spirit and the intention of a top-flight realistic novelist on’ celluloid. But the greater the

story the more eager Ford is to lift it from between the cover of a book and make it come alive on the screen. “ A great story is bound to come through in the telling,” Ford insists. “ A director must know how to bring out the detail and the touches of action which the author has used to develop character.”

Ford is painstaking in his attention to detail. In directing ‘ The Graphs of Wrath ’ he took infinite care to see to it that every touch Steinbeck used to develop his characters was brought out on the screen. The details of their homes, their clothes, their mannerisms, and ' their heartily humorous speech were all carefully preserved by Ford. To further ensure naturalness Ford forbade the use of make-up, and directed Cinematographer Gregg Toland to use candid camera technique. On occasions Ford’s insistence on realistic details threatened to hold up production. Because ho was anxious to show precisely how the farmers lived before they abandoned their farms, he insisted that the Joad home be recreated in all its flimsiness. The net result of this was that one afternoon the roof of the house collapsed on Henry Fonda, who plays the part of Tom 'Joad. Fonda escaped injury by diving underneath a bed. “It isn’t elaborate realism that counts,” Ford explains. “ It’s the plain, homely touches for which a director must try.” But Ford admits these homely touches are sometimes the most difficult to secure.

John Garfield and Ann Sheridan make their first appearance as a romantic team in ‘ Castle On The Hudson.’ Although both • young - stars are well known to film audiences for their work during the past year, ‘ Castle On The Hudson ’ marks their debut as a team, they make an exiting and' dynamic combination. Pat O’Brien is co-starred with them and Burgess Meredith heads the supporting cast, which includes a host of well known players. Anatole Litrak directed from the screen piny by Seton I. Miller, Brown Holmes, and Courtney Terret.