The Grapes of Wrath (1940) When Darryl Zanuck was chosen as the executive producer for The Grapes of Wrath, eyebrows were raised. Zanuck, then head of Twentieth Century Fox, was considered politically conservative and therefore an odd choice as the executive producer (Ebert). In fact, Zanuck was nervous about the left-wing political views of the novel, and due to common "red-baiting," he sent a private investigator to Oklahoma in hopes of legitimizing the novel's contents (Levy). John Ford, also politically conservative, was hired as the film's director. Ford, who was not as concerned as Zanuck about the novel's liberal content said, "The whole thing appealed to me–being about simple people–and the whole story was similar to the famine of …show more content…
His use of lighting, or really lack thereof, shows the seemingly defeated attitude the people had during their difficult relocation. Once the Joads reach the government-run camp, however, you notice, along with the lift in spirits, brighter tones and lighter scenes are shot. While being such a brilliant piece of cinematography, the historical accuracy of the film has been called into question by many. For example, eastern Oklahoma was not majorly affected by the Dust Bowl as is assumed in the film. Also, land was not being taken by the banks as was portrayed. The land owners decided to take advantage of the technological farming advances and purchased tractors and other pieces of equipment. This eliminated the reliance on the tenant farmers and sharecroppers (The Dust Bowl). Another criticism to be found is the physical state of the migrants regarding their lack of food. Being in a depression, many critics say the actors should've reflected the starved state of the victims. Pictures however taken during the time period show a different story. In many of the photographs, their subjects look healthy or even more so when considering their predicament (The Dust