CLASSIC MOVIE NIGHT at the Historic USO Building

 We continue our latest film series, “Directed by…” on Wednesday, March 26 at 7 at 7:15 pm. We celebrate the director John Ford, regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood. In a career of more than 50 years, he directed over 130 films (mostly westerns) between 1917 and 1970 (although most of his silent films are now lost), and received six Academy Awards for Best Picture, including a record four wins for Best Director.  Ford is credited with launching the careers of some of Hollywood’s biggest stars during the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s, including John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Maureen O’Hara and James Stewart.

  We will be presenting, on Wednesday, March 26, one of his most controversial and gut-wrenching films, based on a novel by John Steinbeck.  In this 1939 classic film, an impoverished family struggles during the Great Depression, abandoning their failed farm to seek a hopeful, new beginning in California. Their harrowing journey is one of tremendous hardship, tragedy, and eventual hope.  Henry Fonda, in a super star-making role as the rebellious older son, and veteran character actress Jane Darwell (who easily nabbed a Best supporting Actress Oscar® for her role as the matriarch of the family), star in this unforgettable saga of a brave family determined to find a better life.