Of Mice And Men (1939)

Two migrant workers, a sharp witted young man (Burgess Meredith) and his dim witted giant of a companion (Lon Chaney Jr.), find work on a farm. They day dream of having a ranch of their own but the reality is that the backward hulk is dangerous and needs his friend to watch over him to stop him from doing "bad things". This is an excellent adaptation of the John Steinbeck novella via a stage adaptation by George S. Kaufman and Sam Harris. The strong direction by Lewis Milestone is deft and persuasive and he keeps the narrative from veering into the unwelcome possibility of sentiment. But there are powerfully emotional scenes like the killing of Candy's dog which is almost too heartbreaking to bear though one can see why Steinbeck put it in. The burly Lennie who loves bunnies and whose dull mind can't comprehend the brutality of his own strength is Chaney Jr.'s greatest screen part but even still, he's not very good. He overplays his hand, he's too precise, too calculated. The rest of the cast compensates though. The screenplay fleshes out the only major female role, that of Curly's wife, from the novel. In Steinbeck's book, she doesn't even have a name, the movie gives her one and makes her frustrated farm wife relatable and Betty Field plays her impeccably. Strong support too from Roman Bohnen as the one armed Candy and Leigh Whipper as the bitter segregated black farm worker. The superb Oscar nominated score is by Aaron Copland, his first for a feature film. With Charles Bickford, Bob Steele and Barbara Pepper.