Of Mice and Men (1939)

 'Of Mice and Men' is produced by comedy impresario Hal Roach of all people. The film is an adaptation of the 1938 play based on Steinbeck's 1937 novel of the same title. Unlike John Ford's adaptation the next year of another Steinbeck classic 'The Grapes of Wrath', this movie lacks the quality and sense of awe that makes that later film one of cinema's all time greats. Though both novels and films are very much works of their time, 'Wrath' has a timelessness that 'Mice and Men' lacks, which is not to say there is not good stuff in it, it's just dated in a way the later production isn't. 

Good performances from Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney Jr., the latter's being subsequently much parodied, and a little uncomfortable now. The old man and his dog, well that could have been very saccharine, but Steinbeck's pathos here seems just about right.***