Which John Ford film starring Henry Fonda is based on a John Steinbeck novel?

The John Ford film starring Henry Fonda that is based on a John Steinbeck novel is The Grapes of Wrath. Released in 1940, the film adapts Steinbeck’s 1939 novel about the Joad family, Oklahoma sharecroppers forced westward during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl.

Fonda plays Tom Joad, an ex-convict who returns home and joins his family’s migration to California in search of work. The screenplay was written by Nunnally Johnson, while producer Darryl F. Zanuck guided the production for 20th Century-Fox. The film also features Jane Darwell, John Carradine, and Russell Simpson.

The movie was critically acclaimed and received seven Academy Award nominations. John Ford won Best Director, and Jane Darwell won Best Supporting Actress. Fonda was nominated for Best Actor but did not win. A frequent mix-up is assuming the film reproduces Steinbeck’s novel exactly: Ford’s adaptation follows the book’s central journey but changes important details, especially toward the ending. The title itself comes from the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” which Steinbeck used as a biblical and political image.