The Grapes of Wrath is based on the classic novel by John Steinbeck about the Joad family's plight during the Great Depression. After Tom Joad is released from prison for murder, he returns to his family's land only to find them gone to California. Once Tom finds his family, he decides to join them on their way to California. They have received handbills announcing a surplus of jobs in the state, so they take a beat up old truck and a little money and head west with thousands of others. When they arrive, though, nothing is what they expected.

Casy, the Joad family's old preacher, goes with them, but he and Tom eventually get in trouble in one of the camps for killing a man. Casy is later murdered for helping start a strike at one of the ranches, and Tom kills his murderer. From that point, Tom...