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It's amazing that a film as good as this one came from a small studio like Hal Roach. Sure, they released many of their films through MGM but they were tiny and specialized in short comedies with the likes of Laurel & Hardy, Charley Chase and The Little Rascals--but they were not known for dramas. Well, starting in the late 1930s, the studio tried their hand at such fare and in some cases did some lovely films--and "Of Mice and Men" is the best example of these new dramas.

As far as the story goes, it's much like the book and play---but with a few changes to meet the tough Production Code. The language was toned down--with swearing removed. Also, the film made a few minor changes in the play--but not many. What you see is essentially the Steinbeck story--and the studio trusted the source material enough to stick with it. They also should be applauded for picking two relative unknowns to star in the film--Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney, Jr..

Overall, the film is a smashing success. The acting is very good, the direction also nice and the film kept me on the edge of my seat. The only negative, and it's very, very, very minor, is that a few of the scenes looked very much like they were filmed on a set. Still, it's one of the best films of the year and had it not come out in 1939 (the same year as "Gone With The Wind", "The Wizard of Oz", "Goodby Mr. Chips", "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and many other great films), it might have taken home some Oscars. Well worth seeing and a great example of a film made very well on a relatively small budget.

OF MICE AND MEN (1939) **** Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney Jr. embody John Steinbeck's tragic migrant workers George and Lennie during The Great Depression facing all the hard work and hard knocks life offers in their pursuit of The American Dream of `livin' off the fatta the lan' and wind up on a ranch with its share of down on their luck characters all enclaved to certain destinies and a heavy fall for our protagonists. Chaney (in his second icon role, the latter would be as the accursed Larry Talbott aka The WolfMan) personifies the gentle souled giant with a dim bulb who obeys his best friend George like a loyal dog and as his brother's keeper, Meredith allows his scrappiness a warmth underneath. Lennie Smalls would be endlessly used as a punchline in Looney Tunes toons to come (`which way did he go George!') and the film would be updated twice - one a tv movie with Robert Blake and Randy Quaid and a theatrical 90s version with Gary Sinise and John Malkovich. This classic was also produced by famed studio maven Hal Roach.

Excellent screen adaptation of the John Steinbeck classic about two drifters in the Depression who move from ranch to ranch in search of work. Perfect pairing of Meredith and Chaney (his finest screen performance) as George and Lennie. In a year of great classic movies, it should be no surprise that this film falls into that category as well. Oscar nominated for the Best Picture of 1939.

This screen adaptation of the John Steinbeck classic novel is a harsh, fantastic film that took the wind out of me with its frank and brutal depiction of desperation and longing. Movies about the Depression that were actually made at the time of the Depression by people who knew of what they spoke by necessity feel so much more authentic than later movies that treat the Depression as a historical event. The men in this film are quite literally living day to day, and the comparison of men to dogs that serves as a running motif throughout the film feels like more than just a poetic device. Like dogs, these men were faced with the scary prospect of some day being of no more use, and there was no system in place to take care of them when that day came. Being shot like a dog put out of its misery by its owner really was preferable to the alternatives awaiting them.

I was surprised about how candid this film was, and how bravely it tackled some of the thornier issues of Steinbeck's novel. The incident between Lenny and Mae is divested of some of its sexual overtones, but much is implied anyway. And a scene between Crooks, a black work hand, and some of the other workers, in which Crooks explains in blunt language what it means to be black, tackles race relations as honestly as many films today.

Moments of this film are almost unbearably sad and poignant, but never in that over-sentimental way common to Hollywood films of this time period. Burgess Meredith is terrific in the role of George; he expertly conveys--without ever directly addressing it--the bond he has with Lenny and the degree to which Lenny is as much George's savior as he is Lenny's. Charles Bickford is also excellent as a rough and world-weary worker. The cast's weak links are Betty Field--hopelessly overplaying her bored sex kitten--and Lon Chaney as Lenny, though both are very good in the pivotal scene that sets off the action of the film's finale.

John Ford's adaptation of "The Grapes of Wrath" from the following year gets all of the attention today, and one hardly ever hears of "Of Mice and Men." But much of what is great about Ford's film is also great about Lewis Milestone's, and he deserves credit for laying a fine blueprint for brining Steinbeck's beautiful and heartbreaking stories to the screen.

Grade: A

This is wonderful film! I loved it! Why Lon Chaney Jr. did not win the oscar for his portrayel of Lenny, I'll never know. He was perfect in that role. One of my favorite scenes is when they have to kill Candy's dog. Just the emotion from everyone is.. just amazing. You have to cry everytime you see it. Wonderful movie that is probably the best one to come from a novel. John Steinbeck should be proud of this one. I know I'd be. 10/10.