Bound for Glory

December. 05,1976      
Rating:
7.3
Trailer Synopsis Cast

A biography of Woody Guthrie, one of America's greatest folk singers. He left his dust-devastated Texas home in the 1930s to find work, discovering the suffering and strength of America's working class.

David Carradine as  Woody Guthrie
Ronny Cox as  Ozark Bule
Melinda Dillon as  Mary / Memphis Sue
Gail Strickland as  Pauline
Ji-Tu Cumbuka as  Slim Snedeger
Randy Quaid as  Luther Johnson
Jan Burrell as  Other Woman
Wendy Schaal as  Mary Jo Guthrie

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Reviews

Scanialara
1976/12/05

You won't be disappointed!

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Curapedi
1976/12/06

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

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Nayan Gough
1976/12/07

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

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Philippa
1976/12/08

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

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bkoganbing
1976/12/09

I think that Woody Guthrie came along at the right time for his music to be played and become popular. The 30s, the years of the Depression of economic want and deprivation, Guthrie was a voice for the homeless and dispossessed, for those just wanting a small slice of the American dream. Guthrie would not go over in the Reagan years and surely not in the age of Trump. One really should see Bound For Glory back to back with A Face In The Crowd. The real Woody Guthrie is not all that far apart from the fictional Lonesome Rhodes whom Andy Griffith played in that latter picture. Both represent differing strains of American populism just that Griffith's character Lonesome Rhodes represents the dark side. And we've recently seen the dark side triumph.Guthrie didn't want people to just feel good, he wanted for them to be healthy and happy and prosperous. It's not enough as I think people who voted for Donald Trump in the last election will find out soon to deprive those 'others' whomever they be of what you think they're stealing from you. Subsisting isn't living. Enough to pay your rent or buy home, see your kids get educated with the hope they'll do even better than you, that's what it's about. And you get it by organizing. Putting the sweat of the working man on an equal footing with the buying power of the bosses. An ethic that's being challenged now.David Carradine plays the rambling and rebellious Guthrie who got the cook's helper's tour of America via the freight trains and the migrant labor camps. It would have been the easiest thing for Guthrie to just pack it in and just become a hillbilly entertainer on country music stations. He was after far more than that with his songs. Carradine captures Guthrie's rebellious spirit perfectly and gets great support from Melinda Dillon as his loving wife who is also concerned the next meal for their growing family.Bound For Glory got an Oscar for Best Adapted Musical score and when you have Woody Guthrie's voluminous writings to work with it must have been a labor of love. It was up for Best Picture and a flock technical awards as well.Woody Guthrie's most famous song was This Land Is Your Land and listen to the words carefully. It's not just patriotic pablum the benefits and responsibilities of this land called America is for all of us to take care of and leave in good condition for the next generation.After all this land was made for you, me, all of us.

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romanorum1
1976/12/10

It is 1936 in Pampa, Texas during the oppressive Dust Bowl. Work is hardly available, even for 24 year-old sign-painter Woody Guthrie (David Carradine), who doesn't seem to mind as he spends time with his friends and singing and playing the guitar. Woody's first wife, long-suffering Mary (Melinda Dillon), is most concerned about the lack of cash for the growing family (two little girls thus far). After a dust storm strikes, Woody simply packs up and heads for California, where jobs are supposedly plentiful. He leaves a note for Mary, "Going to California. Will send for you all." Constantly struck with wanderlust (as we shall see), Woody is really a drifter. So Woody, along with many hobos of the Great Depression, hitchhikes and rides the rails on his journey. By the way, this is the largest migration in US history. Along the way Woody lives in migrant worker camps and "Hoovervilles." Along his travels he meets all kinds of characters, including Slim Snedeger (Ji-Tu Cumbuka) and unionizing folk singer Ozark Bule (Ronny Cox). At a migrant camp Ozark and Woody sing and extort the workers to unionize until thugs arrive and break up the gathering. As Woody observes the miserable plight of many Americans, his social conscience is so raised that he composes and sings many of his folk songs. Note the memorable scene atop a boxcar where Woody plunks away at his guitar while he composes the words to "This Land Is Your Land." Later on there is another set where Woody waltzes into a factory and exhorts the workers to unionize; he is promptly beaten up by security folks. Ozark Bule helps Woody to get a radio job at KTNS for twenty dollars a week. Most of the mail from listeners is positive, and Woody and singing partner Memphis Sue (Melinda Dillon again) get an offer of thirty-five dollars weekly. Station manager Locke (John Lehne), concerned about his new sponsors, tells Woody not to sing any controversial songs. After all, the sponsors pay for what they want to hear, and they do not want provocative subject matter. But there really is no compromise for Woody. Note that this scene is really inaccurate, as Woody was really advocating support of the Soviet Union. (Then when Russia's Stalin signed the August 1939 non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, the leftists were stunned and . . . Oh, never mind!)An agent, Baker (Bernie Kopell), plans on getting Woody an offer to play for CBS as long as his songs are not controversial. No thanks! And as there is no middle ground, it is time for the detached Woody to move on. Ultimately Woody will work his way to New York where there are many people and unions who will hear the message of his music. Woody is destined to gain even greater acclaim than previously. The movie focus is on a slice of Woody's life (1936-1940), loosely based upon his 1943 autobiography. The famous folk singer-songwriter and musician is flawed and neglectful of his family, even after he relocates them to California. Although married, he was a notorious womanizer. In his real life the detached Woody had three wives and seven children (son Arlo was not born until 1947). But Woody inspired folks who had nothing except hope; he said one's skin color is not important. Despite his defects he remained idealistic and gave up various monetary offers. Still, he was not an easy man to live with. The songs, performed by David Carradine, include "This Train Is Bound for Glory," "Talking Dust Bowl Blues," "I Ain't Got No Home," and of course the famous "This Land Is Your Land." The feature may be slow-paced, but there are also impressive golden-colored cinematography and scenic views. There are also authentic and stunning period details, like the shabby frame houses and jalopies. The acting is natural; Carradine is very good as the folk singer who never surrenders his deeply felt convictions. In fact in this movie Carradine is Woody. "Bound for Glory" received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, but understandably lost out to "Rocky," a "top 100 of all time" movie.

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thestrikeoutboys
1976/12/11

Who in who's name thought that David Carradine was the man to play Woody Guthrie. His portrayal of one of America's greatest characters & song writers was empty, listening to the songs was an ordeal, they were butchered, which is a big problem when watching a film about a singer / songwriter. As a result the films attempt to tell the story of the downtrodden, misplaced masses of the time has no emotional affect, has no affect. Nothing about this film was right, there didn't seem to be any serious ups or downs, just some guy called Woody, he meets a few people and he sings some songs. I read Woody's book and it is a fascinating real life adventure story, this film seems in no way related. Damn, i'm disappointed. Maybe someone will pick up the story again some time and do it right. If you are a fan of Woody Guthrie, listen to his music and I also recommend you read his book but there's nothing for you here.

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Jay Raskin
1976/12/12

This was one of the first biographies of a music star. Woody Guthrie was also the most famous communist in American history. This made just doing the movie an act of extreme courage on the part of everybody involved.The movie is as much about the depression in the 1930's as it is about Guthrie. Evoking the atmosphere of the 1930's Midwestern United States is what the movie does best. "Bonnie and Clyde" is really the only other movie that succeeds as well as this one.When I saw it thirty-two years ago, I thought it was beautiful, but politically tepid, downplaying much of the politics of Guthrie and the period. It seemed to also show Guthrie as inarticulate, rash, self-destructive, egocentric and foolish. Looking at it now, the cinematography is not great, some of it is quite grainy. It is fine, but not brilliant.More importantly, I appreciate now that it does not romanticize Guthrie. No doubt in the coming century, he will become an icon like Che Guevara. One gets a vision of a real flawed and down-to-earth person and not a white-washed myth in Carradine's brooding portrayal. It hurts the drama, but that is something I think Guthrie would have appreciated.Some have noted that David Carradine never did anything better. This is true. Still, he has worked steadily as an actor, now with over 200 movie and television roles. He is in no less than ten movies this year. If you include over 120 episodes of his two Kung Fu television series, he has been in as many productions as his legendary father, John Carradine (339). It is ironic that his father was best known for his role in "Grapes of Wrath" and he will be best known for his role in "Bound for Glory," Altogether this is a beautiful, laid-back, easy-going version of the Woody Guthrie story. One expects that soon, in the future, a much more passionate version will appear.

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