Bound for Glory (film)

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

Bound for Glory is a 1976 American film directed by Hal Ashby and loosely adapted by Robert Getchell from Woody Guthrie's 1943 autobiography Bound for Glory. The film stars David Carradine as folk singer Woody Guthrie and Ronny Cox, Melinda Dillon, Gail Strickland, John Lehne, Ji-Tu Cumbuka and Randy Quaid.

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 an Oscar for Best Cinematography (1976).

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

In the Depression 1930s, Midwesterner Guthrie (David Carradine) plays music locally but cannot make enough as a sign painter to support his wife (Melinda Dillon) and children. With only his paintbrushes, Woody joins the migration westward from the Dust Bowl to supposedly greener California pastures via boxcar and hitchhiking. Much of the film is based on Guthrie's attempt to humanize the desperate Okie Dust Bowl refugees in California during the Great Depression.

Soundtrack

Leonard Roesenman, who adapted several of Guthrie's songs for the film, is believed to have done a disingenuous job by making some of Guthrie's songs unrecognizable on the soundtrack. In the film, David Carradine, who played the role of Woody Guthrie, performed the songs on the soundtrack with his original voice, belittling the true style, sound and form of an authentic Guthrie song and tends to confuse the listener. Another misfortune found in the re-doings of Guthrie songs from the film was that his songs that were incorporated into the film itself, turned out to showcase other singers who weren't Guthrie, further withholding the musician's form, style, and vision. After the release of the film, there followed 5 LPs that showcased Guthrie's music.

Cast

• David Carradine as Woody Guthrie
• Ronny Cox as Ozark Bule
• Melinda Dillon as Mary / Memphis Sue
• Gail Strickland as Pauline
• John Lehne as Locke
• Ji-Tu Cumbuka as Slim Snedeger
• Randy Quaid as Luther Johnson
• Elizabeth Macey as Liz Johnson
• Susan Vaill as Gwen Guthrie
• Alexandra Mock as Sue Guthrie
• Kimberly Mock as Sue Guthrie
• Bernie Kopell as Woody's Agent
• Mary Kay Place as Sue Ann, Girl in Bar
• Guthrie Thomas as George Guthrie, Woody's Brother

Academy Awards

Wins

• 1976: Best Cinematography
• 1976: Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score

Nominated

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

External links

• Bound for Glory at IMDb
• Bound for Glory at the TCM Movie Database
• Bound for Glory at AllMovie
• Bound for Glory at the American Film Institute Catalog
• Hal Ashby article at Senses of Cinema
• Bound for Glory trailer on YouTube