Henry Fonda is an Oscar-winning thespian who made a name for himself playing the affable, aw-shucks guy next door who at times becomes an unlikely hero, yet showed his range in a series of classic titles. Let’s take a look back at 25 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1905, Fonda first came to prominence as a Broadway star, moving to Hollywood in the mid-1930s. His first Oscar nomination as Best Actor came for John Ford‘s landmark “The Grapes of Wrath” (1940), adapted from John Steinbeck‘s novel about poor farmers during the Dust Bowl. As Tom Joad, a reformed killer turned union organizer, Fonda cemented his screen persona as the ordinary man standing up for what’s right. (“Wherever there’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there,” he says in his famous final speech.)
Surprisingly, he didn’t compete at the Oscars again for acting until 41 years later, when he earned his long overdue Best Actor prize for “On Golden Pond” (1981). (He did earn a Best Picture nomination as a producer on “12 Angry Men” in 1957, though his leading performance was overlooked.) His daughter, Oscar-winner Jane Fonda, optioned Ernest Thompson‘s play as a project for her and her father, and the central conflict about a retired professor sparring with his estranged child certainly played upon their real life relationship. As he was too sick to attend the ceremony, Jane accepted the award on his behalf. Fonda died shortly thereafter on August 12, 1982.
Fonda received an Honorary Oscar in 1981, just one year prior to clinching his sole competitive prize. He received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1978, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1979, a Special Tony in 1979 and the Cecil B. DeMille prize in 1980.
In addition to his Oscar success, Fonda won the Golden Globe and competed at BAFTA for “On Golden Pond.” Prior to that, he won the BAFTA and contended at the Globes as Best Actor for “12 Angry Men.” He earned a Tony as Best Actor in a Play for “Mister Roberts” in 1948, reprising the role in the 1955 film. He won a Grammy for “Great American Documents” (Best Spoken Word Album in 1977) and competed at the Emmys for his leading roles in “The Red Pony” (1973), “Clarence Darrow” (1975), and “Gideon’s Trumpet” (1980).
Fonda is the patriarch of a family of actors, including daughter Jane, son Peter Fonda, granddaughter Bridget Fonda, and grandson Troy Garity, proving that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Tour our photo gallery featuring “12 Angry Men,” ‘On Golden Pond,” “The Grapes of Wrath,” “The Lady Eve,” “My Darling Clementine” and more.
25. WAR AND PEACE (1956)
Directed by King Vidor. Screenplay by Bridget Boland, Robert Westerby, King Vidor, Mario Camerini, Ennio De Concini, and Ivo Perilli, based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy. Starring Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Mel Ferrer, Oskar Homolka, Anita Ekberg, Herbert Lom.
Tolstoy’s epic novel makes its way to the big screen in this lumbering, uneven adaptation. There’s certainly moments of brilliance in King Vidor’s movie about how Napoleon’s 1812 invasion of Russia affected the lives of two aristocratic families, particularly in the stunning battle sequences. Yet the human drama falters due to a lackluster script, which attempts to boil the complexities of a 1200-plus page book down to just three-and-a-half hours. Still, there’s no faulting the performances, especially Audrey Hepburn as Natasha Rostova and Fonda as Count Pierre Bezukhov. The film earned three Oscar nominations, including Best Director.
24. THE RETURN OF FRANK JAMES (1940)
Directed by Fritz Lang. Written by Sam Hellman. Starring Henry Fonda, Gene Tierney, Jackie Cooper, Henry Hull, John Carradine, J. Edward Bromberg, Donald Meek, Eddie Collins, George Barbier, Charles Tannen.
Fonda was second fiddle to Tyrone Power in Henry King’s 1939 western “Jesse James,” playing the notorious outlaw’s brother, Frank. Fritz Lang’s 1940 followup “The Return of Frank James” finds him taking center stage as he seeks revenge on his sibling’s killers, Bob and Charlie Ford (John Carradine and Charles Tannen). Lang’s unique brand of malice and misanthropy mixes well with Fonda’s everyman charms, creating a breezy popcorn entertainment with something interesting underneath. Gene Tierney makes her film debut as a reporter who wants to tell James’s story for her newspaper back East.
23. MIDWAY (1976)
Directed by Jack Smight. Written by Donald S. Sanford. Starring Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Toshiro Mifune, Robert Mitchum, Cliff Roberton, Robert Wagner, Edward Albert, Christina Kokubo.
Fonda teamed up with Charlton Heston for this stirring dramatization of the Battle of Midway, a major turning point in the fight for the Pacific during WWII. The film is at its best when focusing on its impressive battle sequences, aided by some stock war footage and stirring sound work (it was released in the now obsolete Sensurround). It falters, however, in its love story between Ensign Garth (Edward Albert), son of Navy Captain Matt Garth (Heston), and Haruko Sakura (Christina Kokubo), a Japanese girl living in Hawaii. Fonda, Glenn Ford, Robert Mitchum, and Toshiro Mifune embody the real-life admirals present during the harrowing fight.
22. YOURS, MINE AND OURS (1968)
Directed by Melville Shavelson. Screenplay by Mort Lachman and Melville Shavelson, story by Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn David, based on the book by Helen Beardsley. Starring Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda, Van Johnson, Tom Bosley.
“Yours, Mine and Ours” is that rare family film that’s got enough intelligence and wit to appeal to adults while satisfying their children’s short attention spans. Based on the autobiographical book by Helen Beardsley, it centers on a widowed Navy officer (Fonda) with ten children who falls in love with a widow (Lucille Ball) who has ten kids of her own. They decide to get married, moving their respective broods into one house. Though the child actors border on being mawkish, there’s a real chemistry between the two veteran stars, who engender great empathy in their quest for new love. A 2005 remake with Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo followed.
21. HOW THE WEST WAS WON (1963)
Directed by John Ford, Henry Hathaway, George Marshall. Written by James R. Webb. Starring Carol Baker, Walter Brennan, Lee J. Cobb, Andy Devine, Henry Fonda, Carolyn Jones, Karl Malden, Agnes Moorehead, Harry Morgan, Gregory Peck, George Peppard, Robert Preston, Debbie Reynolds, Thelma Ritter, James Stewart, Eli Wallach, John Wayne, Richard Widmark, narrated by Spencer Tracy.
There wasn’t a movie star alive in the early 1960s who didn’t make an appearance in “How the West Was Won,” a sprawling, lumbering epic tracing America’s Westward expansion. Divided into five sections — “The Rivers,” “The Plains,” “The Civil War,” “The Railroad,” and “The Outlaws” — it centers on a family during four generations from 1839 to 1889 who experience every landmark moment of history during that period. Fonda appears in “The Railroad” as buffalo hunter Jethro Stuart, a friend of the central brood. More famous for its scope than its content (it was one of only two fictional films shot in the three projector Cinerama process), it’s an impressive feat nonetheless. Oscars went to its screenplay, sound and editing.
20. THE LONGEST DAY (1962)
Directed by Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki. Screenplay by Cornelius Ryan, based on his book. Starring John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Eddie Albert, Curd Jurgens, Richard Todd, Richard Burton, Peter Lawford, Rod Steiger, Irina Demick, Gert Frobe, Edmond O’Brien, Kenneth More.
Fonda is one of many A-list celebrities crammed into this WWII epic that recounts the harrowing events of D-Day, told from the point-of-view of both the Allied and German soldiers. He plays Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., Assistant Commander of the 4th Infantry Division. Shot docudrama style in black-and-white and recreating the battle on a massive scale, “The Longest Day” set a high water mark for war epics to come. The film received a Best Picture Oscar nomination and won prizes for its cinematography and special effects.
19. THE TIN STAR (1957)
Directed by Anthony Mann. Screenplay by Dudley Nichols, story by Joel Kane and Barney Slater. Starring Henry Fonda, Anthony Perkins, Betsy Palmer, Michel Ray, Neville Brand, John McIntire.
Anthony Mann’s “The Tin Star” casts Fonda as a former sheriff turned bounty hunter who arrives in a small town with his latest kill, where he meets the inexperienced, recently installed lawman (Anthony Perkins). He decides to take the young man under his wing, teaching him the ways of the law and the ways of life. Shooting on a minimal budget, Mann relies on the interactions between its two leading men to create drama and tension. The film earned an Oscar nomination for its original screenplay.
18. YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE (1937)
Directed by Fritz Lang. Written by C. Graham Baker and Gene Towne. Starring Sylvia Sidney, Henry Fonda, Barton MacLane, Jean Dixon, William Gargan, ‘Chic’ Sale.
An early forerunner of film noir, “You Only Live Once” centers on an ex-convict (Fonda) who has trouble re-assimilating into society. He marries his girlfriend (Sylvia Sidney) and tries to go straight, but it’s not long before he’s wrongfully accused of a deadly bank robbery and sentenced to death. After breaking out of prison, he hits the road with his wife, but they find tragedy waiting for them. It’s hard to imagine “They Live By Night,” “Bonnie and Clyde,” and other lovers on the run dramas without this one, which was slashed by censors for its then-shocking violence. This was Fritz Lang’s second American feature (following 1936’s “Fury”).
17. ADVISE & CONSENT (1962)
Directed by Otto Preminger. Screenplay by Wendell Mayes, based on the novel by Allen Drury. Starring Henry Fonda, Charles Laughton, Don Murray, Walter Pidgeon, Peter Lawford, Gene Tierney, Franchot Tone, Lew Ayres, Burgess Meredith, Eddie Hodges, Paul Ford, George Grizzard, Inga Swenson.
Given our current political climate, a damning expose like 1962’s “Advise & Consent” feels almost quaint by comparison. Directed by Otto Preminger, it casts Fonda as the gravely-ill U.S. President’s (Franchot Tone) hand-picked nominee for Secretary of State. He faces stiff opposition during his Senate confirmation, lead by an idealistic young lawmaker (Don Murray). Accusations of Communism threaten to derail his nomination, until someone digs up dirt on Murray about a homosexual encounter from his past. Though overlong and slow in patches, the film still features first-rate performances from its all star cast, particularly Charles Laughton as a loquacious Dixiecrat.
16. THE FUGITIVE (1947)
Directed by John Ford. Screenplay by Dudley Nichols, based on the novel ‘The Power and the Glory’ by Graham Greene. Starring Henry Fonda, Dolores del Rio, Pedro Armendariz, J. Carrol Naish, Leo Carrillo, Ward Bond, Robert Armstrong, John Qualen.
Not to be confused with the Oscar-winning Harrison Ford thriller, “The Fugitive” is one of the lesser known entries in John Ford’s filmography. Yet this moody, atmospheric adaptation of Graham Green’s novel about a Catholic priest (Fonda) searching for refuge in a Mexican state where religion has been outlawed deserves a second look from fans of the director and star, who made eight films together. Shot on location in Mexico with a local crew, this is a small-scale, intimate thriller that grips you from the start and never lets go.
15. JEZEBEL (1938)
Directed by William Wyler. Screenplay by Clements Ripley, Abem Finkel, and John Huston, based on the play by Owen Davis. Starring Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, George Brent, Margaret Lindsay, Donald Crisp, Fay Bainter, Richard Cromwell, Henry O’Neill, Spring Byington, John Litel.
“Jezebel” was Warner Bros’s makeup gift to Bette Davis after she lost the coveted role of Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone with the Wind” (1939) to Vivien Leigh. Though it lacks the scope and scale of David O. Selznick’s legendary epic, William Wyler’s film nonetheless provides its star with one of her best roles (as witnessed by her Best Actress victory at the Oscars). She plays Julie Marsden, a headstrong Southern belle who loses her beau (Fonda) due to her bratty behavior. Fay Bainter won the Supporting Actress prize for playing Julie’s aunt, and the film competed in Best Picture.
14. MADIGAN (1968)
Directed by Don Siegel. Screenplay by Howard Rodman and Abraham Polonsky, based on the novel ‘The Commissioner’ by Richard Dougherty. Starring Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Inger Stevens, Harry Guardino, James Whitmore, Susan Clark, Michael Dunn, Don Stroud.
This simple, direct police procedural from Don Siegel casts Richard Widmark as Detective Daniel Madigan, a New York City homicide detective given 72 hours to catch a hoodlum wanted for murder. Fonda plays Commissioner Anthony X. Russell, who frequently reprimands Madigan and his partner (Harry Guardino). There’s nary a wasted moment in the film, which plants the seeds of Siegel’s “Dirty Harry” (1971) with Clint Eastwood. Widmark later reprised the role in a short-lived television series of the same name (which, when you see the movie, will seem rather odd).
13. DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK (1939)
Directed by John Ford. Screenplay by Sonya Levien and Lamar Trotti, based on the novel by Walter D. Edmonds. Starring Claudette Colbert, Henry Fonda, Edna May Oliver, John Carradine, Ward Bond.
“Drums Along the Mohawk” was John Ford’s first Technicolor feature, and it’s fascinating to watch him work with a vibrant color pallet for the first time. Set in the early pioneer days, it centers on a newlywed couple (Fonda and Claudette Colbert) who try to settle down in New York’s Mohawk Valley. But repeated Indian attacks and the impeding Revolutionary War upend their peaceful lives. Edna May Oliver earned an Oscar nomination for her supporting turn as a wealthy widow who invites the couple to live on her farm, as did the cinematography. This was one of two films Fonda made with the director in 1939, along with “Young Mr. Lincoln.”
12. THE WRONG MAN (1956)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Screenplay by Maxwell Anderson and Angus MacPhail, based on ‘The True Story of Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero’ by Anderson. Starring Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle.
The wrongfully accused man was a favorite protagonist of Alfred Hitchcock’s, and in “The Wrong Man,” he finds a true life story to scratch that narrative itch. Fonda stars as Manny Balestrero, a struggling jazz musician who needs money for his wife’s (Vera Miles) dental work. When he visits a life insurance company to borrow against her policy, he is mistaken for a man who has twice held them up and sent to prison. Robert Burks’s expressionistic, black-and-white cinematography creates a world that feels both nightmarish and authentic at the same time. This is Hitchcock stripped down, with the director shooting on location to capture the nitty-gritty of everyday life as opposed to the lush preciseness of his studio fare.
11. FORT APACHE (1948)
Directed by John Ford. Screenplay by Frank S. Nugent, based on the short story ‘Massacre’ by James Warner Bellah. Starring John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Shirley Temple, Victor McLaglen, Pedro Armendariz, John Agar.
The first of John Ford’s “cavalry trilogy” (followed by “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” and “Rio Grande”), “Fort Apache” creates such an authentic portrait of frontier life, you’d think you were transported back to the 1860s. Fonda gives one of his best performances playing against type as Lt. Col. Owen Tuesday, who is placed in charge of a U.S. cavalry post over the honorable veteran Capt. Kirby York (John Wayne). York soon finds himself at odds with Tuesday, who thirsts for glory and despises the local Native American tribe. Though the film gives the director an opportunity to explore some of the western’s darker themes, he still finds time for some laughter and romance in carefully observed vignettes.
10. THE OX-BOW INCIDENT (1943)
Directed by William A. Wellman. Screenplay by Lamar Trotti, based on the novel by Walter Van Tilburg Clark. Starring Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Mary Beth Hughes, Harry Morgan, Frank Conroy, Harry Davenport, Anthony Quinn, Francis Ford, William Eythe, Jane Darwell.
Fonda made a career out of playing ordinary men who stood up for what’s right, and that’s certainly the case with this tightly-wound western. Directed by William A. Wellman, “The Ox-Box Incident” centers on two drifters (Fonda and Harry Morgan) who arrive in a small town where a local rancher has been murdered and his cattle stolen. A posse is formed to track down the killers, and when they find three men in possession of the animals, it’s up to Fonda to keep them from getting lynched. This gripping, powerful indictment of mob justice earned an Oscar nomination in Best Picture (it’s only bid).
9. THE LADY EVE (1941)
Written and directed by Preston Sturges, based on the story ‘Two Bad Hats’ by Monckton Hoffe. Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn, Eugene Pallette, Martha O’Driscoll, William Demarest, Eric Blore.
Though he’s best known for his dramatic performances, Fonda proves himself a capable comedian with “The Lady Eve.” Directed by Preston Sturges (who created the greatest screwball comedies of the 1940s), it centers on a card shark (Charles Coburn) and his conniving daughter (Barbara Stanwyck) who set their sights on the lanky heir to a brewing fortune (Fonda) while on a cruise. Their plan falters when Stanwyck falls in love with her mark, but when he becomes wise to their scheme, she must find a way to win his heart back. Fonda remains the steady straight man as everyone else around him bounces off the walls, making for a wacky romance grounded in reality. An Oscar nominee for Monckton Hoffe’s original story.
8. FAIL SAFE (1964)
Directed by Sidney Lumet. Screenplay by Walter Bernstein and Peter George, based on the novel by Eugene Burdick and Henry Wheeler. Starring Henry Fonda, Dan O’Herlihy, Walter Matthau, Frank Overton, Larry Hagman, Edward Binns, Fritz Weaver.
This nail-biter from Sidney Lumet imagines a nightmare scenario in which the U.S. government must scramble when American planes are mistakenly sent to Moscow for a nuclear attack. Fonda headlines the all-star cast as the concerned President, who must make a fateful decision to avoid war. Lumet creates tension with his a gritty, claustrophobic style, making great use of dramatic closeups. “Fail Safe” had the misfortune of coming out months after “Dr. Strangelove” lampooned a similar situation, causing it to bomb (at the box office, that is). Yet both the comedic and dramatic interpretations have stood the test of time. A live TV remake with George Clooney followed in 2000.
7. YOUNG MR. LINCOLN (1939)
Directed by John Ford. Written by Lamar Trotti. Starring Henry Fonda, Alice Brady, Marjorie Weaver, Arleen Whelan, Eddie Collins, Pauline Moore, Richard Cromwell, Donald Meek, Judith Dickens, Eddie Quillan.
While he spent most of his career alternately exploring the fulfillment and the failure of the American dream, John Ford was never so optimistic about the country’s promise than he was in this biographical drama about the 16th U.S. President (Fonda). Yet rather than focus on his time in office, “Young Mr. Lincoln” centers on the soon-to-be-politician’s law career, as he defends two brothers falsely accused of murder. Though the courtroom scenes are a tad hokey (with a last minute reversal straight out of “Law & Order”), there’s a folksiness and sentimentality that speaks to our better angels, thanks in large part to Fonda’s beautiful, effortless performance. The film earned an Oscar nomination for Lamar Trotti’s script.
6. MISTER ROBERTS (1955)
Directed by John Ford and Mervyn LeRoy. Screenplay by Frank S. Nugent and Joshua Logan, based on the novel by Thomas Heggen and the stage play by Heggen and Joshua Logan. Starring Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, Jack Lemmon, Betsy Palmer, Ward Bond.
While the stage production of “Mister Roberts” brought Fonda a Tony Award, the film version wasn’t exactly a happy experience. Original director John Ford was fired midway through production following difficulties with his leading man, later to be replaced by Mervyn LeRoy. (Original stage director and screenwriter Joshua Logan helmed reshoots.) Despite the off-screen turmoil, the results speak for themselves. Fonda plays a Navy lieutenant desperate to join the action in WWII, yet can’t get his tyrannical captain (James Cagney) to sign his transfer papers. Lemmon won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar playing a sailor who’s desperate to avoid work. The film also earned nominations in Best Picture and Best Sound.
5. MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946)
Directed by John Ford. Screenplay by Samuel G. Engel and Winston Miller, story by Sam Hellman, based on the novel ‘Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal’ by Stuart N. Lake. Starring Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Linda Darnell, Walter Brennan, Tim Holt, Cathy Downs.
The story of Wyatt Earp’s legendary gunfight at the O.K. Corral has been told several times cinematically, but never so beautifully than in John Ford’s quiet, complex “My Darling Clementine.” Fonda plays the iconic marshal, who tries to bring law and order to the unwieldy town of Tombstone, AZ. While there, he falls in love with the beautiful Clementine (Cathy Downs) and partners up with the drunken, sickly Doc Holliday (Victor Mature) to battle the murderous Clanton gang, led by Walter Brennan. Yet the actual shootout is far from the main focus: instead, Ford creates a tender, romantic vision of the Old West, with Fonda as the steady center of a carefully-observed ensemble drama.
4. ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968)
Directed by Sergio Leone. Screenplay by Sergio Donati and Sergio Leone, story by Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci and Leone. Starring Claudia Cardinale, Henry Fonda, Jason Robards, Charles Bronson, Gabrielle Ferzetti, Woody Strode, Jack Elam, Lionel Stander, Paolo Stoppa, Frank Wolff, Keenan Wynn.
Considering Fonda’s screen persona was that of the friendly, aww-shucks guy next door, it’s truly striking to see him play such a bloodthirsty villain in Sergio Leone’s epic western. “Once Upon a Time in the West” is a sprawling, methodical story of a sadistic killer (Fonda) hired by a railroad baron to secure land from a wealthy widow (Claudia Cardinale). A desperado (Jason Robards) teams up with a mysterious, harmonica-playing stranger (Charles Bronson) to thwart his plans. It all comes down to an iconic final shootout between Fonda and Bronson, with extreme closeups tracking them as they circle each other, set to Ennio Morricone’s electric score. Filmed on a grand scale with expert period detail and a large cast, this is a high-water mark for its director and star, who proves he could be really good playing bad.
3. ON GOLDEN POND (1981)
Directed by Mark Rydell. Screenplay by Ernest Thompson, based on his play. Starring Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda, Doug McKeon, Dabney Coleman, William Lanteau.
Fonda clinched his long overdue Best Actor Oscar with “On Golden Pond,” which was also his final screen performance. This sweet, sentimental adaptation of Ernest Thompson’s play centers on retired professor Norman Thayer (Fonda) and his wife, Ethel (Katharine Hepburn), who make a yearly pilgrimage to their lakeside New England cottage. Their estranged daughter (Jane Fonda in a role that mirrors her own relationship with her father) arrives to celebrate her dad’s birthday, bringing along her fiancee (Dabney Coleman) and his son (Doug McKeon). As Norman bonds with the kid, his strained relationship with his own child begins to change. The film won additional Oscars in Best Actress for Hepburn (her fourth) and Best Adapted Screenplay for Thompson. Because the elder Fonda was too sick to attend the ceremony, his daughter, who optioned the play as a project for herself and her father, accepted on his behalf.
2. 12 ANGRY MEN (1957)
Directed by Sidney Lumet. Screenplay by Reginald Rose, based on his teleplay. Starring Henry Fonda, Martin Balsam, Ed Begley, Edward Binns, Lee J. Cobb, John Fiedler, Jack Klugman, E. G. Marshall, Joseph Sweeney, George Voskovec, Jack Warden, Robert Webber.
Of all the heroes Fonda played throughout his career, perhaps none was braver than the quiet, steadfast Juror #8 from “12 Angry Men.” Set within the confines of a single room (save for its opening and closing segments), it concerns 11 nameless jurors who are convinced that a young man is guilty of murder, and the one holdout who convinces them to consider his fate a little more carefully. Director Sidney Lumet is incredibly assured in his feature debut, using camera lens and lighting to create tension within the room. He’s aided by some mesmerizing performances, particularly Fonda as an ordinary man standing up to racial bigotry and judicial prejudice to save an innocent man. Fonda was a producer on the movie, which started as a teleplay by Reginald Rose (who adapted the script). The film earned Oscar nominations in Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Despite winning the BAFTA and competing at the Globes, Fonda was snubbed in Best Actor.
1. THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940)
Directed by John Ford. Screenplay by Nunnally Johnson, based on the novel by John Steinbeck. Starring Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, Shirley Mills, John Qualen, Eddie Quillan.
Fonda gives his career-best performance in this landmark adaptation of John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book. With “The Grapes of Wrath,” director John Ford created both a striking indictment of America’s failure to live up to its promise and an incredibly moving portrait of a poor Midwest family forced off their land during the Great Depression. They head to California in hopes of a better life, only to end up living in a migrant camp. Fonda engenders great sympathy as Tom Joad, the son who goes from reformed murderer to union organizer. Cinematographer Gregg Toland shoots in a documentary realism that matches the effortlessness of the actors. Oscars went to Ford and Jane Darwell’s supporting turn as Ma Joad. Fonda competed in Best Actor, but lost to James Stewart (“The Philadelphia Story”).
