(Victor Fleming, US 1942, 105 min., 35mm)
Frank Morgan is still rightfully best-known as the one and only Wizard of Oz, but he was also an actor in the Cukor-Kondolf stage company in Rochester, NY in the 1920s, and received his only Academy Award nomination for this film, playing “The Pirate,” a wandering soul with a dark past who sells firewood for the small amount of money he saves. Community and friendships are tested when poor but content fisherman Danny (John Garfield) inherits two small houses and his friend, the charismatic loafer Pilon (Spencer Tracy) decides to move in. Vying for their affection is the beautiful cannery worker Sweets Ramirez (Hedy Lamarr). This adaptation of John Steinbeck’s novel provided Fleming and his cast a rare opportunity to create particularly atmospheric and believable characters with the material. This gorgeous 35mm print was made from the original negatives.