In film
The book was quickly made into a famed 1940 Hollywood movie of the same name directed by John Ford and starring Henry Fonda as Tom Joad. The first part of the film version follows the book fairly accurately. However, the second half and the ending, in particular, differ significantly from the book. John Springer, author of The Fondas (Citadel, 1973), said of Henry Fonda and his role in The Grapes of Wrath: "The Great American Novel made one of the few enduring Great American Motion Pictures."[30]
The documentary American: The Bill Hicks Story (2009) revealed that The Grapes of Wrath was the favorite novel of comedian Bill Hicks. He based his famous last words on Tom Joad's final speech: "I left in love, in laughter, and in truth, and wherever truth, love and laughter abide, I am there in spirit."[31]
In July 2013, Steven Spielberg announced his plans to direct a remake of The Grapes of Wrath for DreamWorks.[32][33]
The Japanese animated series Bungou Stray Dogs portrays a character based on Steinbeck whose superpower is named "The Grapes of Wrath".
In music
Woody Guthrie's two-part song—"Tom Joad – Parts 1 & 2" – from the album Dust Bowl Ballads (1940), explores the protagonist's life after being paroled from prison. It was covered in 1988 by Andy Irvine, who recorded both parts as a single song—"Tom Joad"—on Patrick Street's second album, No. 2 Patrick Street.[34]
The 1981 song "Here Comes that Rainbow Again", by Kris Kristofferson, is based on the scene in the roadside diner where a man buys a loaf of bread and two candy sticks for his sons.
The band The Mission UK included a song titled "The Grapes of Wrath" on their album Carved in Sand (1990).
The progressive rock band Camel released an album, titled Dust and Dreams (1991), inspired by the novel.
American rock singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen named his 11th studio album, The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995), after the character; and the first track on the album shares the same title. The song – and to a lesser extent, the others on the album – draws comparisons between the Dust Bowl and modern times.[35]
Rage Against the Machine recorded a version of "The Ghost of Tom Joad" in 1997.
Like Andy Irvine in 1988, Dick Gaughan recorded Woody Guthrie's "Tom Joad" on his album Outlaws & Dreamers (2001).[36]
An opera based on the novel was co-produced by the Minnesota Opera, and Utah Symphony and Opera, with music by Ricky Ian Gordon and libretto by Michael Korie. The opera made its world premiere in February 2007, to favorable local reviews.[37]
Bad Religion have a song entitled "Grains of Wrath" on their album New Maps of Hell (2007). Bad Religion lead vocalist Greg Graffin is a fan of Steinbeck's work.[38]
The song "Dust Bowl Dance", on the Mumford & Sons album Sigh No More (2009), is based on the novel.
The Pink Floyd song "Sorrow", written by front-man David Gilmour and included on the band's album A Momentary Lapse of Reason, is thematically derived from/based on the novel.
The song "No Good Al Joad", on the Hop Along album "Get Disowned" takes its title from the novel's character Al Joad.
The song "Grapes Of Wrath" by Weezer, written by Rivers Cuomo from their album "OK Human" (2021), takes its title directly from the novel.[39]
In theatre
The Steppenwolf Theatre Company produced a stage version of the book, adapted by Frank Galati. Gary Sinise played Tom Joad for its entire run of 188 performances on Broadway in 1990. One of these performances was filmed and shown on PBS the following year.[40]
In 1990, the Illegitimate Players theater company in Chicago produced Of Grapes and Nuts, an original, satirical mash-up of The Grapes of Wrath and Steinbeck's acclaimed novella Of Mice and Men.[41]
In 2019, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon produced Mother Road by Octavio Solis, inspired by Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. The play is about William Joad who believes that he has no blood kin to inherit the family farm until he finds an unexpected relation: Martín Jodes—a young Mexican-American man descended from Steinbeck's original protagonist Tom Joad. The play reverses the Joads’ mythic journey, as these modern-day Joads travel from migrant farm-worker camps in California back to Oklahoma. [42]
