The skillfully-made film was both praised and vilified at the time of its release, but has since been rated as one of the best films of its decade.On a night-time street corner in downtown LA, while Riggs was questioning a hooker about Dixie, a vehicle sped by with Mr.The plight of the Joad family is universalized as a microcosm of the thousands of other tenant farmers during the country""s ime of crisis, who suffered from oppression imposed by the banks and big mechanized farm interests.His was "the voice in the wilderness" that fell on deaf ears, and the children of Kanoma City paid the price.