John Ford directs this adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel which follows the traumatic journey made by the Joads, a dispossessed family from Oklahoma who travel to California in the 1930s in search of a new life. When Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) returns home after being released from prison, he discovers that the farmlands have been destroyed by dust storms. Seeking a better future, he travels west with his mother and the rest of the family.

Their journey is far from easy however and there is no guarantee that life in California will prove to be any better. The cast also includes Jane Darwell, John Carradine and Dorris Bowdon.