Of Mice and Men main backdrop
Of Mice and Men main poster

Of Mice and Men

Visit website

7.3/10 • 88

1939-12-241h 46m

Drama

She was made for love... and tragedy.

An intellectually disabled giant and his level headed guardian find work at a sadistic cowboy's ranch in depression era America.

Directors
Lewis Milestone
Editors
Bert Jordan

Top Billed Cast

View Credits
  1. Burgess Meredith

    Burgess Meredith

    George

  2. Betty Field

    Betty Field

    Mae

  3. Lon Chaney Jr.

    Lon Chaney Jr.

    Lennie

  4. Charles Bickford

    Charles Bickford

    Slim

  5. Roman Bohnen

    Roman Bohnen

    Candy

  6. Bob Steele

    Bob Steele

    Curley

  7. Noah Beery Jr.

    Noah Beery Jr.

    Whit

  8. Oscar O'Shea

    Oscar O'Shea

    Jackson

  9. Granville Bates

    Granville Bates

    Carlson

Reviews2

View Reviews
JF1017xyz Avatar

JF1017xyz

Jan 30, 2022

This movie version of Steinbeck's short novel, Of Mice and Men, is stellar. It stays very close to the original story, and fills out the characters in the book very nicely. Lon Chaney Jr. plays Lennie, who is simple-minded, trusting and sees the world in black and white terms. Burgess Meredith plays George, his companion and caretaker, who alternates between cruelty and tenderness in his treatment of Lennie. The two are constantly on the move, as Lennie "always does bad things" that get both into trouble. Tragedy is inevitable when Curly's wife tries to make friends with Lennie, and his actions toward her are misinterpreted as an attack. Lennie's strength and inability to read people are what make him "do bad things." One of the dominant themes in the movie has to do with the value of life, both human and animal. Many of the main characters in the story are what could be termed "throwaways" - one is black and crippled, another has only one arm, Lennie is intellectually disabled, Curly's wife comes from a broken home and is damaged by emotional abuse, and Curly, the rancher's son, is short and physically unimposing. As we glimpse into the lives and personalities of the characters, we see that each one has good points - Lennie tries to see goodness in everyone, loves creatures that are gentle and throws his trust toward anyone who shows him some decency. One-armed Candy is compassionate toward anything with limitations; he sees the way he'll eventually be treated when one of the ranch managers convinces him it's best to shoot his crippled, blind old dog. Crooksie, the black cripple, understands what it is to be an outcast. Mae wants to feel as though she's worthy of being loved, and George enjoys being needed and feels respected and responsible, not just for Lennie, but eventually for Candy and Crooksie too as they all plan to buy a small farm together. The movie was made in 1939, three years after Hitler had become Germany's leader and at a time when details of his "Final Solution" were becoming public knowledge, making the judgments regarding the value of all of these people by the ranch owner and his son more significant. This is not a "feel good" movie, but it's well worth watching. The story and themes contained in it are just as relevant today as they were in 1939.

Media

  • Of Mice and Men poster
  • Of Mice and Men poster
  • Of Mice and Men poster
  • Of Mice and Men poster
  • Of Mice and Men poster
  • Of Mice and Men poster
  • Of Mice and Men poster
  • Of Mice and Men poster
  • Of Mice and Men poster

Recommendations

  • Of Mice and Men main backdrop

    Of Mice and Men

    7.2

  • Gaslight main backdrop

    Gaslight

    7.5

  • Eye for an Eye main backdrop

    Eye for an Eye

    6.2

  • At Land main backdrop

    At Land

    7.3

  • No Backdrop

    Victims of Lust

    2.5

  • Soylent Green main backdrop

    Soylent Green

    6.9

  • Network main backdrop

    Network

    7.8

  • Deadpool main backdrop

    Deadpool

    7.6

  • Avatar main backdrop

    Avatar

    7.6

  • Back to the Future Part II main backdrop

    Back to the Future Part II

    7.8

  • The Prestige main backdrop

    The Prestige

    8.2

  • Marriage Story main backdrop

    Marriage Story

    7.7

  • Fargo main backdrop

    Fargo

    7.9

  • The Holiday main backdrop

    The Holiday

    7.1

  • Back to the Future main backdrop

    Back to the Future

    8.3

  • 12 Angry Men main backdrop

    12 Angry Men

    8.5

  • Alien main backdrop

    Alien

    8.2

  • Boogie Nights main backdrop

    Boogie Nights

    7.6

  • Parasite main backdrop

    Parasite

    8.5

  • The Aviator main backdrop

    The Aviator

    7.2

Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
californiabased on novel or bookranchgreat depressiondriftermigrant worker