Editing Lewis Milestone (section)

===''Of Mice and Men'' (1939)===
{{main|Of Mice and Men (1939 film)}}

Milestone had been impressed with Steinbeck's novella ''[[Of Mice and Men]]'' and its [[Of Mice and Men (play)|1938 stage production]], a morality play set during the [[Dust Bowl]], and he was enthusiastic about the film project.<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 94: Milestone work "almost completely a personal project, a labor of love" and "immediately concluding that the story would make an excellent film."<br />Tatara, 2009 TCM: "this adaptation of John Steinbeck's grim but strangely humanistic novel is a bit dated in its moralizing"<br />Higham and Greenberg, 1968 p. 77-78: "the film's acting is more stylized than naturalistic{{nbsp}}... this is perfectly in keeping with its essential character as a morality play, a bit contrived perhaps, but nonetheless sincere and affecting."</ref> Producer Hal Roach hoped to emulate the anticipated success of director [[John Ford]]'s adaptation of another Steinbeck work [[The Grapes of Wrath]] (1940). Both films drew upon the political and creative developments that emerged in the [[Great Depression]] rather than the approaching 1940s and the impending conflict in Europe.<ref>Higham and Greenberg, 1968 p. 75: "Although belonging technically to the succeeding decade [1940s], films like{{nbsp}}... ''Of Mice and Men'' were really 1930s projects, deriving their intellectual and emotional sustenance from the era of the [[New Deal]] and the [[Group Theatre (New York City)|Group Theatre]]." and "takes place against a background of economic misery"</ref><ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 95: "''Of Mice and Men''{{nbsp}}... presents a topic that was common in the 1930s- the lives and deaths of little people disoriented and dispossessed by the conditions of the modern world."<br />Canham, 1974 p. 88: Hal Roach insisted upon "a small budget and a rapid shooting schedule{{nbsp}}... the timing and haste of the project [may have] stemmed from [Roach's] desire to cash in the on the possible success of [[John Ford]]'s ''The Grapes of Wrath'', a film with similar themes"</ref> Milestone solicited Steinbeck's support for the film; Steinbeck "essentially approved the script", as did the [[Motion Picture Production Code|Hays Office]], which made only "minor" changes to the scenario.<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 94: See here for remarks in quotations.<br />Criterion, 2014: "Steinbeck, so often ambivalent to adaptations of his work and having had little to do with the successful adaptation of Of Mice and Men to the stage in 1937 (much to the chagrin of play's producer), approved of Milestone's film most of all."</ref>

According to Millichap (1981), Milestone maintains the "[[Narration|anti-omniscient]]" detachment Steinbeck applied to his novella with a cinematic viewpoint that matches the author's [[literary realism]].<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 96: "Milestone's film version Steinbeck's ''Of Mice and Men'' in its anti-omniscient viewpoint{{nbsp}}... increasing the complexity and the ambiguity of the work because of the lack of editorial judgement" and p. 104: "Milestone's version ''Of Mice and Men'' [is] as powerful as Steinbeck's{{nbsp}}... one which demonstrates the convergence of realistic fictional and cinematic styles."</ref> Milestone placed great emphasis on visual and sound motifs that develop the characters and themes. As such, he carefully conferred on image motifs with art director [[Nicolai Remisoff]] and cameraman [[Norbert Brodine]], and persuaded composer [[Aaron Copland]] to provide the musical score.<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 94: As such, Milestone "conferred carefully on image motifs" with art director Nicolai Remisoff, and cameraman Norbert Brodine] competently filmed the piece{{nbsp}}... and Milestone "was much concerned with sound motifs" enlisting Aaron Copland to do the musical score."</ref> Critic Kingley Canham noted the importance Milestone placed on his sound motifs:

{{blockquote| the [musical] score, one of several scored for Milestone by [[Aaron Copland]], played a decisive role in the form of the film: natural sounds and dialogue sequences were interpolated with the music to act as complementary ''motifs'' to the visual and narrative development.<ref>Canham, 1974 pp. 89&ndash;90</ref>}}

The film was a critical success and garnered Copland Academy Award nominations for Best Musical Score and Best Original Score.<ref>Criterion, 2014: "Lewis Milestone's ''Of Mice and Men'' (1939) was a critical success and the film garnered four Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Sound Recording (Elmer A. Raguse), Best Musical Score (Aaron Copland), and Best Original Score (Aaron Copland).</ref>

Milestone, who preferred to cast "relative unknowns"—in this case influenced by budgetary restraints—cast [[Lon Chaney Jr.]] to play the childlike Lennie Small and [[Burgess Meredith]] as his keeper George Milton. [[Betty Field]], in her first important feature, plays Mae, the faithless spouse of straw boss Curly ([[Bob Steele (actor)|Bob Steele]]).<ref>Canham, 1974 p. 88: Roach insisted on "a small budget and a rapid shooting schedule". p. 89: "the stylized acting (in this] morality play){{nbsp}}... was well-served by the{{nbsp}}... talents of Lon Chaney, Jr. in his only major roles in an "A" film"</ref><ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 94: "Milestone cast very carefully{{nbsp}}... Lon Chaney, Jr. played Lennie in a Los Angeles production of the play, and the film offered this ill-used actor a chance to escape monster roles{{nbsp}}... the supporting cast{{nbsp}}... are uniformly excellent."<br />Tatara, 2009 TCM: "Milestone saw something in [Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney, Jr.] and both men deliver arguably the best work of their respective careers in the film."</ref>

''Of Mice and Men'' was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1939 but competing with the year's other major films, including ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]'' (Victor Fleming), ''[[Stagecoach (1939 film)|Stagecoach]]'' (John Ford), ''[[Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939 film)|Goodbye, Mr. Chips]]'' (Sam Wood), ''[[Mr. Smith Goes to Washington]]'' (Frank Capra), ''[[Wuthering Heights (1939 film)|Wuthering Heights]]'' (William Wyler), and the winner, ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]'' (Victor Fleming).<ref>Criterion, 2014: "Lewis Milestone's ''Of Mice and Men'' (1939) was a critical success and the film garnered four Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Sound Recording (Elmer A. Raguse), Best Musical Score (Aaron Copland), and Best Original Score (Aaron Copland). While this achievement might sound reasonably impressive alone, it's downright stellar when one considers that the film received these recognition in 1939, Hollywood's greatest year."</ref>

Despite critical accolades for ''Of Mice and Men'', the tragic narrative that ends in the [[Euthanasia|mercy-killing]] of the doomed Lennie at the hands of his comrade George was less than gratifying to audiences, and it failed at the box office.<ref>Tatara, 2009 TCM: "The film's tragic, violent ending is one of the most memorable in all of movie history. Audiences at the time were so troubled by this narrative of slowly-rising defeat, the film failed miserably at the box office. Apparently, it was one thing to read such a thing, but another altogether to watch it unfold onscreen" and "the film failed miserably at the box office."<br /> Higham and Greenberg, 1968 pp. 77&ndash;78: "George's (Burgess Merideth) mercy-killing of Lennie (Lon Chaney, Jr.) takes place against a background of economic misery [and] as a morality play, a bit contrived perhaps, but nonetheless sincere and affecting."</ref>