Lance Good

I just watched "The Grapes of Wrath" for the first time. I really wanted to like it. I like a lot of other old movies so I don't think I'm just biased against old movies. It's a Wonderful Life is one of my favorites. I also loved Casablanca, Rope, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Those were all made in the 40s just like Grapes of Wrath. I even remember liking East of Eden - one of Steinbeck's other novels turned into a movie. But you've probably guessed by now that The Grapes of Wrath just didn't do it for me. Some of the filming was awful. In one scene toward the beginning of the movie, Tom and Casy are walking in front of an obviously fake background. But the worst part is the sound. They sound like they are filming in a bathroom. It's all tinny and echoing. But I could forgive the technical problems since it was only 1940 after all. But the acting was just completely out of control in places. Some of Ma's speeches are just dripping with melodrama. And Tom's speech at the end of the movie a... about how he'll "be" there in all these different situations like when the police are beating people - that was just way over the top. I wouldn't really make a fuss but this movie is in the AFI's top 25 and in the IMDB's top 200. Come on.