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Bound for Glory (1976 film)

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Bound for Glory
Theatrical release poster by Tom Jung
Directed byHal Ashby
Screenplay byRobert Getchell
Based onBound for Glory
1943 book
by Woody Guthrie
Produced byRobert F. Blumofe
Harold Leventhal
StarringDavid Carradine
Ronny Cox
Melinda Dillon
Gail Strickland
Randy Quaid
CinematographyHaskell Wexler
Edited byPembroke J. Herring
Robert C. Jones
Music byLeonard Rosenman (conductor and music adaptor)
George Brand
Joan Biel
Guthrie Thomas
Ralph Ferraro
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • December 5, 1976 (1976-12-05) (United States)
Running time
147 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10 million[1] or $7 million[2]

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.[3] 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.[4] 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 for Me" (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

Set during the 1930s Great Depression, Woody Guthrie, a sign painter and musician, is unable to support his family in Pampa, Texas, a town badly affected by the drought known as the Dust Bowl period. He hears great reports about California, including from those headed there; unable to find work, he joins the migration westward to supposedly greener pastures via boxcar riding and hitchhiking, leaving his wife a note promising to send for her and their children. Woody discovers the low pay and no job security for California's casual labor fruit pickers. He joins singer/union activist 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 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.[5]

Cast

with appearances by

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.[2]

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."[2]

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.”[2]

The railroad scenes were filmed on the Sierra Railroad. Ashby wanted a "big" freight train for the movie, as opposed to the shorter trains commonly used in filmmaking. The railroad assembled a train of 34 freight cars. Scenes taking place on the Texas panhandle that did not include views of a locomotive were filmed near Stockton, California, using diesel locomotives. Scenes showing locomotives utilized three steam locomotives owned by the Sierra Railroad, and were filmed in and around Oakdale, California, and the roundhouse scenes were filmed at what is now Railtown 1897 in Jamestown, California.[6]

Reception

As of August 2023, Bound for Glory holds a rating of 84% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 25 reviews. The consensus summarizes: "Bound for Glory brings the Dust Bowl era to authentic life thanks to Haskell Wexler's opulent cinematography and Woody Guthrie's resonant music, capturing the American mood at the time as much as it does the folk singer's life."[7]

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.[8]

Accolades

Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
Academy Awards Best Picture Robert F. Blumofe and Harold Leventhal Nominated [9]
Best Screenplay – Based on Material from Another Medium Robert Getchell Nominated
Best Cinematography Haskell Wexler Won
Best Costume Design William Ware Theiss Nominated
Best Film Editing Robert C. Jones and Pembroke J. Herring Nominated
Best Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score Leonard Rosenman Won
Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or Hal Ashby Nominated [10]
Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture – Drama Nominated [11]
Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama David Carradine Nominated
Best Director – Motion Picture Hal Ashby Nominated
New Star of the Year – Actress Melinda Dillon Nominated
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards Best Cinematography Haskell Wexler Won [12]
National Board of Review Awards Best Actor David Carradine Won [13]
National Society of Film Critics Awards Best Cinematography Haskell Wexler Won [14]
New York Film Critics Circle Awards Best Actor David Carradine Runner-up [15]
Society of Camera Operators Awards Historical Shot Garrett Brown Won [16]
Writers Guild of America Awards Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium Robert Getchell Nominated [17]

American Film Institute

Soundtrack

The Academy Award-winning score was released internationally in 1976 by United Artists Records, in an album containing Leonard Roseman's music and Woody Guthrie's songs with David Carradine in the vocals. In 2012, it was also released as a CD by Intrada Records, with some of the incidental cues remixed into four orchestral suites.[19]

Home media

In January 2016, Bound for Glory was released in Blu-ray format, in a limited edition, by Twilight Time.[20] In April 2022, another Blu-ray was released by Sandpiper Pictures.[21] Both versions have English subtitles.

References

  1. ^ "The Films of Hal Ashby". Beach, Christopher (2009). Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press, p. 176, ISBN 978-0-8143-3415-7.
  2. ^ a b c d Harmetz, Aljean (5 December 1976). "Gambling on a Film About the Great Depression". New York Times.
  3. ^ Bound for Glory at IMDb
  4. ^ "Steadicam 30th anniversary press release". Archived from the original on 2014-04-30.
  5. ^ Lucia Bozzola. "Bound for Glory (1976) – Hal Ashby – Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related – AllMovie". AllMovie. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  6. ^ Jensen, Larry (2018). Hollywood's RailroadsE: Sierra Railroad. Vol. Two. Sequim, WashinSgton: Cochetopa Press. pp. 54–55. ISBN 9780692064726.
  7. ^ "Bound for Glory". Rotten Tomatoes.
  8. ^ Ebert, Roger. "Bound for Glory movie review & film summary (1977) | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com/. Retrieved 2021-10-01.
  9. ^ "The 49th Academy Awards (1977) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on 2015-01-11. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
  10. ^ "Official Selection 1977: All the Selection". festival-cannes.fr. Archived from the original on 26 December 2013.
  11. ^ "Bound for Glory – Golden Globes". HFPA. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  12. ^ "The 2nd Annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards". Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  13. ^ "1976 Award Winners". National Board of Review. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  14. ^ "Past Awards". National Society of Film Critics. 19 December 2009. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  15. ^ "1976 New York Film Critics Circle Awards". New York Film Critics Circle. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  16. ^ "Past SOC Lifetime Achievement Awards". Society of Operating Cameramen. 6 December 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  17. ^ "Awards Winners". wga.org. Writers Guild of America. Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2010-06-06.
  18. ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-07-30.
  19. ^ "Woody Guthrie, Leonard Rosenman, David Carradine – Bound For Glory - Original Motion Picture Score". Discogs (published 2022). 1976. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  20. ^ "Bound for Glory Blu-ray Limited Edition to 3000". Blu-ray.com. January 19, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  21. ^ "Bound for Glory Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. April 19, 2022. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
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