of mouse and men must have be a particular favorite of john steinbeck and his work . it not the grape of wrath and it exploration of great social issue . it rather a human study and the kind of migrant worker whom the joads join be show in a small setting at a california ranch . the two main character be the gentle and slow giant lennie small a play by lon chaney and jr. and his friend and guardian george milton play by burgess meredith . the mutt and jeff contrast between lennie and george show just how much lennie be dependent on george for even the simple of necessity . the old adage about not have enough sense to come out of the rain be literally true in his case . the weakness of lennie be that he be very slow to anger and but when he do you do not want to be in his way . secondly and he really do not know his own strength and that lead to tragedy . of mouse and men after the novel be adapt by steinbeck into a play ran for 207 performance on broadway in the 1936 37 season . it star wallace ford a george and broderick crawford a lennie . crawford would have to wait another decade to get a big starring role in film with all the king men . chaney however be a revelation . for most of his career he do support role to various star and horror film to capitalize on his father name . this be his big role and i can not call it a career role because no career come from it for him . but he will move you in this part . b movie cowboy bob steele play the punk son of the ranch owner and betty field his tramp of a wife . steele next to chaney be the one to watch . he invest the part with a lot of hidden dimension . this be a man who definitely have issue . steele and field be the cause of the tragedy that befall the gentle giant . the only actor carry over from broadway be leigh whipper who play one of the other ranch hand . his part be highly unusual for a black actor of the time . he a bitter man not allow to socialize with the other hand on the place and his bitterness permeate meredith and chaney . a very good job by whipper . of mouse and men get four oscar nomination in that year of go with the wind . best picture and best sound and and best music and best scoring of music for aaron copland . of course the budget of go with the wind and of mouse and men be from two different universe . that would include the publicity budget for oscar time . still of mouse and men hold up every bit as good a it more expensive rival . a literary and a cinema classic and that can not be beat .