<P> The film tells the story of the Joads, an Oklahoma family, who, after losing their farm during the Great Depression in the 1930s, become migrant workers and end up in California . The motion picture details their arduous journey across the United States as they travel to California in search of work and opportunities for the family members . </P> <P> The film is widely considered as one of the greatest American films of all time . In 1989, this film was one of the first 25 films to be selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant ." </P> <P> The film opens with Tom Joad (Henry Fonda), released from prison and hitchhiking his way back to his parents' family farm in Oklahoma . Tom finds an itinerant ex-preacher named Jim Casy (John Carradine) sitting under a tree by the side of the road . Casy was the preacher who baptized Tom, but now Casy has "lost the spirit" and his faith . Casy goes with Tom to the Joad property only to find it deserted . There, they meet Muley Graves (John Qualen) who is hiding out . In a flashback, he describes how farmers all over the area were forced from their farms by the deed holders of the land . A local boy (Irving Bacon), hired for the purpose, is shown knocking down Muley's house with a Caterpillar tractor . The large Joad family of twelve leaves at daybreak, along with Casy, who decides to accompany them . They pack everything into a dilapidated 1926 Hudson "Super Six" sedan adapted to serve as a truck in order to make the long journey to the promised land of California . </P> <P> The trip along Highway 66 is arduous, and it soon takes a toll on the Joad family . The elderly Grandpa (Charley Grapewin) dies along the way . Tom writes the circumstances surrounding the death on a page from the family Bible and places it on the body before they bury it so that if his remains were found, his death would not be investigated as a possible homicide . They park in a camp and meet a man, a migrant returning from California, who laughs at Pa's optimism about conditions in California . He speaks bitterly about his experiences in the West . </P>

Who played tom joad in grapes of wrath