John Steinbeck’s novel swept the nation as a blistering depiction of, and reaction to, the Great Depression – and this 1940 movie, starring Henry Fonda, certainly bears another viewing these days, when joblessness, corporate financial heartlessness and environmental abuse are anything but ancient news. But also watch to admire the work of John Ford, the most celebrated director in Hollywood history, whose reputation needs and deserves to be established anew for the present generation. Ford not only won an Oscar as Best Director for 1940’s The Grapes of Wrath, but he also won for 1941’s How Green Was My Valley, and for his two wartime documentaries, 1942’s The Battle of Midway, and for 1943’s December 7^th: The Movie.  That’s four directorial Oscars in as many years, which is nothing short of amazing.