THE MOVIEGOER

As a movie, "The Grapes of Wrath" has proved nearly as successful as the best-selling novel. And the credit is not all Steinbeck's. Much lies with producer Zanuck, who was willing to pour money into a social document of this sort, gambling on its box office appeal; with director John Ford, whose skill in recreating the stark reality of Steinbeck's situations and in preserving variety where repitition would have been easy, has made of the film more than the vehicle for a message; and with the actors--especially Jane Darwell, Ma Joad--whose performances are well-nigh jawless.

"The Grapes of Wrath" tells the now-familiar story of the Joads who, driven from their Oklahoma farm by storm and by a ruthless landlord, join the mass migration to California in the illusion that there they will find security. It has been impossible to include in a two-hour film all their adventures, and some of the most powerful are omitted in favor of the more dramatic. But on the whole, the selection of incidents, and their unification by a continuous thread of ideas, if not of action, is masterfully done; and the result is a rare combination of great entertainment and artistic triumph.