American Cinematographer - May 1990 - 39

role played on Broadway by Wallace Ford. Well
known on the New York stage, Meredith had
starred in RKO Radio's Winterset (1936), an artistic
but oppressive drama which was not popular with
the public. Second leads in several pictures fol¬

lowed. The slightly built actor with the persuasive
voice seemed hardly the matinee idol type, but he
was a first-rate dramatic actor who could bring

insight to the character of

an itinerant farm hand
who has little education but plenty of native intelli¬

gence.

Twenty-five husky actors tested for Lennie
including Broderick Crawford, of the Broadway
version
before the role was given to Creighton
Chaney, son of the late-great character actor, Lon
Chaney. Young Chaney had been signed to a con¬
tract at RKO in 1932, shortly after his father died,
but his renewal option was dropped in 1933 because
David O. Selznick couldn't induce him to change his
screen name to Lon
Chaney, Jr. After seven years of
stunting, bit acting, chorus hoofing and being bulldogged and beaten up by most of the reigning
Western heroes, Chaney reluctantly signed his twopicture contract with Roach as Lon Chaney, Jr.
"They starved me to it," he said later. In contrast to
his wiry little father, Creighton was large, very
strong, and gentle except when drinking, a problem
that blighted his life increasingly. Coincidentally, he
-

and Broderick Crawford later became buddies at

Universal, where their brawling was legendary.
Betty Field, who had come west to portray
vivacious teen-agers in Paramount's What a Life and
Seventeen, had already built a fine reputation in
Broadway plays. Her test for Mae, the name the
screenwriters had given the anonymous wife of the
original, was approved unanimously and it was
rightly felt that Of Mice and Men would put her in

the front rank of dramatic actresses on the screen.
She took the job much to heart, even to shopping for
Mae's

cheap-but-provocative wardrobe (it cost
$11.35, including carfare).
Tough, red-haired Charles Bickford, vet¬
eran
playwright and stage/screen star, was a natu¬

ral choice for the hard-nosed but kind-hearted Slim,
the foreman. Bickford for several years had been

having career problems following an altercation
with Louis B. Mayer. Roach, who'd had his own
battles with the MGM chief, chose to ignore Mayer's
heavily populated blacklist and okayed Milestone's
choice.
Bob Steele, who grew up in the theater and
had been a popular hero of Western films since the
late 1920s, was elated to win the role of the despi¬
cable Curley even though it meant being demoted
to

supporting role. Unlike most cowboy stars,

Steele

was

small in stature, but was a fine rider and

expert fighter who did his own stunt work. Over-

qualified for the simplistic characterizations gener¬
ally set forth in oaters, he projected a Byronic im¬
age unique to the genre. Curley permitted him a
solid dramatic portrayal which Steele would always
consider his favorite. Although scores more "B"

May 1990

Westerns

lay ahead, memories of Curley were
strong enough to net him an occasional non-Western role such as the villains of The Big Sleep (1946)
and The Enforcer (1951) and, much later, an ongoing
comedic role as Sgt. Duffy in the television series,
F Troop.
Roman Bohnen, a leading stage and radio
actor-director, was borrowed from the Group The¬
atre of New York for the heart-wrenching role of
Candy, the one-handed old swamper. A young man
at the time, Bohnen (aided by make-up artist Ernie
Young) brought conviction to his portrayal of a bent,
elderly man whose best friend is an old, toothless
sheepdog.
The similarly tragic role of Crooks, the
crippled black stable hand, was assigned to the only
member of the stage cast to repeat his role for the
film, thin and angular Leigh Whipper. Granville
Bates and Oscar O'Shea, generally typed as lovable
old coots in romantic dramas, were chosen to play
realistically obnoxious characters, while Noah Beery
Jr. was put into his usual nice guy part.
In the meantime Milestone found

Lennie, Candy
Crooks make/
for the future.

under¬

standing colleague in Roach's art director, Nicolai
Remisoff, a fellow Russian emigre who had de¬
signed sets for Max Reinhardt spectacles in Europe
and came to America as a designer with the tour¬
ing Chauve Souris. It was the beginning of a long
professional collaboration over the ensuing 20 years.
The necessity of having to adhere to strictly
budgeted time and money made detailed pre-plan¬
ning vital. Milestone was one of the small number
of directors of the time who habitually worked with
elaborate storyboards so he could make most of his
mistakes on paper instead of during production.
Working closely with the director, Remisoff made
some 500 charcoal illustrations to blueprint the ac¬
tion and mood of the

picture.

The screen tests devoured about one-fifth
of the total budget, leaving $200,000 for principal

photography. Milestone had the idea of shooting the
exteriors at the actual ranch in the Salinas Valley that
Steinbeck had used as the model for his book. The
author led him to the site, only to find the buildings
in a state of ruin. Further searching of the area failed
to

yield the setting they needed.

American

Cinematographer

American Cinematographer - May 1990

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