刚从监狱释放出来的Tom Joad (亨利·方达 Henry Fonda饰)回到俄克拉荷马的家的时候却发现原来的家里已经空无一人,打听之下才从农民Jim Casy(约翰·卡拉丁 John Carradine饰)口中得知,随着工业的发展,当地的农民们都被迫离开该地。Tom和Jim在Tom的叔父家里找到了Tom的家人,一家人决定到加利福尼亚去寻找新的工作。一家人把所有的行李都放在一辆卡车上便出发了。路上,Tom的祖母去世了。他们发现了一个地方,专门召集像他们这样的人在那里工作,他们在那里安顿了下来。然而Jim却意外死亡,Tom为了给他报仇也杀了人,只能匆匆逃亡。一家人只能离开,去寻找下一个安身的地方,无家可归的农民们到底路在何方..... 本片改编自斯坦贝克的同名小说,获1941年奥斯卡最佳导演奖。
在美国西部的化达州,有个小镇叫勃烈杰井,镇上大牧场主拉莱·金凯的两个牧工阿特·克罗夫特与杰尔·卡特,在酒吧听说牧主金凯被人打死了,杂货店老板德维斯要报告警长和法官,年轻人却都要自己动手去抓凶手,施以私刑。代理警长梅泼斯组织了一支没有经过警长正式委派,不合法的民团队伍,大约20人左右,准备出发。法官劝大家不要去做非法之事,以免造成犯罪行为,但毫无效果。队伍来到崎岖的山路,去找所谓凶手,因为他们认为这一定是偷牛贼干的,而有人恰好看见三个人赶着一群牛离开此地,他们追上了这三个人,不问青红皂白,就要把他们绑起来。三人中为首的青年叫马丁,他解释说,他们的牛是从金凯牧主那里买来的,不是偷的。当他听说人们怀疑他与杀人案有关,他大吃一惊,德维斯从人群中走出来,说应给他们起码的人权——公正的审判,可是大家听不进去,非要绞死他们不可。马丁临死前给妻子留下一封遗书,可是,当梅泼斯将此事回来汇报给警长,警长非常气愤。原来,金凯牧主没有死,开枪打伤他的家伙也被抓住了。人们惊呆,杰尔突然想起马丁的遗书,拿出来念道:“法律是人类的良心,人类没有良心就谈不上文明。”
John Burrows, an ordained minister from a small village in the East, envisions himself with a larger congregation. He is mortified when his wife drunkenly interrupts a sermon, then despondent after her suicide. Burrows travels to Los Angeles for a fresh start, but takes to the bottle himself and ends up arrested for public intoxication. A skid-row con man, Gandy, finds him a bed at a flop house, while a street preacher, Doc Thorssen, and daughter Christine take him to a local mission. Christine is blind. She falls in love with Burrows, enjoying his discussions of the spirit and the soul but knowing little of his past. One day she is struck by a streetcar and knocked unconscious, causing Burrows to once again question his faith. He ultimately accepts the Lord's will and is offered a better place to live and preach. Burrows decides he is better suited to the mission, with Christine by his side.