this be a magnificent film direct by lewis milestone and who make so many superb movie . it be a bit dated and tagey in it opening minute and partly because it be take from the play and not the novel and by john steinbeck and and also because so many of the outstanding cast be only make their second or third film and and need warm up and get use to the camera . once into it stride and however and this classic tale progress with relentless fatality to explore all the sadness of loner and drifter with such heart break intensity that it really get you at gut level . in a sense and the loneliness and impossible dream and and sear heartache of the many drifting and unfulfilled and and lose character be the real heart of this story and which thus embody the pain of the depression in the personal life of several people who suffer and suffer and and and well and suffer . the main storyline be the touch relationship of the retarded giant lennie and play by lon chaney and junior and and his friend who travel and work with him and and look after him like a zealously protective brother and play by the young burgess meredith . although chaney over act and he over act consistently and which be the secret of over act successfully . the result be that chaney character achieve full pathos and despite not be a particularly subtle performance . chaney be no restrained and measure dustin hoffmann and and when he be play someone retard and he flaunt it and and blurts it . but we accept that . he be the gentle giant who crush all the little rabbit and puppy he love because he can never understand his own strength and and his pathetic effort to remember the simple thing be totally convincing . burgess meredith and near the beginning of his film career and give one the finest of his many inspired performance and show a shin power of love and devotion rarely see on the screen with a male character and or someone who be neither father nor mother . betty field and also start out on the screen and be superb a the young wife on the ranch torment by boredom almost to the point of insanity . the scene where she and the retarded lennie sit and converse and never really connect but each pursue a desperate individual monologue and be one of the most effective scene of it kind ever film . this film contain so many move performance that it be like a showcase of pathos . roman bohnen and astonishingly age only 45 at the time ( and he die age only 54. a great loss . ) and play a pathetic old man desperately attempt to grasp a last thread of a possible dream and have have the only love of his life and an old dog and tear from him and shot and so that he be deprive of anything and everything and strip bare and a naked and lose soul and a so many in this story be lose soul . leigh whipper be outstandingly subtle in his portrayal of an ostracised black worker who mix bitterness and sympathy and love and hate and and venom all in one well round package and an incredible achievement in a short time on screen . bob steele be totally convincing a the repellent young husband of betty field and whose manic jealousy and general paranoia rise steadily to a crescendo of intensity . this be a desperate film about desperate people . the relationship of the hopelessly retarded chaney with his friend meredith be completely convincing and and heart breaking to the ultimate degree . one hop that some of these character can achieve some semblance of a dream and that even one of them can escape the endless wheel of torment and emotional deprivation and lack of fulfillment . i have know people who resemble these more than be comfortable . this multiply tragic tale be not just devastatingly close to the bone and it be the bone .