Product Description

By strumming his guitar with words of inspiration, Woody Guthrie instilled hope in the hearts of downtrodden Americans everywhere during the 1930s Depression. Now, the extraordinary life of this legendary balladeer and poet is captured in this "elegantly crafted, hugely beautiful and interesting film, which reveals loving integrity in every frame" (Los Angeles Times)! Winner* of two OscarsÂ(r) and starring David Carradine, Bound for Glory features "magnificent cinematography" (New York) and an amazing score adaptation. It's 1936, and the Great Depression is forcing droves of people from the dust bowls of Texas to the alluring green fields of California...and unemployed sign-painter Woody Guthrie is among them. Determined to find a better life out west, Guthrie hitchhikes, hops freight trains and sings his way across America, uplifting the spirits of the poor with his homespun wisdom and fiercely fighting for a better life for all. Featuring classic Guthrie tunes including "This Land Is Your Land," this "moving, inspiring" (The Hollywood Reporter) portrait of an American icon is "one of [the] year's most admirable and triumphant surprises" (Los Angeles Times)! *1976: Cinematography, Music (Adaptation Score)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11098 in DVD
• Brand: TCFHE/MGM
• Released on: 2000-02-29
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 147 minutes

Amazon.com
Hal Ashby (The Last Detail, Being There) directed this lyrical and affecting 1976 biography of legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie. David Carradine gives a powerful performance as the traveling Depression-era vagabond whose music affected generations. Guthrie is portrayed as an earnest soul whose passion and empathy for the working class spurs him to inspirational heights. Ronny Cox (Deliverance, Beverly Hills Cop) plays a union organizer who sees the value in Guthrie's words and music and persuades him to put his music to good use for the people struggling to earn a living wage. Featuring Melinda Dillon as Guthrie's wife, this easygoing travelogue conveys an authentic sense of period Americana and won Academy Awards for Haskell Wexler's cinematography as well as for the score based on Guthrie's own music. Bound for Glory is an important film to see for anyone in love with the origins of folk music and interested in its place in the 20th century. --Robert Lane

Customer Reviews

From the Dust Bowl to the Sugar Bowl
Woody Guthrie is a legendary American figure. His prolific song writing, grass roots activism, and even his influence on other song writers like Bob Dylan and Steve Earle are only partially responsible for that legend. Woody represents a classic American type - the ramblin' man with no fixed home who champions the underdog wherever the wind may blow him, and therein lies the heart of the legend. This film captures that aspect of Woody superbly.
`Bound for Glory' covers Woody's life from just before he left dust bowl Texas to his first sojourn into the sugar bowl of California. It expertly captures the harsh conditions and brutal treatment that inspired many of Woody's songs. From dust storms, desperate migrations via highway and railway, to the squalid conditions of California migrant camps, this film recreates the world that Woody saw.
David Carradine gives a career best performance as Woody. He captures Guthrie's ambiguous nature - from his genuine concern for the downtrodden and oppressed to his irresponsibility in shirking his obligations to his own family. His performance powerfully embodies Guthrie's fierce independence, restlessness, and gut-level dissatisfaction with the system.
This film is a superb addition to the Guthrie legend. If you have ever been moved by Woody's songs, consider it a must see. I highly recommend it.

Theo Logos

SOUNDTRACK WAS FINE
Unfortunately, for months I was frightened away from purchasing this movie, because one reviewer a year ago said the DVD soundtrack was such a bad transfer it was difficult to hear the dialog at certain points. Finally I decided I wanted to see this classic film so bad, I'd risk the bad sound. To my surprise and delight, I discovered no problem at all with the sound -- and I'm usually ultra-critical of fuzzy sound, which normally drives me up the wall. If, in fact, there was any sound problem on early prints of the DVD version, it appears to have now been corrected in the later prints. The viewer discovers belatedly, at the end of one music sequence, that it was tinny-sounding on purpose, because one of the characters was listening on an old-fashioned wind-up phonograph -- a nuance easy to miss if you blinked in the wrong place. In a few other sequences, the movie appears to utilize early-day recordings by the real Guthrie -- which helps rather than hinders the impact. True, the soundtrack technology in this 1976 movie is not up to modern-day Dolby Surround Sound standards -- but it's amazingly good for a 25-year-old soundtrack. Relax, and enjoy the Academy Award-winning Depression Era photography of Haskel Wexler that will make you feel you've stepped into a Walker Evans photograph of 1936 Dust Bowl refugees fleeing to the supposed golden land of California. Almost every scene is suitable for framing. Not to be missed. A "must buy" for collectors.

Bound For Glory-First Rate!
After spending 7 months engaged as music coordinator and playing the role of George Guthrie is this excellent Hal Ashby film, I was pleased to see how well it actually turned out. When one is behind the scenes in the making of a film, it is often difficult to try and follow a script, inasmuch, that so many scenes are shot out of sequence. This is a very fine film made by one of my closest friends, Hal Ashby. A great director with great actors. Carridine does a wonderful job, as does Ronny Cox, Melinda Dillion, and Randy Quaid...A first rate film for any class "A" film collector...Believe me, most of the dust in this motion picture was real..I coughed for month after the film wrapped...Hope you enjoy it... Guthrie Thomas