Bound for Glory

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed!

Bound for Glory (1976), directed by Hal Ashby (Harold and Maud, Coming Home), is an episodic story that reminds one of The Grapes of Wrath. It starts out with a line from Woody Guthrie that urges others to not get “plumb” down. We have here an optimist even though he sang songs about the Great Depression, the toughest economic time in American history.

The story begins in Pampa, Texas in July, 1936. Woody (David Carradine, who plays guitar and sings in the role) strums his guitar while other men talk about wanting to go to California or the Gulf of Mexico. Old Man Jenkins (Delos V. Smith, Jr.) says, “In California, you just plop a seed into the ground, you find a sprout the very next day.” They want to escape to anywhere that might suggest the promise of a better life, even if those dreams are as insubstantial as the smoke coming out of a pipe. Woody says these men are “depressing,” probably because of their pathetic ramblings. But they have lost their jobs and there is nothing promising where they are.

A man named Collister (Beeson Carroll) arrives to get gas for his car and says he’d pay a fortune teller who can inform him of something interesting. Woody says he knows the man must work for the oil company because nobody else could afford a fortune teller and a “soda pop.” He adds that the man is serious about his work because his eyebrows are knit together. He goes on to say that Collister is looking for a better idea and wants a big company to buy him out. Collister asks when he should make the transaction. Woody laughs and says he isn’t a mind reader, which is funny since he has made such an accurate assessment of the stranger. Collister gives him a dollar and compliments Woody, saying he’s the only man not claiming to know everything. The exchange shows Woody’s insight, humility, and honesty.

Since he made some money from talking, Woody paints a sign advertising his communication skills. His wife, Mary (Melinda Dillon), tells her husband to be practical about making money from his artistic sign-making ability. Woody ask her not to harp on that point, which shows him to be an impractical man interested in artistic and extraordinary practices. That same idea comes up around the family dinner table later when Woody’s father, Charlie Guthrie (Robert Sorrells), says there are jobs in Amarillo Texas at a department store. Woody says he isn’t going to be “no shoe salesman.” Mary is sarcastic about how maybe Woody can tell his daughter’s fortune when the child is “begging for milk.” The artistic and the practical just don’t mix well in Woody.

Because he now has a reputation as a fortune teller, people expect him to have other extraordinary powers like helping those that are sick from inhaling the dust from the storms prevalent in the middle of the country. These actual storms seem to mirror Mother Nature’s symbolic comment on the waste land that has taken over the United States. Woody gives a mind over body speech to encourage an ill woman to keep fighting for survival. He tells her that God gave her a mind which is “the boss of the whole body.” So, her mind can tell her body to drink water and thrive so she will not leave her husband and children behind. When the woman starts to drink water her relative offers Woody some money, but he refuses it. He probably feels doing a good deed is compensation enough, and he is proud that his words could do what they did. This ability to influence others through words eventually leads to his being a singer/songwriter.

Woody’s individualism comes across when instead of painting a shipowner’s sign with white letters against a black background, he instead uses red as the backdrop. He tells the owner that red stands out better which demonstrates his artistic sensibility and defies traditional standards. That defiance gets him fired from the job, showing that the nonconformist finds resistance from those that subscribe to rigid standards. That rebelliousness can lead to selfish behavior since we see a scene where a woman makes sexual advances after he sings. His infidelity is not an admirable aspect of rule breaking as Woody ignores the commitment to his wife.

A large man named Heavy Chandler (Lee McLaughlin) introduces himself to Woody as an “insane” man. He says that he was in an asylum and that ever since he was young he saw “newsreels” in his head. He says that those images showed that “the boom is over,” and “the dust storms are getting darker and there’s people fighting and killing, and there’s kids sick.” As a fellow fortune teller Woody most likely feels a kinship with Heavy’s premonitions, and he says, “Ain’t nothing wrong with your head.” The artist traditionally had the label of being “mad” as he felt the influence of outside forces flow through him, the literal meaning of “influence.” Those with insight into the dangerous paths that society follows often experience ridicule from the short-sighted. Heavy goes on to say that he also sees “shapes and designs and I see how to build roads better.” In his special way of transcending present limitations he can see how things can be better. Woody recognizes a kindred soul and gives paint and brushes to Heavy so he can present his vision artistically for the rest of the world to appreciate. Woody realizes that his role is the same one he advocates for Heavy.

Woody plays fiddle with some local musicians at a local square dance. Everyone is having a good time despite the tough circumstances. But it’s as if Mother Nature will not allow them to experience enjoyment since a huge dust storm interrupts the party. Woody fights the unbreathable air as he rushes home to try and protect his family which must cover all openings to their shack. As they listen to Woody’s music they must cover their noses and mouths with damp cloths. The suffocating environment is symbolic of how life is trying to choke the life out of the impoverished. He sees the depressed barber who has no customers in his dust-laden shop, and the resident who can’t get his motorcycle started because of the dirt. After learning that there will be no more square dances even the positive Woody admits to his wife that things are getting desperate.

Woody’s free spirit can’t tolerate staying in the bogged down existence of Pampa, so he leaves a note to Mary that says he is going to California. He hesitates for only a moment, but when he sees he can get a ride out of town he takes off. It’s not easy for the audience to accept his decision to leave his wife and young children. He travels with nothing more than the clothes on his back, his paint brushes, and a harmonica. He becomes an illegal passenger in a cramped train boxcar with other poor travelers chasing what’s left of the American Dream out west to California.

He becomes friends with another hobo, an African American named Slim Snedeger (Ji-Tu Cumbuka). On the train he also meets Po Steve and Crippled Whitey (James Jeter). Their names reflect their sad fates. Whitey calls himself a “fight spotter,” because he can “spot a fist-fight on the street three blocks” before he reaches it. He fits in with the motif of the fortune tellers, poor folks with prophetic visions who can see things that others can’t. Slim says that people can get short-tempered riding boxcars, but Woody’s optimism surfaces when he says that it still “beats walking.” But Whitey’s prediction of a fight in ten minutes is right as a brawl breaks out among the stowaways. Slim and Woody jump out when the train slows, and they climb on top of one of the train cars. Slim echoes the earlier pie-in-the-sky idea that one can find “whatever a man needs” in California. Woody keeps music as his companion as he plays the harmonica. As the train rolls on we get a taste of Woody’s most famous song, “This Land is Your Land,” that remind Americans that the country should belong to everyone, not just a privileged few.

The travelers receive a mean unwelcoming by men with clubs and guns as the train pulls into a station. One of the armed thugs threatens to kill one of the hobos. Some must give up what little money they have to continue to travel. Those like Woody who don’t hear coins “jangling” or money “folding” in their pockets are considered vagrants and must walk, threatened with thirty days imprisonment if caught riding a train for free again. Slim is able to get a ride on the train, so Woody loses his new friend in a hurry and continues traveling alone.

Woody can’t even get kindness from a clergyman, who is supposed to be in the Christian compassion business. Woody asks for work to earn a meal. The pastor says that there isn’t any work so it would be charity, and that would cause “harm” in the long run. The film suggests that it is cruel to not help people to live when there is no other alternative for them to survive.

Woody’s musical abilities are many since he can sing, play the guitar, fiddle, harmonica, and now a piano in a bar for tips. The song he sings stresses Jesus’s compassion for the poor, which makes it relevant to the Depression era. He writes songs along the way, winning over a woman’s submission by saying he wrote a particular song just for her. Despite his leaving and infidelity, he still writes letters home to his wife. One may find this act either touching or hypocritical.

Woody is thrilled when he gets a ride that crosses the Arizona border into California. However, that exhilaration lasts a New York second as many transporting their belongings must pull over. The police from Los Angeles require that every man must have fifty dollars to get into California. These are not deadbeats that are trying to enter the state, but down-on-their luck fellow citizens. So much for America being the land of the free. Woody shows his generosity by giving money to the fellow that drove him even though he is dirt poor himself.

He receives help from others that are destitute. A man shares a blanket and campfire with Woody. Another fellow helps Woody get on a guarded train as it starts to quickly depart. For his attempt to travel onboard with Woody, the guards shoot him atop one of the cars. We have citizens shooting other citizens who are just looking for a reprieve from their poverty.

Woody must jump off the train at a station since he can hardly stand up after holding on between cars so no one will notice him. But he has made it to California. However, the hopes for a better place to live there are not in the cards. He cleans up the kitchen area of the restaurant of a Chinese cook and receives chili to eat as payment. But again, there are no jobs. When he helps a couple with a bent wheel on their truck, the man, Luther Johnson (Randy Quaid), says everything in California is “bent.” The promised land is not delivering on its reputation.

Woody rides with Luther and his wife, Liz (Elizabeth Macey), and their infant child. Luther is a migrant farm worker. They go to a place where there are only about three hundred jobs and there are a thousand more than that number hoping for work. Most of the people live camped outside, crowded together, hoping against all odds to get employment. Wages are so bad that they can’t buy essentials. Woody says that there ought to be something done to help the workers. Luther mentions the possibility of a union, but a strike would bring hardship to those already suffering.

He goes into town to pawn Luther’s guitar for him and stops at a soup kitchen. Woody is not used to getting handouts and expects to work for the soup. He eventually accepts the free meal from Pauline (Gail Strickland) but promises to paint a sign for the kitchen the next day. She agrees to red and white, and it appears Woody sees a connection between them. After painting the sign, he says he hopes she will make dinner for him. She realizes the romantic implication here and says she can’t grant his request. Woody rubs his scruffy beard and says, “of course you can’t.” She insists that it is not Woody’s downtrodden appearance that is the reason for the rejection. But, he shows no hurt because he says it is a good reason.

Woody then goes to a bar just to play a relaxing song, but a fight breaks out between two men. It seems there is no place of peace in this tension-packed world. Back at the migrant camp, tempers are also running high as only thirty people get jobs. Luther says that all the employers are alike no matter where a worker goes. The depression was truly great.

Ozark Bule (Ronnie Cox), a singer, arrives at the campsite and those present are excited by the possibility of entertainment. He brings fruit to eat and says he will only play his guitar if they all shout “Union!” He sings a song that criticizes the employers for saying workers will get their reward in heaven. Ozark’s ability to generate the desire to change the horrible conditions of the poor through his music gets Woody’s attention. There is a hoe-down into the evening and Woody joins with others in singing and playing music. Woody sings his songs, including “Bound for Glory,” about a righteous train traveling. The people there applaud Woody’s performance. The boss’s enforcers try to run Ozark off and fighting breaks out. Woody rides off with Ozark, who tells Woody he should start “trying” to use his talent to make a difference.

Ozark gets Woody an audition at the radio station and Woody gets a weekly job playing his music. He joins with Ozark and other musicians performing at the studio. He sings about not having a home, with the police hassling him as he wanders about, with the bosses cashing in on his hard work. He goes around to the fields with Ozark talking about joining a union and the employer’s goons come by and attack them as they barely escape with their lives. The movie is presenting the abuse of unrestrained capitalism.

Woody now looks cleaned up and goes to the soup kitchen where Pauline still says she doesn’t want to have him over for dinner because she doesn’t know him. He is persistent and funny when he says he would like gravy with his chicken. When he goes to her neighborhood he finds it to be quite upscale. He is funny when he says to Pauline that he thought the mayor would be answering the door since the building looked like city hall. At dinner he asks her if she ever feels “embarrassed” about having so much when others have nothing. He says he met many people on the road who were dead broke who didn’t want charity, just work. Woody says despite being deprived they could still give him something of themselves. When he met rich people they wouldn’t even look at him. In other words, they became dehumanized because they were always afraid of someone taking what they had. He is suggesting what Brad Pitt’s character in Fight Club says how the things you own begin to own you. Pauline is adamant that she has feelings and cares just like others. He says that isn’t good enough, but he thought she had “possibilities” because she was the first rich person “that looked back” instead of ignoring him for being poor.

At a union meeting there is much discord among those present. Woody literally writes a song on the spot and he and Ozark sing about “Stickin’ with the union.” His music and words transcend the animosity and get the crowd on their feet in unison. The goons are there, too, however, and start to use blackjacks on the men. Woody and Ozark join those in the fight to defend their bodies and their rights.

Back at Pauline’s house, Woody nurses his poor, bruised body in her luxurious tub as she sits in her bed. So, they have obviously become intimate. She admits that she is happy knowing him. Despite her being wealthy, he has added an intangible richness to her life. The next morning he confesses that he is married and has children. He can’t lie to her because he knows that they care for one another. Unlike the way he was with other women, when it comes to Pauline, he can’t be selfishly deceptive with her.

Woody now feels that he has enough money to have his family join him. He calls Mary and tells her he loves her. Woody is ready to be a family man again, and buys a house so he, Mary, and the children can live like they hoped they would. They are ecstatic in this new life, but that elation will contrast with the sadness that they will encounter later.

Woody receives fan mail, and the station manager, Locke (John Lehne), offers him a nightly gig with increased pay. However, Woody will have sponsors who want him to steer clear of “controversial” topics. The companies want to cash in on his talent but they want to own his soul so he will not attack them. Ozark gives him a knowing nod to agree to the deal, which suggests he expects to have Woody still preaching the union gospel, but not on the radio. Woody has a difficult time separating the job one uses to make money and one’s moral responsibility. He rebels on the air as he sings a song about the dashed dream of leaving the “dust bowl” for the “sugar bowl” of California, only to discover that visitors are not welcome unless they pay their way in. Locke wants a list of the songs he is going to sing, but Woody would rather have Locke fire him if he must compromise his artistic freedom.

After a show at the station, a man named Baker (Bernie Koppel) meets Woody and eventually becomes his agent. Woody travels and sings, but finding workers earning only “pennies” for their labor depresses Woody. He says to Mary that somehow it made more sense dealing with what Mother Nature served up than people’s “greed.” It seems that he is saying that Mother Nature did not knowingly try to hurt others, unlike humans. Mary worries about him losing his job and doesn’t want to return to an impoverished, unhealthy existence. It is a precarious life at this time when the state of the society can quickly lead to a ruined life.

Woody runs into his old traveling friend Johnson, who incurred a face wound from strike-breakers. Johnson says he learned from his baby that you must make noise to get what you want and tells Woody to keep being the voice of the poor workers. After he gives Locke the list he wanted, Woody is angry and starts to wreck the studio out of guilt for capitulating to the demand. He hits the road again to visit the workers and uses his songs to urge them to become union members. At one spot the company thugs beat him up and destroy his guitar. There is a cost for fighting inequity. Woody left the job and the family, again, and when he returns, Mary is crying when she says, “You don’t think nothing about running off whenever you get the urge.” They have a heated fight. His wife and children become collateral damage in this war Woody wages against the rigged economic system, and the film stresses how difficult it is to fight against those in power.

Woody returns to the radio studio but refuses to stop singing his songs dedicated to the field workers. Locke fires him, but Ozark is jubilant because the agent Baker lined up a CBS performance that will allow Woody to sing to the entire nation. He and Ozark go out celebrating and Woody returns home with gifts for the family. But Mary has had enough of the mostly absent and unreliable Woody going off on his crusades. She has left with the children.

When Woody auditions at the exclusive Coconut Grove venue the booking staff wants to package him as a hillbilly act and do not care about the message he is bringing. He tells Ozark that he doesn’t want to perform in front of rich folks who, according to Woody, are cut off from the rest of the population and, thus, do not bother themselves with the plight of the destitute. Baker has already told him the that he has to avoid “controversial” topics on the CBS show. It’s the same situation that he found at the radio station, where those with money, sponsors, dictate what the artist should say so their own affluent lives can remain impervious to criticism.

He walks out and Ozark finally says goodbye to Woody who says he just wants to be somewhere else. He echoes what he said earlier that he always feels he should be somewhere else. He is not content to settle in and be comfortable and complacent. He’s like a soldier who keeps looking for the battle.

There is a voice-over narrative in which a recording of the real Woody Guthrie says that he hates songs that run people down by saying they are bound to lose. As Woody rides yet another train he sings “This land is Your Land,” which stresses that we should be bound for glory. Woody would die of a terrible ailment, Huntington’s disease, but his music and hope to eliminate oppression lives on.

The next film is Bridge of Spies.