Remembering The Grapes of Wrath on Route 66

In 1940, director John Ford, brought production to four states – Arizona, California, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

Source: New Mexico Film Office (via Facebook)
Images: Courtesy

In honor of the Route 66 Centennial, NM Film Office is throwing it back to one of the original movies that utilized the legendary route, “The Grapes of Wrath.”

In 1940, director John Ford, brought production to four states – Arizona, California, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, John Qualen, Ward Bond, Mae Marsh, Frank Faylen and Charley Grapewin star in the John Steinbeck classic, which tells the story of 1930s sharecroppers forced to leave their Oklahoma farmland to find work out in the west.

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According to NM Film Office records, the second unit photography shot in Santa Rosa, where scenes with the service station, diner, bridge and train sequence took place. Locations also included Albuquerque (fifth and Central) where the family is seen in their overloaded wagon, as well as Gallup and Laguna Pueblo.

Fun Fact: Did you know Mae Marsh, the popular silent film actress, was born in Madrid, NM in 1895?

The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and picked up two – one for director John Ford and one for Jane Darwell for supporting actress.