[Birds Twittering]
[Big Band: "A-Tisket A-Tasket"]
- When you be back, Roy? - Oh, in a couple of weeks.
- Don't do nothin' you wouldn't want me to hear about. - Oh! [Laughs]
- Well, so long! - So long!
How about a lift, mister?
- Can't you see that sticker? - Sure, I see it...
but a good guy don't pay no attention to what some heel makes him stick on his truck.
Well, scrunch down on the running board till we get around the bend.
[Engine Starts]
- Going far? - Nah, just a couple of miles.
I'd have walked 'er if my dogs wasn't pooped out.
- Looking for a job? - No. My old man's got a place... 40 acres.
He's a sharecropper, but we been there a long while. Oh.
- Been doin' the job? - Yeah.
I seen your hands.
You been swingin' a pick or a sledge. That's what makes them shiny.
I notice little things like that all the time.
Got a trade?
- Why don't you get at it, buddy? - Get at what?
You know what I'm talking about. You been goin' over me ever since I got in.
- Why don't you ask me where I've been? - I don't stick my nose in anybody's business.
- Nah, not much! - I stay in my own yard.
That big nose of yours has been goin' over me like a sheep in a vegetable patch.
Well, I ain't keepin' it a secret. I been in the penitentiary...
- Been there four years. Anything else you want to know? - You ain't gotta get sore.
- Go ahead. Ask me anything. - I didn't mean nothin'.
Me, neither. I'm just trying to get along without shoving anybody, that's all.
See that road ahead? That's where I get out.
You're about to bust a gut to know what I done, ain't you?
Well, I ain't a guy to let you down.
Homicide.
* Mm-mmm, He's my savior *
* Mmm, mmm, mmm, my savior *
* Mmm, mmm, mmm my savior now **
- Howdy, friend. - Howdy.
Say, ain't you young Tom Joad, old Tom's boy?
Yeah. I'm on my way home now. Well, I do declare.
I baptized you, son.
Ain't you the preacher?
Used to be. Not no more.
I lost the call.
But, boy, I sure used to have it.
I used to get an irrigation ditch so squirmin' full of repented sinners...
I'd pretty near drown half of'em.
But not no more.
I lost the spirit.
I got nothin' to preach about no more, that's all.
I ain't so sure of things.
I remember you preachin' a whole sermon...
walkin' around on your hands, shoutin' your head off.
Yeah, I remember. Went pretty good that way.
But that was nothin'.
Why, I preached a whole sermon once straddlin' the ridgepole of a barn... like this.
- You see that one? - No.
You didn't?
Oh.
Well, it's all gone, anyway.
You should've got yourself a wife.
Why, at my meetings, I used to get the girls a-glory-shoutin' till they about pass out.
Then I'd go to comfort 'em.
I'd always end up by lovin' 'em.
I'd feel bad and pray and pray, but it didn't do no good.
Next time, do it again.
I figured I just wasn't worth savin'.
[Chuckles] Pa always says you was never cut out for no preacher.
I never let one get by me if I could catch her. Have a snort?
But you wasn't a preacher!
A girl was just a girl to you.
To me, they's holy vessels.
I was savin' their souls.
I asked myself, what is this here called "Holy Spirit"?
Maybe that's love.
Why, I love everybody so much...
I'm fit to bust sometimes!
So maybe there ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue.
It's just what people does.
Some things folks do is nice and some ain't so nice.
And that's all any man's got a right to say.
Of course, I'll say a grace if somebody sets out the food...
but my heart ain't in it.
- Nice drinkin' liquor. - Yeah, it ought to be. That's factory liquor. Cost me a buck.
You been out travelin' around?
Oh, ain't you heard? It's been in the papers.
- No, I never. What? - I been in the penitentiary for four years.
Oh, excuse me for askin'.
[Exhales] I don't mind no more. I'd do what I done again.
Killed a guy in a dance hall. [Bottle Breaks]
We was drunk, he got a knife in me and I laid him out with a shovel.
Knocked his head plumb to squash.
- You ain't ashamed? - Nah. He had a knife in me...
That's why they only give me seven years. I got out in four... parole.
- Ain't seen your folks since? - No, but I aim to 'fore sundown.
And I'm gettin' excited about it too. Which way you goin'? Oh, it don't matter.
Ever since I lost the spirit, I'd...
it looks like I'd just as soon go one way as the other. I'll go your way.
- [Dog Barking] - Maybe Ma'll have pork for supper.
I ain't had pork but four times in four years... every Christmas.
I'll be glad to see your pa.
[Laughs] Last time I seen him was at a baptizin'.
He had one of the biggest doses of the Holy Spirit I ever seen.
Got to jumpin' over bushes, howlin' like a dog-wolf at moon time.
Finally, he picks hisself out a bush big as a piano.
And he lets out a squawk and takes a run at that bush.
[Howls]
Well, he cleared her...
but he busted his leg snap 'n two doin' it.
[Laughs] There was a travelin' dentist there and he set her...
and I give her a prayin' over...
but there wasn't no more Holy Spirit left in your pa after that.
[Wind Howling]
Listen. That wind's fixin'to do somethin'.
Sure, it is. Always is this time of year.
Ma?
Pa?
Ma?
Ain't nobody here? Something's happened.
You got a match?
They're all gone or dead.
- They never wrote you nothin'? - Nah, they wasn't people to write.
It's Ma's. She had 'em for years.
Used to be mine. I give it to Grandpa when I went away.
You reckon they're dead?
I never heard nothin' about it.
[Creaking]
[Man] Tommy?
- [Tom] Muley.! Where's my folks, Muley? - Why, they gone.
I know they're gone, but where they gone?
It's Muley Graves. You remember the preacher, don't you?
- I ain't no preacher anymore. - All right. You remember the man, don't you?
- Glad to see you again. - Glad to see you.
- Now, where are my folks? - They gone.
They gone to your UncleJohn's... the whole crowd of'em... two weeks ago.
But they can't stay there either, 'causeJohn's got his notice to get off.
Well, what happened? How come they got to get off?
We lived here 50 years, same place.
Everybody's got to get off.
Everybody's leavin', goin' out to California.
Your folks, my folks, everybody's folks.
Everybody except me. I ain't gettin' off.
Who done it?
- Listen. That's some of what done it. - [Wind Howling]
The dusters. They started it, anyways.
Blowin' like this year after year.
Blowin' the land away, blowin' the crops away... and blowin' us away now!
You crazy?
Some say I am.
- You want to hear how it happened? - That's what I'm askin' you, ain't it?
Well, the way it happens...
the way it happened to me...
a man come one day...
Fact of the matter, Muley, after what them dusters done to the land...
the tenant system don't work no more.
You don't even break even, much less show a profit.
Why, one man and a tractor can handle 12 or 14 of these places.
You just pay him a wage and take all the crop.
Yeah, but we couldn't do on any less than what our share is now.
Well, the children ain't gettin' enough to eat as it is.
And they're so ragged... [Scoffs]
We'd be ashamed if everybody else's children wasn't the same way.
I can't help that. All I know is I got my orders.
They told me to tell you to get off, and that's what I'm tellin' ya.
You mean get off my own land?
Now, don't go to blamin' me. It ain't my fault.
- Whose fault is it? - You know who owns the land...
The Shawnee Land and Cattle Company.
- And who's the Shawnee Land and Cattle Company? - It ain't nobody. It's a company.
They got a president, ain't they?
They got somebody that knows what a shotgun's for, ain't they?
Oh, son, it ain't his fault, because the bank tells him what to do.
All right, where's the bank?
Tulsa. And what's the use of pickin' on him?
He ain't nothin' but the manager, and he's half crazy hisself...
tryin' to keepin' up with his orders from the East.
- Then who do we shoot? - Brother, I don't know.
If I did, I'd tell you. I just don't know who's to blame.
Well, I'm right here to tell you, mister, there ain't nobody gonna push me off my land!
My grandpa took up this land 70 years ago!
My pa was born here! We was all born on it!
And some of us was killed on it!
And some of us... died on it.
And that's what makes it our'n... bein' born on it...
and workin' on it...
and dyin'... dyin' on it!
And not no piece of paper with writin' on it... [Sobbing]
- [Sniffling] - Well, what happened?
They come. They come and pushed me off.
- They come with the Cats. - The what?
The Cats. The Caterpillar tractors.
[Engines Rumbling]
And for every one of'em...
there was 10, 15 families throwed right out of their homes.
A hundred folks and no place to live but on the road.
The Rances, the Peterses, the Perrys, theJoads.
One right after the other, they got throwed out.
Half the folks you and me know throwed right out into the road.
The one that got me come, oh, about a month ago.
- Go on back! Go on back! - Tell 'em, Muley.
I'm warnin' you, go on back!
[Continues Shouting]
You come any closer and I'm gonna blow you right out of that Cat! I told you.!
Why, you'reJoe Davis's boy!
I don't like for nobody to draw a bead on me.
Then what are you doin' a thing like this for, against your own people?
$3.00 a day... that's what I'm doin' it for.
I got two little kids at home, my wife, my wife's mother.
Them folks got to eat. First and only, I think about my own folks.
What happen to other people... their own lookout.
Yeah, but you don't understand, son. This is my land!
Used to be your land. It's the company's now. Have it your own way, son...
but just as sure as you touch my house with that Cat...
I'm gonna blow you plumb to kingdom come!
You ain't gonna blow nobody nowhere.
First place, they'd hang you, and you know it.
For another, it wouldn't be two days 'fore they'd send another guy up here to take my place.
Now, go on! Get out of the way!
[Objects Crashing, Falling To Ground]
[Sighs] What was the use?
He was right, and there wasn't a thing in the world I could do about it.
Just, it don't seem possible, just gettin' throwed off like that.
The rest of my family set out for the West.
There wasn't nothing to eat, but I couldn't leave.
Somethin'just wouldn't let me.
So now I just wander around and sleep wherever I am.
I used to tell myself that I was lookin' out for things...
so that when the folks come back, everything'd be all right.
But I knowed it wasn't true.
There ain't nothin' to look out for...
and there ain't nobody ever comin' back.
They're gone!
And me, I'm just an old graveyard ghost.
That's all in the world I am!
Do you think I'm touched?
No.
You're lonely, but... you ain't touched.
Well, it don't matter.
If I'm touched, I'm touched, and that's all there is to it.
Thing I don't understand is my folks taking it.
Like Ma. I seen her nearly beat a peddler to death with a live chicken.
She aimed to go for him with the ax she had in her other hand.
She got mixed up, forgot which was which...
and when she got through with that peddler, all she had left was two chicken legs.
Just a... Just a plain, old graveyard ghost.
That's all.
She's settlin'.
What do you figure on doin'?
Ah, it's hard to say.
Stay here till morning. Go to UncleJohn's, I reckon.
After that, I don't know.
- [Vehicle Approaching] - Listen.
That's them... them lights.
Come on! Come on! We got to hide out.
Hide out for what? We ain't doin' nothin'.
Well, you're trespassing, Tom!
This ain't your land no more, and that's the superintendent with a gun. Come on!
Come on, Tom. You're on parole.
Muley!
All you got to do is hide and watch.
- Won't they come out here? - [Laughs] I don't think so.
- One came out once and I clipped him from behi... - Shh.
[Softly] Behind with-with a fence stake. They ain't bothered since.
He ain't here.
If anybody ever told me I'd be hiding out at my own place...
[Vehicle Departs]
[Dog Barking]
Lord, make us grateful for what we are about to receive for His sake. Amen.
I seen you. You ate durin' grace.
Just one little dab! Just one teeny little dab, that's all! Ain't he messy, though?
I seen him, gobblin' away like an old pig!
Why don't you keep your eyes shut durin' grace, you old...
What's it say again, UncleJohn?
It says, "Plenty of work in California. 800 pickers wanted."
Wait till I get to California!
I'm gonna reach up and pick me an orange whenever I want it!
Or some grapes! Now... Now-Now-Now, there's somethin' I ain't never had enough of.
I'm gonna get me a whole big bunch of grapes off of the bush...
and I'm gonna squash them all over my face...
and let the juice drain down off of my chin.
Praise the Lord for vittery!
M-M-M-Maybe I'll get me a whole washtub full of grapes...
and just sit in 'em and scrounge around in 'em until they're all gone.
[Chuckles] I sure would like that.
Yes, sir, I sure would like that. Yeah.
Oh, thank God! Thank God!
Tommy.!
Ma.
Oh! [Sighs]
You didn't bust out, did you? You ain't gotta hide, have ya?
No, Ma, I'm paroled. I got my papers.
Oh. I was so scared we was goin' away without you...
and we'd never see each other again.
I'd have found you, Ma.
Muley told me what happened.
You goin' to California true?
Oh, we got to go, Tommy, but it's gonna be all right.
I seen the handbills about how much work they is and high wages too.
There's somethin' I gotta find out first, Tommy.
Did they hurt you, son? Did they hurt you and make you mean mad?
- Mad, Ma? - Sometimes they do.
No, Ma. I was at first, but not no more.
Sometimes they do somethin' to you.
They hurt you and you get mad and then you get mean.
Then they hurt you again and you get meaner and meaner...
till you ain't no boy nor man anymore...
just a walkin' chunk of mean mad.
Did they hurt you that way, son?
No, Ma, don't worry about that.
Well, l... I don't want no mean son.
- It's Tommy! It's Tommy back! - [Girl] Tommy.!
- What'd you do, son, bust out? - * Tommy's out of jail *
- * Tommy's out of jail, Tommy's out of... ** - l... I knowed it!
You couldn't keep him in! You can't keep a Joad in jail!
I knowed it from the first!
Get out of my way! I told you so! I told you!
Tom'd come bustin' out of that jail just like a bull through a corral fence!
- You can't keep a Joad in jail! - I didn't bust out. They paroled me.
L-I was that way myself.
How are you, UncleJohn?
- Hello, Tommy. I'm feelin' fine. - You can't keep a Joad in jail.!
- How are you, Noah? - Fine, Tommy.
- Bust out? - No, paroled.
- Hello. - Tommy!
- [Chuckles] - [Horn Honks]
The jailbird's back! The jailbird's back!
Tommy's back! Tommy's back!
[Grandpa Shouting, Indistinct] Jailbird's back!
- Hiya, Al.! - Hello, Tom. Did you bust out of jail?
- Nah. They paroled me. - Aw...
Rosasharn!
Busted out!
That's Connie Rivers with her. They're married now.
She's due now about three, four months.
She wasn't any more than a kid when I went up.
- Hi, Rosasharn. - How are you, Tom?
Uh, this is Connie, my husband.
- Did you... - I'm on parole.
Eh, if this don't beat all. I see I'm gonna be an uncle soon.
- Oh, you do not! - [Laughing]
- Here you go! - Look at the front!
[All Teasing]
[Horn Honks]
Hey, Joad! John Joad!
- You ain't forgot, have you? - We ain't forgot.
We'll be comin' through here tomorrow, you know.
I know. We be out.
We be out by sunup.
How'd you get all this money?
We sold things, chopped cotton... even Grandpa.
Got us about $200, all told.
Shucked out 75 for this here truck.
Still got nearly 150 to set out on.
I figure we ought to be able make her on that.
Easy. After all, they ain't but about 12 of us, is they?
- She'll probably ride like a bull calf, but she'll ride! - Tom.!
Well, I reckon we better begin roustin' 'em out...
if we aim to get out of here by daylight.
- How about it, John? How are you boys comin'? - All right.
[Laughs]
[Tom] Ma.!
I'm ready.
Rosasharn, honey, wake up the children! We're fixin' to leave.
Ruthie, Winfield, jump up, now.
- [Indistinct] - Where's Grandpa? Al, go get him.
I'm gonna get up front. Somebody help me.
- Wait a minute... - Somebody help me.
- * We're going to California * - Here kids. Kids, you climb up on top.
Al's gonna drive, Ma. You set up there with him and Grandma, and we'll swap around later.
- Where we go, Pa? - Connie, help Rosasharn up there alongside the kids.
- * We're going to California We're going to California - Where's Grandpa?
- Grandpa! - Where he always is, probably. [Laughs]
Oh!
Grandpa! Grandpa!
Well, save my place. John, you and Noah climb up and find yourself a place.
Got to kind ofkeep her even all around.
[Squeaks, Creaks]
Think it'll hold?
If it does, it'll be a miracle out of scripture.
- Ma.! Pa.! - [Muttering]
Darn ya! Let... [Mumbling]
- You little... - There's somethin' the matter with Pa. [Indistinct]
- Stand still! - There's somethin' wrong with him!
Chicken! You heard... [Mumbling]
[Muttering]
Should've left me alone, that's all. That's all wh...
- What's the matter, Grandpa? - [Mumbles]
What's the matter? There's nothin' the matter.
I just... I just ain't goin', that's all.
What do you mean, you ain't goin'? We got to go. We got no place to stay.
I ain't talkin' about you! I'm-I'm talkin' about me!
I give her a good goin' over all last night, and I'm a-stayin'.
But you can't do that, Grandpa!
This here land's goin' under the tractor. We all got to get out.
All except me, and I'm stayin'.
- What about Grandma? - Take her with ya!
- [Laughs] - Who'd cook for you, Grandpa? How you gonna live?
Muley's livin', ain't he?
And I'm twice the man that Muley is!
Now, listen to me, Grandpa. Listen to me just a minute.
And I ain't listenin', either!
I's told you what I was gonna do...
and I don't give a hoot and a holler...
if there's oranges and grapes a-crowdin' a feller out of bed!
I ain't goin' to California! [Muttering]
This is my country, and I belong here! Yes, my...
my dirt. [Chuckles]
It's no good, but it's... it's mine, all mine.
Either we gotta tie him up and throw him in the truck or somethin'. He can't stay here.
No, can't tie him. Either we'll hurt him, or he'll get so mad he'll hurt hisself.
- Reckon we could get him drunk? - Ain't no whiskey, is there?
Now, wait. They's a half a bottle of soothin' syrup here.
Here. Used to put the children to sleep.
- Don't taste bad. - There's some coffee left. We can fix him a cup.
That's right, and douse some in it.
Better give him a good dose. He's mighty muleheaded.
If Muley...
If Muley can scrabble along, l...
I guess I can.
I smell spareribs.
Huh. Somebody's been eatin' spareribs.
How come I ain't got none? Well, I got some saved for you, Grandpa. Got some a-warmin' now.
- Eh? - But here's a cup of coffee for you first.
[Mumbles] Uh, get me a mess of spareribs.
I want a great big mess of spareribs!
I'm-I'm hungry.
Why, sure, you're hungry.
[Chuckles] I sure do like spareribs.
Yeah.
- Get up there, Noah. - Put his feet in there first, now.
- [Squealing, Laughing] - Lend a hand. Easy, now. Easy!
Better throw somethin' over him so he won't get sunstruck. [Indistinct]
Everything all set now? All right! Let her go, Al!
- Here we go! - [All Chattering]
- Get aboard, Ma! - [Grandpa Mumbling]
- Well, good-bye and good luck. - Hold it, Al!
- Ain't you goin' with us? - I'd like to.
There's somethin' goin' on out there in the West...
and I'd like to try and learn what it is...
if you feel you got the room.
- Mmm. - Plenty of room! Get on!
- Hop on, Casy! - Let her go, Al!
- California, here we come! - You kids... [Shouting]
[Wind Howling]
Ain't you gonna look back, Ma? Give the old place a last look?
We're goin' to California, ain't we? All right, then, let's go to California.
That don't sound like you, Ma. You never was like that before.
I never had my house pushed over before.
Never had my family stuck out in the road...
never had to lose everything I had in life.
[Horn Honking]
- [Sobbing] I ain't goin'. - It's gonna be all right, Grandpa.
- That's good right there, Ma. - I ain't goin'! I ain't goin'.
I ain't goin'. I ain't... I ain't a-goin'.
It's all right, Grandpa.
You're just tired, that's all.
That's it... just tired.
Just... tired.
[Sighs]
"This here is William James Joad, died of a stroke.
"Old, old man.
"His folks buried him because they got no money...
to pay for funeral..."Sss...
"Nobody killed him. Just a stroke and he died."
Figure best we leave something like this on him...
- unless somebody digs him up, makes out he was killed. - Hmm.
Looks like a lot of times the government's got more interest...
in a dead man than a live one.
Not be so lonesome, knowin' his name's there with him.
Not just an old fella lonesome underground. [Sighs]
Won't you say a few words, Casy?
I ain't a preacher no more, you know.
We know, but ain't none of our folks ever been buried without a few words.
I'll say 'em, make it short.
This here old man just lived a life and just died out of it.
I don't know whether he was good or bad.
It don't matter much.
Heard a fella say a poem once...
and he says, "All that lives is holy."
Well, I wouldn't pray just for an old man that's dead, 'cause he's all right.
If I was to pray, I'd pray for folks that's alive and don't know which way to turn.
Grandpa here, he ain't got no more trouble like that.
He's got his job all cut out for him, so...
cover him up and let him get to it.
[Sobbing]
[Horn Honking]
[Chattering]
* I'm goin' down the road feelin' bad *
* Oh, Lordy *
- *I ain't a-gonna be - [Giggling] *A-treated this a-way
* They fed me on corn bread and beans
Huh. Gosh.
Connie sure sings pretty, don't he?
* Oh, Lordy
* I ain't a-gonna be a-treated this a-way **
- That's my son-in-law. - Sings real nice.
- What state you all from? - Oklahoma.
Had us a farm there, sharecroppin'.
We're from Arkansas.
Had me a store there... kind of a general notions store.
When the farms went, the stores went too.
I had as nice a little store as you ever saw.
I sure did hate to give it up.
Well, you can't tell.
I figure when we get out there and get work...
and maybe get us a piece of growin' land near water, it might not be so bad at that.
That's right. Payin' good wages, I hear.
- [Man] We can all get work. - Can't be no worse than home.
You all must have a pot of money. No, we ain't got no money...
but there's plenty of us to work, and we're all good men.
Get good wages out there and put it all together, and we'll be all right.
Good wages, eh? Pickin' oranges and peaches?
- Well, we aim to take whatever they got. - What's so funny about that?
[Laughs] What's so funny about it? I've just been out there. I've been and seen it.
I'm goin' back and starve, because I'd rather starve all over at once.
Say, what do you think you're talkin' about?
I got a handbill here says they're payin' good wages.
And I seen the papers that they need pickers.
All right, go on. Nobody's stoppin' ya.
- Yeah, but what about this? - I ain't gonna rile ya. Go on.
What a minute, buddy. You just done some jackassin'. You can't shut up now.
The handbill says they need 800 pickers.
You laugh and say they don't. Which one's the liar?
How many of you all got them handbills?
- I got one. - Come on. How many?
- [Men] I got one. - We all got one.
What does that prove? There you are... same yellow handbill.
"700 pickers wanted."
All right. The man wants 700 men...
so he prints 5,000 handbills, and maybe 20,000 people see them...
and maybe two or three thousand people start west on account of that handbill.
Two or three thousand people that are crazy with worry...
heading out for 700 jobs.
- Now, does that make sense? - Say, what are you, a troublemaker?
You sure you ain't one of them labor fakes? L... I swear I ain't, mister.
Well, don't you go around here trying to stir up any trouble.
I tried to tell you folks what it took me a year to find out.
Took two kids dead, took my wife dead to show me...
but nobody could tell me, neither.
I can't tell you about them little fellas layin' in their tent...
with their bellies swelled out and just skin over their bones...
a-shiverin'and a-whinin'like pups.
And me a-runnin'around lookin'for work... not for money, not for wages...
just for a cup offlour and a spoon oflard.
Then the coroner come.
"Them children died of heart failure," he said. He put it down on his paper.
Heart failure?
And their little bellies stuck out like a pig bladder?
Well, guess we gotta get some sleep.
Well, good night, folks.
Suppose he's tellin' the truth, that fella?
He's tellin' the truth...
the truth for him.
He wasn't makin' it up.
Was it the truth for us?
I don't know.
[Whistle Blowing]
- [Grandma] I got to get out. - Okay.
I got to get out now.!
- You folks aim to buy anything? - We want some gas, mister.
- Got any money? - What do you think? We're beggin'?
I just asked, that's all.
Well, ask right. You ain't talkin' to bums, you know.
All in the world I done was asked.
- What kind of pie you got? - Banana cream, pineapple cream...
chocolate cream and apple.
Cut me off a hunk of that banana cream. And a cup of java.
- Make it two. - Two it is.
- Seen any good etchings lately, Bill? - [Laughs]
Well, this one ain't bad. A little kid comes late for school, and the teacher says...
Cheese it.
Could you see your way clear to sell us a loaf of bread, ma'am?
This ain't a grocery store. We got bread to make sandwiches with.
I know, ma'am. Only it's for an old lady, no teeth.
Got to soften it with water so she can chew it. And she's hungry.
Why don't you buy a sandwich? We got nice sandwiches.
Well, l... I sure would like to do that, ma'am...
but the fact is, we ain't got but a dime for it.
It's all figured out... I mean, for the trip.
You can't buy no loaf of bread for a dime. We only got 15-cent loaves.
- Give him the bread. - We'll run out 'fore the bread truck comes!
All right! Then we run out!
- This here's a 15-cent loaf. - Well, would you...
Could you see your way to cuttin' off ten cents' worth?
- Give 'im the loaf. - No, sir.
We want to buy ten cents' worth, that's all.
Go on. It's yesterday's bread.
Go ahead. Bert says to take it.
Well, may sound funny bein' so tight...
but we got a thousand miles to go...
and we don't know if we'll make it.
[Register Rings]
- Eh, is them penny candies, ma'am? - Which ones?
- There, them stripy ones. - Oh, them?
Well, uh, no.
- Them's two for a penny. - Uh, give us two then, ma'am.
Go on, take 'em. Take 'em.
Thank you, ma'am.
Them ain't two-for-a-cent candy.
- What's it to you? - Them's a nickel apiece candy.
We'd better get goin'. We're droppin' time.
- So long. - Hey, wait a minute. You got change comin'. What's it to you?
Bert.
Look.
Truck drivers.
- Where you going? - California.
- How long you plan to be in Arizona? - No longer than to get across.
- Got any plants? - No. No plants.
Okay. Go ahead, but keep movin'. We aim to.
[Engine Starts]
[Dog Barking]
[Bleating]
Well, there she is, folks. The land a milk and honey...
California.
Well, if that's what we come out here for...
Well, Connie, maybe it's nice on the other side.
Them little picture postcards, they was real pretty.
There, Grandma. There's California.
[Spits]
Let's get goin'. She don't look so tough to me, eh, John?
Well, I don't know.
[Engine Starts]
- [Women Screaming] - [Tom] Hold on.
Ain't too cold is she, Tom?
No. It's fine when you get in, Pa!
Come on, John. Let's give her a whirl.
You know, this is supposed to be good for ya, John.
- Come on, Pa, before she floats away! - Here we come!
[Laughing]
- You people got a lot of nerve. - What you mean?
Crossin' the desert in a jalopy like this.
- You been across? - Sure, plenty, but...
never in no wreck like that.
If we break down maybe somebody'd give us a hand.
Well, maybe. But I'd hate to be doin' it. Takes more nerve than I got.
It don't take no nerve to do somethin' ain't nothin' else you can do. Hope she holds.
[Traffic Passing]
[Weakly] Grandpa.
I want Grandpa.
Oh, don't you fret now.
Oh, there.
- Don't you fret now, Grandma. - [Engine Cranking]
- [Engine Revs] - Everybody set back there?
- Yep. - All right, here we go!
Thank ya very much.
Holy Moses, what a hard-lookin' outfit.
All them Okies is hard-lookin'.
Boy, but I'd hate to hit that desert in a jalopy like that.
You and me got sense. Them Okies got no sense or no feelin'.
They ain't human. No, a human being wouldn't live way they do.
Human bein' couldn't stand to be so miserable.
Just don't know any better, I guess.
What a place!
How'd you like to walk across her?
People done it. If they could, we could.
Lots must a died too.
Well, we ain't outta it yet.
- This here's the desert, and we're right in it! - I wish it was day.
Tom says if it was day, it'd cut the gizzard right out a ya.
I seen a picture once, and there was bones everywhere.
- Man bones? - Uh, some, I guess, but mostly cow bones.
I sure would like to see some of them man bones. [Clicks Tongue]
[Labored Breathing] Grandpa.
- I want Grandpa. - Yes.
Now, everything's going to be all right.
We got to get across, Grandma.
- The family's got to get across. - [Moaning]
There.
It seems like we wasn't never doin' nothin' but movin'.
- I'm tired. - Women is always tired.
You ain't... You ain't sorry, are you, honey?
No, but...
But you seen that advertisement in the Spicy Western Story magazine.
Don't pay nothin'. Just send 'em the coupon...
and you're a radio expert... nice clean work.
- But we can still do it, honey. - I ought to done it then...
not come on any trip like this.
- What's this here? - Agricultural inspection.
We got to go over your stuff. Got any vegetables or seed?
- No. - Well, we got to look over your stuff.
- You got to unload. - Unload?
Holy Moses.
Sorry, folks, but you'll have to get out while we unload for inspection.
Oh, look, mister. We got a sick old lady.
We got to get her to a doctor. We can't wait! You can't make us wait!
- Yeah? Well, we got to look you over. - I swear we ain't got anything.
I swear it. And Grandma's awful sick.
Look.
You wasn't foolin'.
- You swear you got no fruit or vegetables? - No, I swear it.
Then go ahead. You can get a doctor at Barstow. That's just eight miles.
But don't stop. Don't get off. Understand?
- Thanks. - Okay, cap. Much obliged. Thanks.
Ma! Grandma! Look!
There she is! There she is!
- I never knowed there was anything like her! - Will ya look at her! Lookee yonder, John.
Look how pretty and green it is, Winfield.!
- Wonder if them's orange trees, John. - Look like orange trees to me.
- Well, they sure are pretty, whatever they are. - Oh, yes indeed. [Chuckles]
Look at them haystacks.! I bet we could sure have fun playin'over there.
Pretty, ain't it? Mighty pretty. [Chuckles]
Where's Ma? I want Ma to see this.
- Look, Ma! Come here, Ma! - [Children Shouting]
- You sick, Ma? - You say we got across?
- Look! - Oh, thank God!
And we're still together... most of us.
Didn't you sleep none?
- Was Grandma bad? - Grandma's dead.
When?
Since before they stopped us last night.
That's why you didn't want 'em to look, huh?
Well, I was afraid they'd stop us and we wouldn't get across.
I told Grandma. I told her when she was dyin'.
I told her the family had to get across.
I told her we couldn't take no chance on bein' stopped.
[Takes Deep Breath]
So it's all right.
She'll get buried where it's nice and green...
and trees and flowers all around and...
She got to lay her head down in California after all.
[Horn Honking]
- Whoa. That's good. - [Whistle Blows]
How far you figure you're gonna get that way, pushin'?
Right here. We run outta gas.
Where's the best place to get work around here?
- Yeah. - Don't matter what kind either.
Yeah, well, if I seen one a them things, I seen 10,000 of'em.
- Well, ain't it no good? - Not here. Not now.
There was some pickin' around here about a month ago... but it's all moved south.
Hey, what part of Oklahoma you from anyhow?
- Sallisaw. - Sallisaw?
Why, I come out from Cherokee County myself about two years ago.
- Cherokee County? Gee! - No foolin'!
- [Overlapping Chatter] - Why, Connie's folks here are from Cherokee County.
- Well, you don't say! - [Excited Chatter]
All right! All right! Let's don't go into it.
What I got to tell ya is this.
Don't try to park in town tonight. Just go right on out to that camp.
If I catch ya in town after dark, I got to lock ya up.
- But-But what we gonna do? - Well, Pop, that just ain't up to me.
I don't mind tellin' you, the guy they ought to lock up...
is the guy that sent them things out.
[Horn Honking]
How many, folks?
One.
[Barking]
Sure don't look none too prosperous.
Want to go somewhere's else? On a gallon of gas?
Let's set up the tent, and maybe I can fix some stew.
I could break up some brush if you want me, ma'am.
You want to be asked to eat, don't ya?
- Yes, ma'am. - Didn't ya have no breakfast?
No, ma'am. There ain't no work hereabouts.
Pa's in tryin' to sell some stuff to get gas so's we can get along.
Didn't none of these have no breakfast?
I did. Me and my brother did.
- We et good. - Well, you ain't hungry then, are ya?
We et good.
Well, I'm glad some of ya ain't hungry...
because there won't be enough to go around.
Aw, he was braggin'. Know what he done?
Last night, come out and say they got chicken to eat.
Well, sir, I looked in whilst they was a-eatin'...
and it was fried dough just like everybody else.
Ma, how 'bout it?
Well, I don't know what to do.
I've got to feed the family, and what am I gonna do about all of these here?
Give this to Ruthie.
Yeah.
There you are, John.
Here, Tom. You take it. I ain't hungry.
- What do ya mean? You ain't et today. - I know.
But I got a stomachache. I ain't hungry.
- Take that plate in the tent, and you eat it. - Wouldn't be no use.
I'd still see them in the tent.
You git. Go on now, git!
You ain't doin'no good. They ain't enough for youse anyway.
Go on... now.
We can't send 'em away.
Here. Take your plates and go inside.
Now, look, all you little fellers.
You each go and get ya a nice flat stick...
and I'll put what's left for ya, huh?
Now, git!
I don't know whether I'm doin' right or not.
Get inside! Get inside everybody, and stay inside.
Lady's gonna feed us! Get yourself a tin can!
- [Excited Chatter] - [Child] Aw, you're takin'too much. [Chatter Continues]
[Horn Honking]
You men want to work?
Sure, we want to work. Where's it at?
Tavares County. Fruit's openin' up.
- Need a lot of fruit pickers. - You doin' the hirin'?
Well, I'm contractin' the land.
- What ya payin'? - Well, can't tell exactly yet.
- About 30 cents, I guess. - Why can't you tell?
- You took the contract, didn't you? - That's true.
But it's keyed to the price. Might be a little more, might be a little less.
All right, mister. I'll go.
You just show us your license to contract...
then you make out a order... where and when and how much you gonna pay...
- and you sign it, and we'll go. - Now, listen, smart guy.
I'll run my business my own way.
I got work. If you want to take it, okay. If not, just sit here, that's all.
Twice now, I fell for that line.
Maybe he needs a thousand men.
So he get's 5,000 there, and he'll pay 15 cents an hour.
And you guys'll have to take it, because you'll be hungry.
If he wants to hire men, let him write it out and say what he's gonna pay.
Ask to see his license.
He ain't allowed by law to contract men without a license. Hey, Joe.
Agitator.
Ever see this guy before?
Seems like I have.
Seems like I seen him hangin' around that used car lot that was busted into.
Yep, that's the fella. Get in this car.
- You got nothin' on him. - Open your trap again, and you'll go too.
Now, you fellas don't want to listen to troublemakers.
You better pack up and come on up to Tavares County. Come on, you.
- [Cries Out] - [Women Screaming]
- [Car Engine Starting] - [Woman Wailing]
Gimme that gun.
Now get out of here. Go down in the willows and wait.
- I ain't gonna run. - Why, the-the sheriff, he's seen ya, Tom!
You want to be fingerprinted? Do you want to get sent back for breakin' parole?
- I guess you're right. - Hide in the willows.
If it's all right for you to come back, I'll give you four high whistles.
[Siren Wailing]
- What's going on here? - Oh, this man of yours, he got tough, so I hit him.
Then he started shootin'... hit a woman there... so I hit him again.
Well, what did you do in the first place?
I talked back.
This the fella that hit you?
- Well, it looked like him. - Oh, it was me, all right.
You just got smart with the wrong fella.
Get in that car!
[Gasping For Breath]
This lady's bleeding to death.
Boy, what a mess them.45s make.
Better get the doc.
[Siren Blaring]
- Al? - You can come in now, Tom.
- You got to get out of here right away. - What's the matter?
Guy down in the willows was tellin' me some of them poolroom fellas...
figurin' on burnin' the whole camp out tonight.
We got to get the truck loaded. Ma? Pa?
What you doin' with the jack handle, Ma?
- Oh, she just got sassy, that's all. - Al was fixin' to run away.
Well, we'll sort that out later. Right now we got to hustle.
- Where's Connie? - Well, Tom, he's gone.
He lit out this evenin'. Said he didn't know it was gonna be like this.
Glad to get shed of him. Never was no good and never will be.
- Pa! Shh! - How come I got to shh? Run out on us, didn't he?
Cut it out, Pa. Help Al with the truck.
Some of the fellas in town are gonna burn out the camp tonight.
- [Gasps] - Wha...
[Sobbing]
Aw, don't fret, honey. You'll be all right.
[Sobbing, Sniffling]
Tom, I just don't feel like nothin' at all.
Without him, I just don't want to live.
Aw, he'll be back.
We'll leave word for him. Just don't you worry.
[Dog Barking]
- Get up there... [Shouting, Indistinct] - [Engine Revving Loudly]
Ma. Maybe...
Maybe Connie gone to get some books to study up with.
He gonna be a radio expert, ya know.
Maybe he figured to surprise us.
Maybe that's just what he done.
- Ma, they comes a time when a man gets mad. - You told me...
- You promised me you wasn't like that, Tom. - Ma. I'm a-tryin' to.
If it was the law they was workin' with, maybe we could take it. But it ain't the law!
They're workin' away at our spirits. They're tryin' to make us cringe and crawl...
- workin' on our decency. - You promised, Tom.
I know. I'm a-tryin' to, Ma. Honest I am.
You gotta keep clear. The family's a-breakin' up.
- You've got to keep clear! - What's that, a detour?
Tom don't! Please!
- [Pipe Clanks] - Just where do you think you're goin'?
Well, we're strangers here, mister.
We heard about there was work in a place called Tavares.
Yeah? Well, you're headin' the wrong way!
What's more, we don't want no more Okies in this town!
There ain't enough work here for them that's already here!
- Which way is it at, mister? - You turn right around and head north.
And don't you come back until the cotton's ready. You understand?
[Flat Tire Flapping]
Pa, let's try that other tire.
- You got another flat tire, Tom? - What, another one?
[Children Laughing]
- Pa, get that cheviot from back there. - All right.
[Groans]
Ma, will you get the hell off there? It's gonna be heavy enough.
[Grunts] All right.
I tell ya, somethin's got to happen soon.
We're down to our last day of grease and...
two days of flour and... ten potatoes.
- [Horn Honking] - And Rosasharn.
We got to remember, she's gonna be due soon.
- Morning! - Good morning. - Morning.
You folks lookin' for work?
Mister, we're lookin' even under boards for work.
- Can you pick peaches? - We can pick anything.
Well, there's plenty of work for you about 40 miles up here, just this side of Pixley.
You turn east on 32. Look for the Keene Ranch.
- Tell 'em Spencer sent you. - Mister, we sure thank ya!
Yeah. Thank you.
- Come on, Ma! - [Gleeful Shouts]
[Sirens Blaring]
[Man Shouting, Indistinct]
[Cop Blowing Whistle]
- [Blowing Whistle] - [Al] What is it, a wreck?
- Where you think you're going? - Fella named Spencer sent us.
- Said there was work pickin' peaches. - Oh, you wanna work, huh?
- Sure do. - All right. Just pull up in line there.
Okay for this one! Take him through!
- What's the matter? What happened? - A little trouble up there...
but you'll get through all right.
- Go ahead! - Move it right there.
What do you think it is, a washout?
I don't know what these cops got to do with it, but I don't like it.
And these are our own people too, all of'em.
- I don't like this. - Get goin'. Stay in line.
Go on ahead.
What are ya, tryin' to do, be a scab?
Go on! Hurry up!
Come on, come on, come on.
Go on.
Up the street there.
Keep in line. Up the street.
[Man Shouts, Indistinct]
Hold it, bud.
- Want to work? - Sure, but what is this?
None of your business. Name.
- Joad. - How many men?
- Four. - Women?
- Two. - Kids?
- Two. - Can you all work?
- Sure, I guess so. - Okay. House 63.
Wages, five cents a box. No bruised fruit.
Move along. You go to work right away.
[Grunts]
Come on, honey. That's right.
- Name. - Joad.
- Say, what is all this here? - Joad? Not here.
- License? - [Man #2] Oklahoma. EL-204.
It don't check.
Now, you look here. We don't want no trouble with you.
Just do your own work and mind your business, and you'll be all right.
Sure do want to make you feel at home here, all right.
We gonna live here, Ma?
Why, sure. This won't be so bad once we get her washed out.
[Sucks Teeth] I like the tent better.
Why, this is got a floor!
Won't leak when it rains.
Here. This might come in handy.
- Name? - It's stillJoad.
- How many? - Six. You all go on.
Rosasharn and me will unload the truck.
[Birds Chirping Loudly]
- Any more of them hamburgers, Ma? - No, there ain't.
- You made a dollar, and that's a dollar's worth. - Dollar's worth? That?
Well, they charge extra at that company store, and there ain't no other place.
Well, I ain't full.
Well, tomorrow you'll get in a full day's work and a full day's pay.
And then, we'll all have enough.
You wouldn't think just reachin' up and pickin' would get you in the back.
Think I'll walk out and find out what all that fuss outside the gate was.
- Somebody come with me? - No. I think I'll set awhile then go to bed.
Think I'll look around and see if I can't meet me a girl.
- Girl? Hey, when I was your age... - Pa!
Thing's been workin' on me, what all that yellin' was about.
- Got me all curious. - Pick up, Winfield.
I'll be back in a little while.
Tom. Now, you be careful.
- Don't you go stickin' your nose in anything. - Okay, Ma. Don't worry.
Where do you think you're goin'?
I thought I'd take a walk. Any law against that?
Well, you can just turn around and walk back.
- You mean I can't even get out of here? - Not tonight you can't.
Now do you want to walk back...
or shall I whistle up some help and have you taken back?
I'll walk back.
[Frogs Croaking]
- Evenin'. - Who are you?
- Just goin' past, that's all. - Know anybody around here?
No. Just goin' past, I tell ya.
- Casy! - Well, if it ain't Tom Joad! Hiya, boy!
I thought you was in jail.
No. They just run me out of town. Come on in.
Tom Joad.
- Is this the fella you been talkin' about? - That's him.
- What are you doin' here, Tom? - Workin' pickin' peaches.
I heard some fellas shoutin' when we come in.
I come out to find out what's goin' on. What's it all about?
- This here's a strike. - Well, five cents a box ain't much, but a fella can eat.
Five cents? They payin' you five cents?
- Sure. We made a buck since midday. - Lookee, Tom... we come here to work.
They tell us there's gonna be five cents, but there's a whole lot of us...
so the man says 21/2 cents.
Well, a fella can't even eat on that, and if he's got kids...
So we says we won't take it, so they drive us off.
Now they're payin' you five cents.
But if they bust this strike, you think they'll pay five?
Don't know. Payin' five now.
They'll get 21/2 cents just the minute we're gone.
You know what that is...
one ton of peaches picked and carried for a dollar.
That way, you can't even buy enough food to keep you alive.
Tell 'em to come out with us, Tom. Them peaches is ripe!
Two days out and they'll pay us... pay us all five, maybe seven.
No, they won't. They're gettin' five now. That's all they care about.
But the moment they ain't strikebreakin', they won't get no five.
Next thing you know, you'll be out. They got it all fixed down to a T.
Well, soon as the harvest is in, you're a migrant worker. Afterwards, just a bum.
Five they're gettin' now, that's all they're interested in.
I know exactly what Pa would say. He'd just say it's none of his business.
Guess that's right. He'll have to take a beatin' before he'll know.
Take a beatin'? We was out of food!
Tonight we had meat. Not much, but we had it.
You think Pa's gonna give up his meat on... on account of some other fellas?
Rosasharn needs milk.
You think Ma's gonna starve that baby...
just on account of fellas yellin' outside a gate?
Tom, you gotta learn like I'm learnin'.
I don't know it right yet myself, but I'm tryin' to find out.
That's why I can't ever be a preacher again.
Preachers gotta know.
I don't know.
I gotta ask.
- I don't like it. - What's the matter?
I can't tell. It seems as though l-I hear somethin'.
Then when I listen, there ain't nothin' to hear.
Well, it ain't out of the question, you know.
We're all a little itchy. Cops been tellin' us how they're gonna beat us up.
Not them regular deputies, but them tin-shield men, the ones they got for guards.
[Chuckles] They figure I'm the leader 'cause I talk so much.
Turn out the light. Come outside. There's somethin' here.
- What is it? - I don't know. Listen.
Can't tell whether you hear it or not. You hear it, Tom?
I hear it.
I think it's some guys comin' this way, a lot of'em.
- We got to get out of here. - Down that way, under the bridge span.!
[Man] There he is, The one in the middle.! The skinny one.! Get him.!
Listen, you fellas, you don't know what you're doin'!
- You're helpin' to starve kids! - Ah, shut up, you dirty...
- You've killed him! - Serves him right too.
Look out!
Boy, he's good and dead. Did you see the fella that done it?
I ain't sure, but I caught him one across the face.
He'll have a trademark he won't be able to get rid of.
[Siren Blaring]
- Ma? - [Ma] Tom. Tom.
Pa, wake up. Al, hit the light. Shh.
- [Pa] All right, Ma. - [Siren Blaring]
Pick him up. Hurry. Come on.
[Siren Blaring]
[Ruthie] Is he gonna be all right? [Dog Barking]
[Rooster Crows]
[Crowing Continues]
- Anybody ask anything? - No, ma'am.
- You stay by that door. - Yes, ma'am.
Tommy.
How does it feel?
Busted my cheek, but I can still see.
- What'd you hear? - Looks like you done it.
I thought so. It felt like it.
Folks ain't talkin' about much else.
They say they got posses out.
Talkin' about a lynchin' when they catch the fella. They killed Casy first.
That ain't the way they're tellin' it.
They're sayin' you done it first.
Do they know... what the fella looks like?
They know he got hit in the face.
I'm sorry, Ma.
I didn't know what I was doin' any more than when you take a breath.
I didn't even know I was gonna do it.
Oh, it's all right, Tommy.
I wished you didn't do it...
but you done what you had to do.
And I can't read no fault in you.
I'm goin' away tonight, Ma. I can't go puttin' this on you folks.
Tom, there's a whole lot I don't understand...
but goin' away ain't gonna ease us.
There was a time we was on the land.
There was a boundary to us then.
Old folks died off and little fellers come.
We was always one thing.
We was the family...
kind of whole and clear.
But now we ain't clear no more.
They ain't nothin' that keeps us clear.
Al, he's a-hankerin' and jibbetin' to be off on his own.
UncleJohn's just draggin' around.
Your pa has lost his place. He ain't the head no more.
We're crackin' up, Tom.
They ain't no family now.
And Rosasharn, she's gonna have her baby...
but it won't have no family.
I been a-tryin' to keep her goin', but... [Sighs]
And Winfield. What's he gonna be this way?
Growin' up wild. And Ruthie too.
Just like animals.
Got nothing to trust.
Don't go, Tom.
Stay and help.
Help me.
Okay, Ma.
I shouldn't, I know I shouldn't, but okay.
[Vehicle Approaching]
Ma, here come a lot of people.
- [Man] How many? - [Man #2] Ten of us.
House 25. The number's on the door.
Okay, mister. What you payin'?
- 21/2 cents. - 21/2?
- Say, mister, a man can't make his dinner on that. - Take it or leave it.
There are 200 men comin'in from the south that'll be glad to get it.
- But how are we gonna eat? - Look...
I didn't set the price. If you want it, okay.
If you don't, turn around and beat it.
- Which way to House 25? - Straight up the street.
- That Casy... - [Truck Engine Starting]
He might have been a preacher, but he seen things clear.
He was like a lantern.
He helped me to see things too.
[Ma] Comes night, we'll... we'll get out ofhere.
Like a lantern.
- I'll start the car. - Yeah.
All right, Tom.
Jump up, jump up!
It's just till we get some distance. Then you can come out.
Or maybe get trapped in here.
Go get in, Ma.
- Come on, John. - Hey.! Where you goin'?
- We're goin' out. - What for?
We got a job offer, a good job.
- Yeah? Well, let's take a look at you. - Yeah.
- Wasn't there another fella with you? - You mean that hitchhiker?
Little short fella with a pale face?
I guess that's what he looked like.
We just picked him up on the way in.
He left this morning when the rate dropped.
What did you say he looked like again? Short fella, pale face.
Was he bruised about the face this morning? I didn't see nothin'.
Okay, go on.
[Engine Starts]
- Goin' out for good? - Yeah. Goin' north. Got a job.
Okay.
You done good, Al. You done real good.
- Know where we're goin'? - Oh, it don't matter.
We gotta go and keep a-goin' till we get plenty a-distance away from here.
Ow! Geez! Hot on the hand.
The fan belt's shot.
Sure picked a nice place for it, too, didn't she?
- Got any gas? - About half a gallon.
Well, Ma, sure looks like we done her this time.
Lights up ahead. Might be a camp or somethin'.
Looks like about a mile. Reckon she'll coast her, Al?
- Got to coast it. - Well, let's give her a whirl, huh?
Come on, kids. Get in. John!
Ah!
Oh! What was that?
Oh, hurt yourself, John?
- You hit it too fast. - What's the idea of that?
Well, you see, a lot of children play in here.
You can tell people to drive slow and they're liable to forget.
- But once they hit that hump, they don't forget. - Got any room here for us?
Well, you're lucky. Howdy do, ma'am. How are you?
- How are you? - How do?
Down that line, turn to the left.
You'll see it. You'll be in number four sanitary unit.
- What's that? - Mm, toilet, showers, washtubs.
You mean we'll have washtubs with running water?
Yes, ma'am. Camp committee will call on you in the morning, get you fixed.
- Cops? - No.!
No cops. No, people here elect their own cops.
The ladies' committee will call on you, ma'am.
Tell you about the children, the schools and sanitary unit... and who takes care of'em.
Will you come inside and sign up?
Drive around down, Al. I'll sign up.
Right this way. In here.
Now, uh, I don't want to seem inquisitive, you understand...
but there's certain information I have to have. Uh, what's your name?
Joad. Tom Joad.
- J-O... - A-D.
And how many of you?
Eight... now.
UncleJohn, you don't look so good.
I ain't so good, but I'm comin'.
Shove!
Campsite costs $1.00 a week, but you can work that out...
carrying garbage, keeping the camp clean, things like that.
We'll work it out.
Uh, what's the committee you're talkin' about? We have five sanitary units.
Each one elects a central committeeman.
They make the laws and what they say goes. You aimin' to tell me...
the fellas that are runnin' the camp are just fellas campin' here?
- That's the way it is. - And you say no cops?
No cop can come in here without a warrant.
Oh, I can't hardly believe it.
The camp I was in before, they burned it out...
deputies and some of them poolroom fellas. They don't get in here.
Sometimes the boys patrol the fences, especially on dance nights. You got dances too?
We have the best dances in the county, every Saturday night.
- Who runs this place? - The government.
Well, why ain't they more like it?
You find out. I can't.
Well, is anything like work around here?
Well, I can't promise you that.
There'll be a licensed agent here later if you want to talk to him.
- Uh, that cut you have... - A crate fell on me.
Well, you'd better take care of it.
Store manager will give you something for it. See you later.
Ma is sure gonna like it here.
She ain't been treated decent for... a long while.
See you later.
[Shouting]
- Winfield, Winfield, get up. I got something to show you. - What's the matter?
It's some white things made out of dish stuff like in the catalogs.
Come on. I'll show you.
Come on. Ain't nobody gonna say anything.
Here's where you wash your hands.
- What's these? - Well, I reckon you stand in them little rooms...
and water comes down out of that little jigger up there.
- You take a bath. - Oh, look. Just like in the catalog.
- Hey, don't you go a-monkeyin'! - [Toilet Flushes]
Now you done it. You busted it.
All I done was pull that string.
Whoa! Oh!
[Dog Barks]
- Hiya, Mr. Thomas. - Good mornin'.
- How are you? - Mornin'.
Nice job. Listen here.
Maybe I'm gonna talk myself out of my farm, but I like you fellas.
You're good workers. So I'm gonna tell ya.
- You live over in the government camp, don't ya? - Yes, sir.
- And you have dances over there every Saturday night. - We sure do.
Well, look out next Saturday night.
What's the matter? I'm head to the central committee over there. I gotta know.
Well, don't tell I told you.
Listen.
"Citizens angered at Red agitators...
"burn another squatters' camp...
and order agitators to leave the county."
Listen, what is these Reds anyway?
Every time you turn around, somebody callin' somebody else a Red.
What is these Reds anyway?
Oh, I ain't talkin' about that one way or the other.
All I'm sayin' is that there's going to be a fight at the camp Saturday night...
and there'll be deputies ready to go in.
Now go on with your work.
Maybe I've talked myself into trouble...
but you're folks like us, and I like you.
- We won't tell who told. Thank you. - All right.
There ain't gonna be no fight, either.
** [Playing "She'll Be Comin' Round The Mountain"]
- Evenin', ma'am. Who'd you say invited you? - Mr. And Mrs. Brown.
Oh, go right on in, folks. Go right on in.
- Hello there, Jake. How are you? - Fine, Mr. Jennings. How are you? Glad to see you.
* Swing that lady round and round *
* Swing that pretty girl round and round *
* Swing that girl round and round and round *
* Round and round round and round and round *
*Swing that pretty little girl *Round and round and round
- Hello. - Hello.
Gonna dance tonight? I can waltz.
Oh, that's nothin'. Anybody can waltz. Oh, not like me they can't.
You get goin'. This girl's spoke for. She's gonna be married.
And her man's a-comin' for her, so git!
[Chuckles]
- Hiya, Bill. - Nice-lookin' gal you got there, huh?
Howdy, Mr. Thomas. Howdy, Mrs. Thomas.
- You're watchin' out, ain't ya? - Don't you worry. There ain't gonna be no trouble.
I hope you know what you're talkin' about.
Evenin', boys. Who'd you say invited you?
Fella named Jackson. BuckJackson.
Okay. Have a good time.
Thanks.
- Hey, them's our fellas. - How do you know?
Well...
just got a feelin'.
They're kind of scared too.
Follow 'em. Get hold ofJackson, see if he knows 'em. I'll stay here. Yeah.
- Hello. - Hello.
So long.
- Oh, how do you do, Mrs. Joad? - Fine.
- My, you sure do look pretty. - [Giggles]
- Please to dance, ma'am? - Oh, thank you kindly, but she ain't right well.
- Sort of poorly. - Well, thank you just the same.
How do?
Hey, Jackson, look. Did you ever see them fellas before?
Sorry, neighbor, but, uh, we got to keep the camp clean.
I know one of'em. I used to work with him.
I never asked him to the dance, though.
All right, keep your eye on him. Just keep 'em in sight, that's all.
I seen 'em, Mr. Wallace.
A car with five men parked down by the eucalyptus trees...
and another one with four men up on the main road.
And they got guns too! I seen 'em!
Thank you, Willie. You done right good.
You can run along and dance now.
Well, sure looks like the fat's in the fire this time.
What them deputies want to hurt the camp for? How come they can't let us alone?
We ought to get ourselves some pickax handles and...
No. That's just what they want. No sirree.
If they can get a fight a-goin', they can call in the cops, say we ain't orderly.
- Hey, they're here. We got 'em spotted. - Got everythin' ready?
- There ain't gonna be no trouble. - I don't want you to go hurtin' them fellas now.
You don't need to worry. We got everything arranged. Maybe nobody will even see it.
Well, just don't use no sticks or no knives or no piece of iron.
If you gotta sock 'em, sock 'em where they ain't a-gonna bleed.
Gentlemen, hats off, please. Thank you.
*[Playing "Red River Valley"]
She's gettin' prettier every day, Ma.
A girl with a baby's always prettier.
- Come on, Ma. Let's dance. - Oh, Tom, l...
- Go ahead! - [Laughing] Well, all right.
[Laughs]
Tom! Stop! [Laughing]
* Come and sit by my side if you love me *
* Do not hasten to bid me adieu *
* But remember the Red River Valley *
* And the boy who has loved you so true **
9:29. Let's go!
All right. 9:30. Here we go.
- All right, buddy, I'll dance with her. - You and who else? Excuse me, Ma.
[Siren Blaring]
All right, open up! We hear you got a riot!
Riot? I don't see any riot. Who are you?
- Deputy sheriffs. - Well, have you got a warrant?
We don't need a warrant when there's a riot.
Well, I don't know what you're gonna do about it. I don't hear any riot or don't see any riot.
What's more, I don't believe there is any riot. Look for yourself.
*[Playing "Turkey In The Straw"]
All right, let's go.
[Train Whistle Blowing]
[Crickets Chirping]
Oklahoma. EL-204.
You have no right to arrest anybody without a warrant, you know.
We'll have a warrant just as soon as we check with headquarters.
[Engines Starting, Rewing]
[Vehicles Departing]
[Train Whistle Blowing]
[Ma] Tommy.
Ain't you gonna tell me good-bye?
I didn't know, Ma. I didn't know if I ought to.
- Ma. - Hush, Ruthie.
Come outside.
There was some cops here tonight.
They was takin' down license numbers.
I guess somebody knows somethin'.
I guess it had to come, sooner or later.
[Train Whistle Blowing]
Sit down for a minute.
I'd like to stay, Ma. I'd like to stay, Ma.
I'd like to be with you and see your face...
when you and Pa get settled in some nice place.
I'd sure like to see you then...
but I won't never get that chance, I guess, now.
- I could hide you, Tommy. - I know you would, Ma, but I ain't gonna let you.
You hide somebody that's killed a guy and you're in trouble too.
All right, Tommy.
But what do you figure you're gonna do?
You know what I been thinkin' about?
About Casy...
about what he said...
what he done...
about how he died...
and I remember all of it.
He was a good man.
I been thinkin' about us too...
about our people livin' like pigs...
and good, rich land layin' fallow...
or maybe one guy with a million acres...
and 100,000 farmers starvin'.
And I been wonderin' if...
all our folks got together and yelled...
Oh, Tommy, they'd drive you out and cut you down just like they done to Casy.
They're gonna drive me, anyways.
Sooner or later they'd get me for one thing if not for another.
Until then...
Tommy, you're not aimin' to kill nobody?
No, Ma, not that. That ain't it.
It's just... well, as long as I'm an outlaw anyways...
maybe I can do somethin'.
Maybe I can just find out somethin'... just scrounge around...
and maybe find out what it is that's wrong...
and then see if there ain't somethin' that can be done about it.
I ain't thought it all out clear, Ma.
L... I can't. I don't know enough.
Well, how am I gonna know about you, Tommy?
Why, they could kill you and I'd never know.
They could hurt you. How am I gonna know?
Well, maybe it's like Casy says...
Fella ain't got a soul of his own...
just a little piece of a big soul...
the one big soul that belongs to everybody.
- Then... - Then what, Tom?
Then it don't matter.
I'll be all around in the dark.
I'll be everywhere, wherever you can look.
Wherever there's a fight so hungry people can eat...
I'll be there.
Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy...
I'll be there.
I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad.
I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry... and they know supper's ready.
And when the people are eatin' the stuff they raise...
and livin' in the houses they build...
I'll be there too.
I don't understand it, Tom.
Oh, me neither, Ma, but...
it's just somethin' I been thinkin' about.
Give me your hand, Ma.
- Good-bye. - Good-bye, Tommy.
Later, when this has blowed over...
you'll come back?
Sure, Ma.
Tom, we... we ain't the kissin' kind, but...
Good-bye, Ma.
Good-bye, Tommy.
Tommy.
- Good-bye. - Good-bye.
Be good.
Bye.
Hurry that up now. Get her rolled up. How you fixed, John?
- Ah, gettin' along fine. - Here. Here.
Winfield, you get up on top now. Get out of the way.
I don't see what you folks are hurryin' so for. They tell me there's 20 days' work up there.
Yes, sir. And we aim to get in all 20 of them.
- All ready, Ma? - Yes. How you feelin', Rosasharn?
All aboard, everybody. All aboard for Fresno.
Wait a minute and I'll give you a hand.
- Careful of her now. - Easy, child.
She'll be all right.
- Watch her, John. Take care of her. - I'll take care of her.
- How you fixed, Al? - All right, Pa.
Now, Ma.
- Bye. - Good-bye, hon.
Bye-bye.
- Bye-bye! - Good-bye.
- Bye! - Thanks a lot.
- Bye. Bye. - Thanks for everything.
- Be careful now. - Bye.
- Be careful. - Bye.
Be good. Be good.
Twenty days' work. Oh, boy!
I'll be glad to get my hands on some cotton.
That's the kind of pickin' I understand.
Maybe. Maybe 20 days' work and maybe no days' work.
We ain't got it till we get it.
What's the matter, Ma, you gettin' scared?
Scared, huh! I ain't never gonna be scared no more.
I was, though.
For a while, it looked as though we was beat, good and beat.
Looked like we didn't have nobody in the whole wide world but enemies...
like nobody was friendly no more.
Made me feel kind of bad and scared too...
like we was lost and nobody cared.
You are the one that keeps us goin', Ma.
I ain't no good no more, and I know it.
Seems like I spend all my time these days thinkin' how it used to be...
- Mm-hmm. - Thinkin' of home.
I ain't never gonna see it no more.
Well, Pa, a woman can change better than a man.
A man lives sorta, well, in jerks.
Baby's born or somebody dies and that's a jerk.
He gets a farm or loses it and that's a jerk.
With a woman, it's all in one flow like a stream...
little eddies and waterfalls...
but the river, it goes right on.
A woman looks at it that way.
Well, maybe, but we sure takin' a beatin'.
I know. That's what makes us tough.
Rich fellas come up and they die.
Their kids ain't no good and they die out, but we keep a-comin'.
We're the people that live.
They can't wipe us out. They can't lick us.
And we'll go on forever, Pa, 'cause we're the people.