Bound for Glory (1976 film)

Bound for Glory
Theatrical release poster by Tom Jung
Directed by	Hal Ashby
Screenplay by	Robert Getchell
Based on	Bound for Glory 1943 book by Woody Guthrie
Produced by	Robert F. Blumofe Harold Leventhal
Starring	David Carradine Ronny Cox Melinda Dillon Gail Strickland Randy Quaid
Cinematography	Haskell Wexler
Edited by	Pembroke J. Herring Robert C. Jones
Music by	Leonard Rosenman (conductor and music adaptor) George Brand Joan Biel Guthrie Thomas Ralph Ferraro
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	December 5, 1976 (1976-12-05) (United States)
Running time	147 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$10 million or $7 million

Bound for Glory is a 1976 American biographical film directed by Hal Ashby and loosely adapted by Robert Getchell from Woody Guthrie's 1943 partly fictionalized autobiography Bound for Glory. The film stars David Carradine as folk singer Woody Guthrie, with Ronny Cox, Melinda Dillon, Gail Strickland, John Lehne, Ji-Tu Cumbuka and Randy Quaid. Much of the film is based on Guthrie's attempt to humanize the desperate Okie Dust Bowl refugees in California during the Great Depression.

Bound for Glory was the first motion picture in which inventor/operator Garrett Brown used his new Steadicam for filming moving scenes. Director of Photography Haskell Wexler won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography at the 49th Academy Awards.

All of the main events and characters, except for Guthrie and his first wife, Mary, are entirely fictional. The film ends with Guthrie singing his most famous song, "God Blessed America" (subsequently retitled "This Land Is Your Land"), on his way to New York, but, in fact, the song was composed in New York in 1940 and forgotten by him until five years later.

Plot

During the Great Depression in the 1930s, Woody Guthrie is unable to support his family as a sign painter and a local musician in Pampa, Texas, a town badly affected by the drought known as the Dust Bowl period. After hearing great things about California including from those leaving for it and being unable to find work, he joins the migration westward to supposedly greener pastures via boxcar riding and hitchhiking, leaving a note to his wife promising to send for her and their children. Woody discovers the low pay and absence of job security of California's casual labor fruit pickers and joins Ozark Bule in using music to fight for people's rights. He becomes a celebrated folk singer on radio with partners Ozark and Memphis Sue while still campaigning for his causes.

He has a romance with Pauline before bringing his wife and three children from Pampa to a comfortable home in California. Woody's refusal to conform to music business practices and his obsession with the hobo campers' causes threaten to break up his family and derail his growing music career. Finally, he goes to New York to campaign through his music.

Cast

• David Carradine as Woody Guthrie
• Ronny Cox as Ozark Bule
• Melinda Dillon as Mary / Memphis Sue
• Gail Strickland as Pauline
• Randy Quaid as Luther Johnson
• John Lehne as Locke
• Ji-Tu Cumbuka as Slim Snedeger
• Elizabeth Macey as Liz Johnson
• Susan Vaill as Gwen Guthrie
• Wendy Schaal as Mary Jo Guthrie - Woody's Sister
• Guthrie Thomas as George Guthrie, Woody's Brother

with appearances by

• Bernie Kopell as Woody's Agent
• Mary Kay Place as Sue Ann, Girl in Bar

Production

Arthur Krim of United Artists agreed to finance the film on the basis of Ashby's reputation, even before a star had signed on.

Dustin Hoffman and Jack Nicholson both turned down the role. Richard Dreyfuss was considered. Tim Buckley was going to be offered the part but died of a drug overdose. Ashby interviewed David Carradine but turned him down, in part because he felt Carradine was too tall. However over time he reconsidered. "He had the right rural look and the musicianship," said Ashby. "And he had a ‘to hell with you’ attitude."

Ashby later said Carradine's "to hell with you" attitude did cause him some problems during filming. "Once, when we were doing a scene, some migrant workers marched by. David started marching with them. By the time we found him, he was two miles away; and he had held up shooting for three hours.”

Reception

As of May 2021, Bound for Glory holds a rating of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 23 reviews.

Film critic Roger Ebert praised the film, calling it "one of the best looking films ever made." However, Ebert claimed the beauty of the film was often achieved at the cost of the tone.

Academy Awards

Wins

• 1976: Best Cinematography (Haskell Wexler)
• 1976: Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score (Leonard Rosenman)

Nominated

• 1976: Best Picture
• 1976: Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
• 1976: Best Costume Design
• 1976: Best Film Editing

Other Accolades

Besides the Academy Awards, this film won 1976 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards Best Cinematography (Haskell Wexler) and National Board of Review Award for Best Actor (David Carradine). It was nominated for 4 Golden Globe Awards as well as Palme d'Or in 1977 Cannes Film Festival.

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

• 2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:
  • "This Land Is Your Land" – Nominated

External links

• Bound for Glory at IMDb
• Bound for Glory at Rotten Tomatoes
• Bound for Glory at the TCM Movie Database
• Bound for Glory at AllMovie
• Bound for Glory at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• Hal Ashby article at Senses of Cinema
• Bound for Glory trailer on YouTube