Before filming, undercover investigators were sent by producer Darryl F. Zanuck to the migrant camps to see if John Steinbeck had been exaggerating about the squalor and unfair treatment meted out there. He was horrified to discover that, if anything, Steinbeck had actually downplayed what went on in the camps.
All makeup and perfume was banned from the set since John Ford felt that it was not in keeping with the tone of the picture.
John Steinbeck loved the movie and was particularly enamored with the performance of Henry Fonda as Tom Joad.
John Steinbeck and Henry Fonda became good friends. So much so that Fonda did a reading at Steinbeck's funeral.
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