December 30, 1939 –
Lewis Milestone’s adaptation of the John Steinbeck novella Of Mice and Men, starring Burgess Meredith, Betty Field, and Lon Chaney Jr., premiered in the US on this date.
Lon Chaney Jr. had played the role of Lennie in the Los Angeles stage production of Of Mice and Men, and asked director Lewis Milestone for a screen test. Milestone was planning on casting Broderick Crawford in the role, but agreed to let Chaney feed lines to actresses testing for the part of Mae. By the end of all the tests, Milestone had changed his mind, and cast Chaney in the part without a test of his own.
The Haus of Dcaligari 