The Grapes of Wrath Does Topock Proud

[Bob Boze Bell]

February 19, 2013

After finishing "On The Road" by Jack Kerouac, I decided I needed to read all of the road classics. I'm currently reading two books, "Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck and "Blue Highways" by William Least Heat Moon. Both are pretty spectacular reads.

 

Also rented John Ford's "Grapes of Wrath" to see what all the hub bub about that is. Pretty interesting project for Ford (he won the Oscar for best director). He had just done Stagecoach with John Wayne, which, of course, uses Monument Valley to great affect. So in "Grapes," he sends out a second unit to film road shots on Route 66, but the project is so controversial (the book was widely banned because of its anti-growers stance) the film crew resorts to a fake name of the movie they are shooting, "The Route 66 Story" or some such off-putting title. Anyway, the photography is absolutely stunning. Shooting in black and white, the cinematographer goes for really dark, dramatic shadows:

 

The caption is on the pic because I turned on the caption app in order to savor the language of the script.

 

Also, check out this road shot of the Joad truck ambling down a desert highway.

 

Very dark landscape with only the road and the vanishing point showing in the distance. Also note the single, unbroken stripe on the road. I have a hunch this was shot on the Navajo res and not Route 66, because there are other shots of sheep on the highway that were obviously shot up by Kayenta. It makes sense because, as i said, Ford had just been there for "Stagecoach" and probably instructed the second unit to get scenes from there. Although on a second look this could be the long hill coming out of Ashfork with the long butte west of Seligman in the right distance.

 

There is a shot of the truck crossing the Pecos River, which would be at Santa Rosa, New Mexico. Strangely, there are no shots of Texas, with the sequence jumping from Oklahoma, to the Pecos and then to the Arizona-New Mexico line:

 

This scene is amazing on a couple counts, the first being, check out the dirt road in Arizona! So the pavement ends when you leave New Mexico? At least in 1939-40 it did. Also check out the syntax on the sign: "You now leave New Mexico"? Who's writing this, Chief Stereotype?

 

And, once they are in Arizona they encounter the dreaded inspection station, where the friendly Zonie tells the Okies to "keep moving."

 

Ah, Arizona, where everyone is welcome as long as you are not a Mexican, an Indian, a black or an Okie, or a Democrat.

 

Arizona Welcomes You, Sort of

 

Then we skip Winslow, Holbrook, Flagstaff (don't forget Winona), Ashfork, Seligman Peach Springs, Valentine and Kingman and we have an extended sequence at Topock on the Colorado River:

 

When someone tells grandma that is California over there, she spits. Ha. This is obviously a matt painting done in the studio but those are the Needles buttes over there, which the town is named for:

 

And here's a very familiar sight to folks in Mohave County:

 

This is the Topock Bridge connecting California to Arizona on Route 66. I have crossed this bridge many times on our way to play Needles, California teams.

 

"Any traveler who misses the journey, misses about all he's going to get."

—William Least Heat Moon, "Blue Highways

 

 

[Stan H]

Grapes of Wrath could have been written about my father and his family, except he made the trip from Oklahoma to Claifornia 3 times, first to find jobs, then to move part of his family, then to bring the rest of the family. He was the only son, with 6 sisters, some of who were married with kids. From what I was told, the third trip was a real caravan. One of my older cousins told about stopping along the road for the night. They would park the cars and truck in a square and spread out a canvas between the vehicles. Sounded just like the old covered wagon days.

The family worked the orchards where my father got introduced to labor unions.

 

By the way, he told of Saturday nights, all the pickers would gather and listen to union speakers, then there would be a dance. Often the music would be provided by a fellow fruit picker by the name of Leonard Slye.

 

My father did not see the value of The Grapes of Wrath film. He said it was just what every-day people did, that is was no big deal. He was wrong, as we now know.

 

 

[Bob Boze Bell]

Stan, thanks. Leonard Slye, of course, became Roy Rogers. Some here might object to him being a union man. Ha. And, as far as your father being wrong, I think we're all short sighted about what's going to be important from our time, our generation.

[Stan H]

I would imagine that unions did not matter much to Slye,, as long as he got paid,,,he would probably have performed most anywhere.

You are correct about us all being short-sighted.

 

 

[Dieter]

Speaking of Road movies, I watched "Interstate 60: Episodes of the Road" the other day. It was a fantasy but non the less very good. I recognized a stretch of Highway 60 coming down from Top of the World to Superior and then later a scene that could have been shot up at the old Pinal City cemetery with Picket Post in the background. This prompted me to do a search on Mattie Earp's grave and and my joining this group.

[C. Neil]

"Ah, Arizona, where everyone is welcome as long as you are not a Mexican, an Indian, a black or an Okie, or a Democrat." Ha! That's classic, BBB.

[Gold Lady]

Although it's about a shorter road trip, Going Back To Bisbee by Richard Shelton is a fantastic read.

[Sue Cauhape]

I recall reading Blue Highways several years ago. About all I remember is that he referred to his marriage as 'the Indian Wars.'

[Neil Waring]

Blue Highways is one of my all time favorites. I have read it twice, fired from his college prof job and divorce papers on the same day, might not be a great life day but great story starter. I taught the book, Grapes of Wrath, many times in my 42 year teaching career, wonderful sad story. My parents lived through the Great Depression, glad I was a boomer.

[Kent Fevurly]

My grandmother, who passed away last spring at the age of 93, left Wisconsin in 1937 (age 18) and came by car to California with two friends.  She came by Route 66.  So when I saw Ford's Grapes of Wrath, I enjoyed it not only on its own merits, but because it allowed me a glimpse of what my grandmother saw as a teenager traveling to a new future.

[Sue Cauhape]

The ending of the book, Grapes of Wrath, is a mindblower. Can't wait, BBB, to hear how you reacted to it.

When I was home schooling my daughter, we read Grapes of Wrath. Quite a gritty novel for a fifth grader, but what a great way to teach history. Fiction may dance around the facts of an event, but there's no getting away from the grit of life in such stories.