Bound for Glory is a 1976 biographical film which tells the story of folk singer Woody Guthrie, with David Carradine in the title role.
It was directed by Hal Ashby and adapted from Woody Guthrie's 1943 autobiography, Bound for Glory (co-written by Robert Getchell). It stars Ronny Cox, Melinda Dillon, Gail Strickland, John Lehne, Ji-Tu Cumbuka and Randy Quaid. Much of the film is based on Guthrie's attempt to humanize the desperate Okie Dust Bowl refugees in California during the Great Depression. Many of the scenes were filmed in and around Bakersfield and Kern County, actual places of Dust Bowl strife and settlement. Guthrie is best known for his very popular folk songs, most notably, "This Land Is Your Land."
Bound for Glory was the first motion picture in which inventor Garrett Brown used his Steadicam invention for filming moving scenes. Director of Photography Haskell Wexler won an Oscar for Best Cinematography (1976).
This film is an excellent biography of Woody Guthrie, one of America's greatest folk singers. He left his dust-devastated Texas home in the 1930s to find work, and discovered the suffering and strength of America's working class. Written by L.H. Wong
