Director: Lewis Milestone
Top Billed Actors: Lon Chaney Jr., Burgess Meredith, Betty Field
Distributor: United Artists
Won 0 Oscars
Nominated for 4 more:
Outstanding Production - Hal Roach
Best Scoring - Aaron Copland
Best Original Score - Aaron Copland
Best Sound Recording - Elmer Raguse
Plot: A couple of buds roll into a ranch job, become bunkhouse boys, pet dogs, and make some plans only for events to gum them up.
Top Billed Actors: Lon Chaney Jr., Burgess Meredith, Betty Field
Distributor: United Artists
Won 0 Oscars
Nominated for 4 more:
Outstanding Production - Hal Roach
Best Scoring - Aaron Copland
Best Original Score - Aaron Copland
Best Sound Recording - Elmer Raguse
Plot: A couple of buds roll into a ranch job, become bunkhouse boys, pet dogs, and make some plans only for events to gum them up.
We've arrived at the final movie of the 1930s for this Project, Of Mice and Men (1939). This is the first screen adaptation of a John Steinbeck novel and coincidentally enough, I'll be kicking off the 1940s with the second. I haven't seen Lewis Milestone's name in a while in the Project but the three-time Best Director nominee (and two-time winner) returns to the spotlight to deftly fabricate the classic novella onto the silver screen. Hal Roach, a producer of comedies, reluctantly produced this, his only Best Picture nominee. He didn't like to talk about it much and when asked about it in retrospect, he wished it had more laughs. But you see the word right on the poster, this story is powerful in its grim human appeal, emphasis on the word grim. The two leads were relatively unknown at the time. This is considered both Burgess Meredith's and Lon Chaney Jr.'s breakthrough roles, before they would go on to be boxing trainers and movie monsters, respectively. I also found it interesting to see that famed American composer Aaron Copland did the score. He only did a handful of film scores, but this was his first and likely most celebrated.
Now, the story isn't all grim. The two main characters find work in the dustbowl depression era of the 1930s, so everybody is in a similar circumstance of poverty. But seeing the strength of the friendship between Meredith's George and Chaney's Lennie gives hope that their plans will come to fruition. But that's the whole crux of the story, that even the best-laid plans will have challenges and might ultimately fail. George and Lennie just want a small place of their own, without having to go from ranch to ranch working for somebody else. The simplicity of the story is a strength so we can focus on the complications of Lennie having the mental capabilities of a child while possessing the strength of a giant. This conundrum provides moral ambiguities - should Lennie be held accountable for something he does on accident? How long should George stick by him? These dilemmas become more and more challenging as the story progresses until there's a breaking point. It's a phenomenal story as it simultaneously builds up hope with all the talk of the little ranch of their own while the seven-foot elephant in the room presents the roadblock. The performances are all pretty good, but I was impressed with the creative cinematography. There are lots of nifty camera movements in the bunkhouse as we intimately know that space by the movie's end. The scene in which there's a debate about the final days of a dog absolutely wrecked me, and the camerawork is a huge part of that scene's effectiveness. It also goes without saying the Copland score is phenomenal. I wish there was more of it as there seemed to be an excess of scenes with a lot of white white noise, but it makes for Copland's lush harmonies and driving rhythms to be even more impactful.
Although I mentioned that the performances were merely "good," there isn't a standout actor aside from the two leads. It took awhile for me accept Betty Fields talking like a New York gangster ("I wanna go to the movies, see?!") and Charles Bickford as Slim and Bob Steele as Curly are bland as the contrived rivals. Lennie as a ticking time bomb is all the drama the story needs but the side story isn't strong enough to carry the moments he isn't around. With that being said, that dinner sequence in which Curly and his pop are eating pie with milk is phenomenal. I assume the Best Sound Oscar nomination is a direct result of their slurping and chomping while Fields looks on in disgust. A wonderful moment without dialogue that shows us exactly what needs to be shown.
Overall, the final film of the 1930s Best Picture nominees aptly adapts the classic John Steinbeck story that challenges the viewer morally with effective camerawork, an accomplished score by Aaron Copland, and a couple of breakthrough performances by Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney, Jr. Let's hope my best-laid plans of finishing this Project by the 100th Academy Awards doesn't turn grim.
My Score: 8/10
Now, the story isn't all grim. The two main characters find work in the dustbowl depression era of the 1930s, so everybody is in a similar circumstance of poverty. But seeing the strength of the friendship between Meredith's George and Chaney's Lennie gives hope that their plans will come to fruition. But that's the whole crux of the story, that even the best-laid plans will have challenges and might ultimately fail. George and Lennie just want a small place of their own, without having to go from ranch to ranch working for somebody else. The simplicity of the story is a strength so we can focus on the complications of Lennie having the mental capabilities of a child while possessing the strength of a giant. This conundrum provides moral ambiguities - should Lennie be held accountable for something he does on accident? How long should George stick by him? These dilemmas become more and more challenging as the story progresses until there's a breaking point. It's a phenomenal story as it simultaneously builds up hope with all the talk of the little ranch of their own while the seven-foot elephant in the room presents the roadblock. The performances are all pretty good, but I was impressed with the creative cinematography. There are lots of nifty camera movements in the bunkhouse as we intimately know that space by the movie's end. The scene in which there's a debate about the final days of a dog absolutely wrecked me, and the camerawork is a huge part of that scene's effectiveness. It also goes without saying the Copland score is phenomenal. I wish there was more of it as there seemed to be an excess of scenes with a lot of white white noise, but it makes for Copland's lush harmonies and driving rhythms to be even more impactful.
Although I mentioned that the performances were merely "good," there isn't a standout actor aside from the two leads. It took awhile for me accept Betty Fields talking like a New York gangster ("I wanna go to the movies, see?!") and Charles Bickford as Slim and Bob Steele as Curly are bland as the contrived rivals. Lennie as a ticking time bomb is all the drama the story needs but the side story isn't strong enough to carry the moments he isn't around. With that being said, that dinner sequence in which Curly and his pop are eating pie with milk is phenomenal. I assume the Best Sound Oscar nomination is a direct result of their slurping and chomping while Fields looks on in disgust. A wonderful moment without dialogue that shows us exactly what needs to be shown.
Overall, the final film of the 1930s Best Picture nominees aptly adapts the classic John Steinbeck story that challenges the viewer morally with effective camerawork, an accomplished score by Aaron Copland, and a couple of breakthrough performances by Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney, Jr. Let's hope my best-laid plans of finishing this Project by the 100th Academy Awards doesn't turn grim.
My Score: 8/10