Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney, Jr. star as cousins George Milton and Lennie Small in director Lewis Milestone's adaptation of the Steinbeck classic. Itinerant workers in Depression-era California, they dream of saving enough to buy a ranch. But this seems unlikely, since they are constantly being fired due to the feeblemindedness of the mountainous Lennie. Soon after hiring on at a new ranch, they must confront the pugnacious Curly (Bob Steele), while trying to deal with his flirtatious wife, Mae (Betty Field).