STEINBECK AND FILM
Much of Steinbeck’s success in Hollywood was due to the ability of such famed directors as John Ford, Elia Kazan, and Louis Milestone, to translate the author’s literary vision to the screen. The author knew his work would be changed, but made efforts to work within the Hollywood system that he disliked. Nominated for at least twenty Academy Awards the majority of film adaptations of Steinbeck’s works were critical and financial successes.

Items relating to motion pictures based on Steinbeck works within the collection include,
original American and foreign-release film posters; the cutting continuity film script for The Red Pony; original scripts for Viva Zapata! and The Grapes of Wrath; exhibitor campaign booklets for East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath; film premiere tickets and handbills; movie tie-in edition books; publicity stills, and other promotional items relating to Steinbeck films.

FILMS
1/17 The Forgotten Village (1941) is a semi-documentary film about life in a small Mexican village (Black & White, 65 minutes). With story and screenplay by John Steinbeck, it is narrated by actor Burgess Meredith.

2/21 The Red Pony (1949), starring Myrna Loy, Robert Mitchum, and Louis Calhern, is a heartbreaking and true picture of a boy growing up on a small Salinas Valley ranch (91 minutes). Screenplay by John Steinbeck, music by Aaron Copeland.

3/21 The Grapes of Wrath (1940) The movie classic The Grapes of Wrath features Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, and John Carradine as migrant sharecroppers of the Dust Bowl. This saga of the Joad family and its struggle to reestablish roots in California during the Depression remains a movie masterpiece. Screenplay by Nunnally Johnson, adapted from the novel by John Steinbeck, Directed by John Ford. Winner, best director and best supporting actress. (Black & White, 129 minutes).

LOBBY CARDS
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POSTERS
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PLAYBILLS
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PROGRAMS
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