Bound for Glory (1976)

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 Amazon.com

Good acting job on a not very likable personality

David Carredine does a fine job of portraying Woody Guthrie, who was a dog of a man. He ran out on his wife and children in a time when folks were really starving in our fat land. Some one else has to see to his family in a time before we had welfare to assist people who were in need. He went out to California and got involved in labour unions, after seeing the shoddy way the incoming oakie's and other folks who had to migrate west, were treated. Got beaten up, run out of town etc. Took up with other women, then after finally getting a gig to sing on a radio station, he sends for his wife and kids, then basically ignores them once they arrive. She finally leaves and I guess goes back to Texas, and he continues with his labour union attempts to rouse the migrants to protest the way they are treated. It is depressing to find out someone who seemed to be worth admiring, has serious clay feet, kind of like BoJangles Robinson who was another dog. I have watched both of these films for the ist and last time. In spite of the good acting and music etc. they are just to damn depressing. Once around is enough for me. September 1, 2008

Depression Era Story Falls Short As Musical Biography

The late Hal Ashby was one of the great maverick directors of the Seventies. After making his mark as an editor("In the Heat of the Night") Ashby helmed many offbeat and personal films. My personal faves are "Harold and Maude" and "Being There". I'm still waiting for his directorial debut, "The Landlord", to become available on DVD. "Bound for Glory" was a very enigmatic film for me. I admired how Ashby depicts the breadth of the suffering during the Great Depression from the dust parched Texas landscapes to the harsh conditions of the California workfarms. Cinematographer Haskell Wexler can be thanked for a large part of the film's power. As a biography, however, I think the film falls short. I didn't know much about Woody Guthrie before watching this film and quite frankly I don't think "Bound for Glory" offers much insight into the man. My knowledge of Guthrie mainly consists of him being Arlo's father and mentor to Bob Dylan. Like Dylan, Guthrie is portayed as a man of contradictions and enigmas. But there's nothing here that suggests why Guthrie became the spokesperson for the long-suffering working class. David Carradine is a good actor but he is unable to make sense to the viewer what Guthrie is all about. An interesting film that I wouldn't call a failure but falls short of it's noble ambitions. March 23, 2008

bound for glory

An amazing story that entertains yet reminds us that the us wasn't the richest nation: it was a nation of poor farmers and factory workers that the rich (and the us government)ignored during the depression. It gives you a true background of the US. January 19, 2008

Great cinematography, Very flawed story

This one was hard to rate. I read "Bound for Glory" recently and stumbled onto this DVD at Netflix this past week (8/15/2007). This film was only loosely--and I mean very loosely--based on that Woodie Guthrie autobiographical chronicle. Granted, the book was a rambling, sprawling account of Woodie's travels and trepidations from the Oklahoma to California to Chicago and New York during the dust bowl days of the 30's and would be as daunting an undertaking to cinematize as the Bible (maybe more so). And I'm sure that fact and fantasy were flung around with some abandon in Woodie's book. After all, what was Woodie if not a master story teller?

So, what is good? The cinematography is superb. I could taste the dust and smell the box cars, and feel the heat of the southwest sun as well as feel the awesome power, beauty, and vitality of this nation the way is once was. David Carradine is not only a fine idiosyncratic actor, but an accomplished guitar player and singer. Randy Quaid put a lot of power into his relatively minor role as a migrant dust bowl refugee. Melinda Dillon, Ron Cox and the rest of the cast painted compelling and believable portraits. The music was a good balance of restraint and indulgence. I like Woodie Guthrie's songs a lot and the various artists who contributed to the film score were wonderful.

What wasn't so good? I get the feeling that a lot of permissions couldn't be procured for this film. Where was Cisco Houston and who was "Ozark?" And why the lack of original Woodie Guthrie renditions? The movie was long--too long in some places and maddeningly skimpy in others. Details very often inaccurate, incomplete, or totally made-up.

Bottom line: Rent it and take it for what it is--a good movie about a complicated man.



August 18, 2007

Bound for Glory

Affecting film achieves potent immediacy via its vivid recreation of period, thanks to Ashby's keen eye and Haskell Wexler's stunning cinematography. Carradine embodies the everyman engine of America's heartland in his rendering of Guthrie, an ordinary man with an extraordinary gift- the ability to inspire those who have virtually nothing left but hope. Both a triumphant film and an important history lesson, suitable for viewing with older children. July 3, 2007

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