grapes and such

living in hollywood, i have the luxury of visiting fantastic theaters. from the arclight with it's famous cinerama dome, to the el capitan, chinese theater, and the egyptian.






i frequent all of these, and look forward to visiting some of the others around me. if you diligently read my blog (not that it's much to keep up with), you know that i recently went to the egyptian to watch the grapes of wrath.

the egyptian was built in 1922 as a 2000 seat theater and though it was shut down and finally renovated to 616 seats, it is still beautiful and continues to show important films.





now on to the film. john ford is one of my favorite directors. incredibly prolific, he directed over one hundred films from 1917-1966. probably his most famous and arguably his best, the grapes of wrath was a treat to see on the big screen. i had seen the film several times before, but never like this. i was also stoked to be able show it to my wife who had never seen it.

based on the famous steinbeck novel, and as most of us know it takes place during the depression in the dust bowl of oklahoma. henry fonda played tom joad, recently released from prison, returns home to find that his family has abandoned their home. he learns that everyone has been ordered off their land and they are now all refugees. the promise of jobs sends them to california. making the long journey with 10 people in the most dilapidated truck you can imagine.



watching this film proves my point that movies are always a different experience depending where it is seen. sitting in that theater knowing that it was once shown there in it's original run was such a wonderful feeling. one of the big differences is the impact of how tragic the film was. films from that ere have certain style of acting that some audience have trouble with, and even though i don't see them in that way, grapes or wrath seems to cut through any of that. it's a period of american history that hasn't been explored very much on film, and without being to preachy it really touches you and leaves you meditating on what you saw for the next few days. or maybe that's just me. all i'm saying is that theater got dusty a few times if you know what i mean.

grapes of wrath is a must see, and hopefully you will explore more of ford's films.