The Grapes of Wrath 1940 Based on John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize novel. Directed by John Ford (Academy Award Best Director). An unquestionable classic, this follows the Joad family during the Great Depression as they’re forced off an Oklahoma farm into successive migrant camps filled with starving, jobless, desperate travelers living in shanties or tents. Encountering agitators and strikes, a murder puts innocent Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) in prison. He comes out determined to fight for social reform. Bleak and wrenching. James Agee photography brought to life.
While the book ends with the downfall and break-up of the family, the film switches sequence order so that the Joads end up in a “good” camp provided by the government. Ah, Hollywood. Rent on Amazon Prime.
The Lady Eve 1941 Based on a story about a mismatched couple by Monckton Huffe called “Two Bad Hats.” Directed by Preston Sturges. Father and daughter con artists Colonel and Jean Harrington (Charles Coburn and Barbara Stanwyck) are sailing from Europe with the intention of swindling shy ornithologist Charles Pike (Henry Fonda), heir to the Pike Ale fortune. On his way home from a year up the Amazon, Charles doesn’t know what hit him, or rather who tripped him as the beautiful Jean profusely apologizes.
The grifter is surprised to like her bumbling mark and protects him from her father’s card machinations. Just when things are going well otherwise, Charles’s minder/valet Mugsy (William Demarest) gets suspicious and breaks them up. Jean is furious. She masquerades as “Lady Eve Sidwich,” niece of another con man near the Pike home in order to exact revenge. Though Mugsy tells him this is the same dame, Charles doesn’t believe she’d show up undisguised. Once again, Jean has him at her feet. They marry. It’s time to take advantage of him, but…The ending is sweet and clever.
Author Axel Madsen wrote, “The set was so ebullient that instead of going to their trailers between setups, the players relaxed in canvas chairs with their sparkling director, listening to his fascinating stories or going over their lines with him.” Results are effervescent. Rent on Amazon Prime.
The Big Street 1942 Based on the story “Little Pinks” by Damon Runyon. Directed by Irving Reis. Augustus Pinkerton II (Henry Fonda) is besotted with nightclub singer, Gloria Lyons (Lucille Ball). Pushed downstairs by jealous boyfriend Case Ables (Barton MacLane), she’s crippled, then penniless. At her request, Pinks takes her to Florida to recuperate. There, she reunites with another old (rotten) boyfriend, who rejects her when he discovers infirmity. Gloria’s great dream is to spend one last night in a gown bedecked with jewels.
Pink accomplishes the Cinderella experience (great scene) through robbery and blackmail, but it all comes out well in the end. Director Irving Reis was a novice; Ball’s co-star and ex-boyfriend Henry Fonda made her husband Desi Arnaz suspicious – he was frequently on set. Rent on Amazon Prime.
Mr. Roberts 1955 Directed by John Ford and Mervyn LeRoy. Towards the end of WWII, U.S. Navy cargo ship Reluctant (“The Bucket”) and her crew are stationed in the “backwater” areas of the Pacific Ocean. Hugely unpopular, Lt. Commander Morton (James Cagney) rules the ship with an iron hand. Lieutenant (junior grade) Douglas A. “Doug” Roberts (Henry Fonda) does what he can to shield the men while at the same time repeatedly requesting transfer into action. Because he’s so good at his job, Morton thwarts every effort.
Roberts’ roommate Ensign Frank Thurlowe Pulver (Jack Lemmon – Best Supporting Actor Academy Award) is expert at staying out of sight- the Commander doesn’t know he’s onboard. Roberts’ friend, “Doc” (William Powell), is a voice of dark reason. Eventually the loyal crew risks court- martial by helping the lieutenant get into the war. A grand film – in turn, wry and touching. With three directors, one uncredited (Joshua Logan), Ford’s issues with Fonda and Cagney and the first director’s subsequent withdrawal due to surgery, the shoot was less than smooth. Rent on Amazon Prime.
Fail Safe 1964 Based on the thriller by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler, the film describes how Cold War tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States lead to an accidental thermonuclear first strike. Not an uncommon nightmare, especially at the time. Directed by Sidney Lumet. When an off-course civilian airliner wanders into American airspace, an alert is sent, then cancelled. A computer error, however, causes an American bomber group to receive apparently valid orders for a nuclear attack on Moscow. The American president (Henry Fonda) attempts to recall and even shoot down the bombers. Results are disastrous. Harrowing.
With Dan O’Herlihy, Walter Matthau, Fritz Weaver, Edward Binns, Larry Hagman…In 2000, the novel was adapted into a black and white teleplay starring George Clooney, Richard Dreyfuss, and Noah Wylie. Rent on Amazon Prime.
12 Angry Men 1967 Adapted from a teleplay by Reginald Rose. Directed by Sidney Lumet. The trial of a poor 18 year-old accused of stabbing his father to death and its diverse jury – 12 men identified only by number until an exchange of dialogue at the very end. If found guilty, the defendant will receive a death sentence. Verdict must be unanimous. Henry Fonda plays Davis, Juror 8, a just, humane architect; initially the only one who questions evidence and votes “not guilty.”
Each jury member reveals himself in the claustrophobic back room where sequestered. Dramatic and fascinating. A remarkable ensemble also includes, in part, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, Ed Begley, Jack Warden.
Speaking at a screening of the film during the 2010 Fordham University Law School Film festival, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayer stated that seeing 12 Angry Men while she was in college inspired her to pursue a career in law. The film was selected as the second-best courtroom drama ever by the American Film Institute during their AFI’s 10 Top 10 list, just after To Kill a Mockingbird. Rent on Amazon Prime.
On Golden Pond 1981 Adapted from his play by Ernest Thompson. Directed by Mark Rydell. Elderly Ethel and Norman Thayer (Katharine Hepburn and Henry Fonda) have settled in to their traditional summer on “Golden Pond.” Norman is having memory problems and often talks about death, while Ethel endeavors to appreciate every day. Aware there’s little time left, their only child Chelsea (Jane Fonda) arrives with fiancé Bill (Dabney Coleman) and his son Billy (Doug McKeon) hoping for a healing visit. Despite Chelsea’s best efforts, Norman remains critical and distanced.
Chelsea and Bill leave Billy with his grandparents while they vacation abroad. The boy begins resentful, but develops a relationship with the old man. When his daughter returns, she observes the change in Norman and again tries to connect.
The play was purchased by Jane Fonda specifically for her father. This would be his last screen role. As it mirrored their actual estranged father/daughter relationship, the shoot was often highly fraught. Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn had not only never worked together but had never met prior to filming. Hepburn gifted the actor Spencer Tracy’s “lucky hat” which he wore on camera throughout. Rent on Amazon Prime or Free with HBO Trial. Fonda won his first Best Actor Oscar for the role, Hepburn, her fourth.
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