Secondly, he really does not know his own strength and that leads to tragedy. The weakness of Lennie is that he is very slow to anger, but when he does you don't want to be in his way. The old adage about not having enough sense to come out of the rain is literally true in his case. The Mutt&Jeff contrast between Lennie and George shows just how much Lennie is dependent on George for even the simplest of necessities. and his friend and guardian George Milton played by Burgess Meredith. The two main characters are the gentle and slow giant Lennie Small as played by Lon Chaney, Jr. It's rather a human study, the kind of migrant workers whom the Joads joined are shown in a small setting at a California ranch. It's not The Grapes Of Wrath and its exploration of great social issues. Of Mice And Men must have been a particular favorite of John Steinbeck and his work. Reviewed by bkoganbing 9 / 10 The Gentle Giant ![]() Well worth seeing and a great example of a film made very well on a relatively small budget. Smith Goes to Washington" and many other great films), it might have taken home some Oscars. 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. 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. The acting is very good, the direction also nice and the film kept me on the edge of my seat. They also should be applauded for picking two relative unknowns to star in the film-Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney, Jr. What you see is essentially the Steinbeck story-and the studio trusted the source material enough to stick with it. Also, the film made a few minor changes in the play-but not many. ![]() The language was toned down-with swearing removed. 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.Īs far as the story goes, it's much like the book and play-but with a few changes to meet the tough Production Code. 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. It's amazing that a film as good as this one came from a small studio like Hal Roach. Reviewed by planktonrules 9 / 10 It's amazing that such a small studio made such a wonderful film. We invented and developed this genre of art and this film must stand as one of its finest examples. This is one of our American classic films. as Whit adds another element of sympathy. There are the solid characters of Bickford's Slim, Meredith's George and Bohnen's Candy Steele was at his best as the vain, pugnacious Curley Veteran character actor, Noah Berry Jr. The cast is outstanding: Betty Field's careless and bored character, Mae contrasts with the mighty innocence of Chaney's Lennie. Many are not aware that Steinbeck was small (5'3") and very self-conscious about his size. There's the "big" guy, a victim of the "little" guy's vanity. This story, and the play, created at Steinbeck's most experimental period, is fraught with symbolism. Too, for the serious Steinbeck fan, there's more, much more. And, while Steinbeck was not one to let a sentimental moment pass by, e.g, Lennie's Christ-like innocence, inappropriate super-human strength which inadvertently wreaks havoc resulting in his euthanasia with the same instrument as used for Curley's dog, these scenes are never maudlin. The cast is wonderful and the story is a classic: the destruction of innocence by cruel reality (viz: the title of the story taken from a line from a Robert Burns's poem). Now, having said that, I must say he's wrong. ![]() Our Irish friend's acrid comments show he obviously doesn't like Steinbeck and that's his privilege. The first comment given here shows an incredible lack of understanding of Steinbeck in his California period. Reviewed by artzau 10 / 10 EXCELLENT CINEMA!
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