Of Mice and Men is a 1939 American drama film based on the 1937 play of the same name, which itself was based on the novella of the same name by author John Steinbeck. The film stars Burgess Meredith, Betty Field, and Lon Chaney Jr., and features Charles Bickford, Roman Bohnen, Bob Steele, and Noah Beery Jr. The film tells the story of two men, George and his intellectually disabled partner Lennie, trying to survive during the dustbowl of the 1930s and pursuing a dream of owning their own ranch instead of always working for others. Starring in the lead roles were relative Hollywood newcomer Burgess Meredith as George and veteran actor Lon Chaney Jr. as Lennie. Chaney had appeared in more than 50 films by that point in his career, but Of Mice and Men was his first major role. Betty Field's role as Mae was her breakthrough role in film.
Creighton Tull Chaney, known by his stage name Lon Chaney Jr., was an American actor known for playing Larry Talbot in the film The Wolf Man (1941) and its various crossovers, Count Alucard in Son of Dracula, Frankenstein's monster in The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), the Mummy in three pictures, and various other roles in many Universal horror films, including six films in their 1940s Inner Sanctum series, making him a horror icon. He also portrayed Lennie Small in Of Mice and Men (1939) and supporting parts in dozens of mainstream movies, including High Noon (1952), The Defiant Ones (1958), and numerous Westerns, musicals, comedies and dramas.
Wallace Fitzgerald Beery was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in Grand Hotel (1932), as Long John Silver in Treasure Island (1934), as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa! (1934), and his title role in The Champ (1931), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Beery appeared in some 250 films during a 36-year career. His contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer stipulated in 1932 that he would be paid $1 more than any other contract player at the studio. This made Beery the highest-paid film actor in the world during the early 1930s. He was the brother of actor Noah Beery and uncle of actor Noah Beery Jr.
Noah Nicholas Beery was an American actor who appeared in films from 1913 until his death in 1946. He was the older brother of Academy Award-winning actor Wallace Beery as well as the father of prominent character actor Noah Beery Jr. He was billed as either Noah Beery or Noah Beery Sr. depending upon the film.
Noah Lindsey Beery was an American actor often specializing in warm, friendly character roles similar to many portrayed by his Oscar-winning uncle, Wallace Beery. Unlike his more famous uncle, however, Beery Jr. seldom broke away from playing supporting roles. Active as an actor in films or television for well over half a century, he was best known for playing James Garner's character's father, Joseph "Rocky" Rockford, in the NBC television series The Rockford Files (1974–1980). His father, Noah Nicholas Beery enjoyed a similarly lengthy film career as an extremely prominent supporting actor in major films, although the elder Beery was also frequently a leading man during the silent film era.
The Three Musketeers is a 1933 American pre-Code film serial directed by Armand Schaeffer and Colbert Clark, and produced by Nat Levine for Mascot Pictures. The film serial was very loosely based on Alexandre Dumas' 1844 novel The Three Musketeers, with the musketeers changed into three soldiers in the French Foreign Legion, and d'Artagnan being reconfigured as Lt. Tom Wayne, a pilot in the United States military.
Ace Drummond is a Universal Pictures 1936 film serial based on the comic strip "Ace Drummond" written by Captain Eddie Rickenbacker and drawn by Clayton Knight. The serial's cast features John King, Jean Rogers, Noah Beery Jr. and Jackie Morrow, with Lon Chaney Jr. in a supporting role.
Martha O'Driscoll was an American film actress from 1937 until 1947. She retired from the screen in 1947 after marrying her second husband, Arthur I. Appleton, president of Appleton Electric Company in Chicago.
Follow the Boys also known as Three Cheers for the Boys is a 1944 musical film made by Universal Pictures during World War II as an all-star cast morale booster to entertain the troops abroad and the civilians at home. The film was directed by A. Edward "Eddie" Sutherland and produced by Charles K. Feldman. The movie stars George Raft and Vera Zorina and features Grace McDonald, Charles Grapewin, Regis Toomey and George Macready. At one point in the film, Orson Welles saws Marlene Dietrich in half during a magic show. W.C. Fields, in his first movie since 1941, performs a classic pool-playing presentation he first developed in vaudeville four decades earlier in 1903.
The Frozen Ghost is a 1945 American noir-mystery film and the fourth installment in The Inner Sanctum Mysteries anthological film series, which was based on the popular radio series of the same name. The movie stars Lon Chaney Jr., Elena Verdugo, Evelyn Ankers, Tala Birell, and Martin Kosleck, and was directed by Harold Young.
Strange Confession is a 1945 noir-mystery horror film, and is the fifth installment in The Inner Sanctum Mysteries anthological film series, which was based on the popular radio series of the same name. Released by Universal Pictures and starring Lon Chaney Jr., J. Carrol Naish and Brenda Joyce; the movie was directed by John Hoffman and was later rereleased under the title The Missing Head.
Tailspin Tommy in the Great Air Mystery is a 12-episode 1935 Universal movie serial based on the Tailspin Tommy comic strip by Hal Forrest and starring Clark Williams, Jean Rogers and Noah Beery, Jr. The picture was the 96th of the 137 serials released by the studio.
Riders of Death Valley is a 1941 American Western film serial from Universal Pictures. It was a high budget serial with an all-star cast led by Dick Foran and Buck Jones. Ford Beebe and Ray Taylor directed. It also features Lon Chaney Jr. in a supporting role as a villainous henchman as well as Noah Beery Jr., Charles Bickford, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Monte Blue, Roy Barcroft, Richard Alexander and Glenn Strange.
Overland Mail is a 1942 American Western film serial from Universal Pictures which stars Lon Chaney Jr., Noah Beery Jr. and Noah Beery Sr. It was subsequently edited into a film version called The Indian Raiders in 1956.
Treasure Island is a 1920 silent film adaptation of the 1883 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, directed by Maurice Tourneur, and released by Paramount Pictures. Lon Chaney played two different pirate roles in this production, "Blind Pew" and "Merry", and stills exist showing him in both makeups. Charles Ogle, who had played Frankenstein's Monster in the first filmed version of Frankenstein a decade earlier at Edison Studios, portrayed Long John Silver. Wallace Beery was supposed to play Israel Hands, but that role went to Joseph Singleton instead. The film was chosen as one of the Top Forty Pictures of the Year by the National Board of Review.
Law of the Lawless is a 1964 American Techniscope Western film directed by William F. Claxton, produced by A.C. Lyles, and starring Dale Robertson, Yvonne De Carlo and William Bendix. The supporting cast features Lon Chaney Jr., Kent Taylor, Barton MacLane, John Agar, Richard Arlen, Bruce Cabot and Don "Red" Barry. This was the first of eight westerns Chaney made for A. C. Lyles between 1964 and 1968.
Cheyenne Rides Again is a 1937 Western film directed by Robert F. Hill. It stars Tom Tyler and Lon Chaney Jr. Much as did Alfred Hitchcock in his own films, director Hill appears in a cameo as townsman "Bartender Ed".
The Savage Horde is a 1950 American Western film directed by Joseph Kane, written by Kenneth Gamet, and starring Wild Bill Elliott, Lorna Gray, Grant Withers, Barbra Fuller, Noah Beery, Jr., Jim Davis and Bob Steele. It was released on May 22, 1950 by Republic Pictures.
Rustlers' Roundup is a 1933 American pre-Code Western film directed by Henry MacRae and written by Frank Howard Clark. The film stars Tom Mix, Noah Beery Jr., Douglass Dumbrille, Roy Stewart and Nelson McDowell. The film was released on March 16, 1933, by Universal Pictures.
The Beautiful Cheat is a 1945 American comedy film directed by Charles Barton and written by Ben Markson and Elwood Ullman. The film stars Bonita Granville, Noah Beery Jr., Margaret Irving, Sarah Selby, Irene Ryan, Carol Hughes and Tom Dillon. The film was released on July 20, 1945, by Universal Pictures.
