Of Mice and Men is a
1939The year 1939 in film involved some significant events.- Events :Movie historians and film buffs often look back on 1939 as "the greatest year in film history"...
film based on the
novellaOf Mice and Men is a novella written by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the tragic story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers during the Great Depression in California....
of the same title by American author
John SteinbeckJohn Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and the novella Of Mice and Men . He wrote a total of twenty-seven books, including sixteen novels, six non-fiction books and five collections of short stories...
. It stars
Burgess MeredithOliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor. He was best-known for portraying Rocky Balboa's trainer Mickey Goldmill in the Rocky films and The Penguin in the television series Batman...
,
Betty FieldBetty Field was an American film and stage actress.Field was born in Boston, MA. She began her acting career on the London stage in Howard Lindsay's farce, She Loves Me Not. Following its run she returned to the United States and appeared in several stage successes, before making her film debut in...
, Lon Chaney Jr.,
Charles BickfordCharles Bickford was an American actor best known for his supporting roles. He was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for The Song of Bernadette , The Farmer's Daughter , and Johnny Belinda...
,
Roman BohnenRoman Bohnen was a stage and film actor.Born Roman Aloys Bohnen in St. Paul, Minnesota, Bohnen attended the University of Minnesota, where he was an cheerleader. He cheered so vigorously that it changed his voice for the rest of his life. After graduating in 1923 with a B.A., Roman served his...
,
Bob SteeleBob Steele was an American actor. He was born Robert Adrian Bradbury in Portland, Oregon, into a vaudeville family. After years of touring, the family settled down in Hollywood in the late 1910s, where his father, Robert N...
and
Noah Beery, Jr.Noah Lindsey Beery , known professionally as Noah Beery, Jr. or just Noah Beery, was an American actor specializing in warm, friendly character parts similar to the ones played by his uncle Wallace Beery, although Noah Beery, Jr., unlike his uncle, seldom broke away from playing supporting roles...
The film tells the story of how the lead characters, George and Lennie, try to pursue their dream of owning their own ranch instead of working always for other people.
The film, produced by the
Hal RoachHarold Eugene "Hal" Roach, Sr. was an American film and television producer and director from the 1910s to the 1990s.- Early life and career :Hal Roach was born in Elmira, New York...
Studios, was adapted by Eugene Solow and directed by
Lewis MilestoneLewis Milestone was an Academy Award-winning motion picture director. He is known for directing Two Arabian Knights , All Quiet on the Western Front , The General Died at Dawn , Of Mice and Men , Ocean's Eleven , and Mutiny on the Bounty .Milestone was born in...
.
Of Mice and Men is a
1939The year 1939 in film involved some significant events.- Events :Movie historians and film buffs often look back on 1939 as "the greatest year in film history"...
film based on the
novellaOf Mice and Men is a novella written by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the tragic story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers during the Great Depression in California....
of the same title by American author
John SteinbeckJohn Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and the novella Of Mice and Men . He wrote a total of twenty-seven books, including sixteen novels, six non-fiction books and five collections of short stories...
. It stars
Burgess MeredithOliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor. He was best-known for portraying Rocky Balboa's trainer Mickey Goldmill in the Rocky films and The Penguin in the television series Batman...
,
Betty FieldBetty Field was an American film and stage actress.Field was born in Boston, MA. She began her acting career on the London stage in Howard Lindsay's farce, She Loves Me Not. Following its run she returned to the United States and appeared in several stage successes, before making her film debut in...
, Lon Chaney Jr.,
Charles BickfordCharles Bickford was an American actor best known for his supporting roles. He was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for The Song of Bernadette , The Farmer's Daughter , and Johnny Belinda...
,
Roman BohnenRoman Bohnen was a stage and film actor.Born Roman Aloys Bohnen in St. Paul, Minnesota, Bohnen attended the University of Minnesota, where he was an cheerleader. He cheered so vigorously that it changed his voice for the rest of his life. After graduating in 1923 with a B.A., Roman served his...
,
Bob SteeleBob Steele was an American actor. He was born Robert Adrian Bradbury in Portland, Oregon, into a vaudeville family. After years of touring, the family settled down in Hollywood in the late 1910s, where his father, Robert N...
and
Noah Beery, Jr.Noah Lindsey Beery , known professionally as Noah Beery, Jr. or just Noah Beery, was an American actor specializing in warm, friendly character parts similar to the ones played by his uncle Wallace Beery, although Noah Beery, Jr., unlike his uncle, seldom broke away from playing supporting roles...
The film tells the story of how the lead characters, George and Lennie, try to pursue their dream of owning their own ranch instead of working always for other people.
The film, produced by the
Hal RoachHarold Eugene "Hal" Roach, Sr. was an American film and television producer and director from the 1910s to the 1990s.- Early life and career :Hal Roach was born in Elmira, New York...
Studios, was adapted by Eugene Solow and directed by
Lewis MilestoneLewis Milestone was an Academy Award-winning motion picture director. He is known for directing Two Arabian Knights , All Quiet on the Western Front , The General Died at Dawn , Of Mice and Men , Ocean's Eleven , and Mutiny on the Bounty .Milestone was born in...
. It was nominated for four
OscarsThe Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is...
. The musical score was by noted American composer
Aaron CoplandAaron Copland was an American composer of concert and film music, as well as an accomplished pianist. Instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, he was widely known as "the dean of American composers". Copland's music achieved a balance between modern music and American...
.
Trivia
This was one of many films to be
bannedFor nearly the entire history of film production, certain films have been either boycotted by political and religious groups or literally banned by a regime for political or moral reasons...
in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
between 1928 and 1941 by the Chief Censor, Creswell O'Reilly.
Curley's wife is unnamed in the original
novelA novel is a long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, in the play, and in all later film and television versions, but in the 1939 film, she is named Mae.
This was one of the first films where the action of the story commences several minutes before the opening credits start.
Awards / Nominations
This film was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Sound Recording , Best Musical Score, Best Original Score.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031742/awards