So
if you've been following this haphazard adventure up to this point you
do know that I have being using a YouTube channel to watch some of these
films and one of my guilty pleasures is reading the comments that others
have left under the video. Before starting the viewing of the latest
film, the adaptation of Of Mice and Men that was nominated at the 1940
ceremony, I read the comments most of them seemed to be from teenagers
copping out from reading the book and watching this movie instead but
from what I could garner this adaptation was rather tame and left out
some of the more risqu
é elements of the text. I have to say I have heard
of the book and was aware of some elements of the plot but have never
seen the story told in any form up to this point. For those of you like
me that aren't aware of the plot it sees two friends - the smart and
quick-witted George and the somewhat slow and bulking Lenny, go to work
on a ranch in Southwest California after being chased out of their
previous town thanks to an incident involving Lenny (something that is
never fully explained in the film but in the book he has been accused of
rape after stroking a girl's hair). George keeps Lenny happy by
reciting the story of the ranch that they're going to own together one
day in which Lenny can keep an eye on their rabbits and this dream
almost becomes a reality when fellow ranch hand Candy agrees to pitch
in some money to help with the project. However Lenny gets them in
trouble once again first by punching the boss' son Curly and then for
accidentally killing Curly's wife while trying to stroke her hair. I
won't spoil the ending but it things don't end well for the twosome and
lets just say their dream never quite becomes a reality.
Of Mice and Men is a strange one to review as in the back of my mind I
can see it more as a text than a film even though I've never read it and
maybe that's because I've been influenced by those YouTube commenters.
The story really never sags and there is some good interplay between the
ranch-hands with moments of joy juxtaposed with some really sad moments
including one with Candy's dog. Of the acting Lon Chaney Jr. does a
magnificent job with Lenny coming across a simple man who is picked upon
because of his size and his lack of brain power. A pre-Batman pre-Rocky
Burgess Meredith gives George a sympathetic edge and a very real
quality to him as well and Betty Field as Curly's wife Mae plays the
vampy bitch with an air of style. But this is very much a re-telling of a
story, there isn't much to say in terms of camera-work or sets which
are fairly basic. I wasn't particularly moved by the ending but still
thought there was some solid storytelling within the film overall a
decent literary adaptation but not really a film that left a major
impression on me.
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