1. Credits (02:20)
[The film begins inside a moving boxcar, in which the flickering light dimly
reveals a man hunched over. (It is only at the end of the film that we real-
ize that what we are seeing is George traveling alone after killing Lennie).
The credits are shown on the interior boxcar walls.]
2. On the run: Escape from Weed (04:00)
GEORGE: Come on!
[Screaming of a woman]
[Dogs barking]
LENNIE: Them dogs! Them dogs!
GEORGE: Keep moving! [Panting] Come on.
[Dogs barking]
MEN: Take 'em down! Over on the bank there. Keep looking! Get them
dogs back on the scent!
GEORGE: [Splashing of water] Stay down.
MEN: That's a boy. Sniff it out! They done crossed that bridge! Horace,
you go with them. Here we go! Come on! Come on! Pick it up, boy! Pick it
up! They got to be down here somewhere!
GEORGE: Come on. Come on. Lennie. Get down.
[Train approaching]
[Train whistle blows]
GEORGE: Hurry up. Get up there. [Bell clangs]
LENNIE: George.
GEORGE: What you want?
LENNIE: Where are we going?
GEORGE: To get away from here.
LENNIE: I'm all wet.
GEORGE: Let's take off your coat. Come on. Come on. Just lay down and
get some rest.
LENNIE: George.
GEORGE: Go to sleep, Lennie.
LENNIE: I´m sleeping. George.
3. In Town and on the bus (08:45)
[Background voices]
LENNIE: George, where are we goin'?
GEORGE: We're going to a ranch to work.
BUSDRIVER: Come on. Get off here.
LENNIE: George. George, wake up.
BUSDRIVER: You're in Soledad.
GEORGE: We're going to the Tyler Ranch.
BUSDRIVER: You got to get off here! The ranch is down the road.
GEORGE: How far?
BUSDRIVER: Just down the road a stretch.
4. The walk to the ranch (10:12)
GEORGE: Where the hell is it ?
LENNIE: George, where are we going?
GEORGE: Jesus Christ, you're a crazy bastard.
LENNIE: I forgot.
GEORGE: I spend all my time telling you things and you forget them.
LENNIE: I remember about the rabbits.
GEORGE: Hell with them rabbits. That's all you can remember. -
O.K. Listen. This time don't forget. We went into Murray and Ready's. They give
us work cards and bus tickets.
LENNIE: George, I remember that now. But, George. I ain't got mine. I must
have lost it.
GEORGE: You never had none. I've got both of them. Think I'd let you carry
your own work card?
LENNIE: I thought I had it in my pocket. -
GEORGE: What did you take out of that pocket?
LENNIE: There's nothing in the pocket, George.
GEORGE: I know. You got it in your hand. What you got in your hand?
LENNIE: George, that's my mouse. But I didn't kill it. I found it dead.
GEORGE: Give it here.
LENNIE: George, leave me have it.
GEORGE: Give it here! What do you want with a dead mouse, anyway?
LENNIE: I was just petting it with the fingers while we was walking along.
GEORGE: You ain't pettin' no mice when you walk with me. You gonna
give me that mouse, or am I gonna have to sock you?
Come on. - Blubbering like a baby, a big guy like you. Lennie, I ain't takin' it
away for meanness. That mouse ain't fresh, Lennie. If you get another mouse
that's fresh, I'll let you keep him awhile.
LENNIE: I don't know where there is no other mouse. The lady used to give
me some, but that lady ain't here no more.
GEORGE: Lady? Don't you even remember who that lady was? That's your
aunt Clara. She stopped giving them to you. You always killed them by petting
them too hard.
Tell you what I'll do. First chance I get I'll get you a puppy. That'd be better than
mice. You could pet 'em harder. O.K.? Hmm?
[Motor vehicle approaches]
GEORGE: Hey! Hey! Hey! Son of a bitch!
LENNIE: What did you say, George?
GEORGE: I said, son of a bitch. Bus driver lied to us. Just too damn lazy to
stop at the ranch gate. Son of a bitch!
LENNIE: Son of a bitch! Jesus Christ, George. I said it, too.
GEORGE: Yeah, I heard you.
LENNIE: George, we — we wasn't supposed to say that.
GEORGE: Yeah? Why not?
LENNIE: Aunt Clara don't like it.
GEORGE: Yeah? Well, she's dead.
5. The overnight stop by the river (13:47)
GEORGE: Lennie. Don't drink so much. - Hey.
LENNIE: That's good, George. You have a drink. You have a good, big
drink.
GEORGE: It's nice here. We'll just spend the night, go to the ranch tomor-
row.
LENNIE: Ain't we gonna get no supper?
GEORGE: Yeah, sure we are. I got three cans of beans in my bindle.
LENNIE: I like beans with ketchup. --
I like beans with ketchup.
GEORGE: We ain't got any. Go get some wood so we can build a fire. We
got enough beans here for four men.
LENNIE: I like them with ketchup.
GEORGE: We ain't got any. Goddamn it! Whatever we ain't got, that's
what you want.
LENNIE: George. - George.
GEORGE: What you want?
LENNIE: George, I was only fooling. I don't want no ketchup.
GEORGE: If -it was here, you could have some.
LENNIE: George, I wouldn't eat no ketchup. I'd leave it all for you. and you
could cover your beans with it. I wouldn't touch none of it.
GEORGE: When I think of the swell time I could have without you, I go nuts.
I never get any peace. If I was alone, I could live so easy. I could get a job and
work and no trouble. No mess at all: When the end of the month come, I could
take my 50 bucks, I could go into town and get whatever I want. I could stay in
a cathouse all night. – And what do I got? I got you. You can't keep a job. You
lose me every job I get. You keep me shoving all over the country all the time. -
That ain't the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things, and I got to get you
out. All the time. Crazy son of a bitch. You keep me in hot water all the time.
LENNIE: George, you... - You want I should go away and leave you alone?
GEORGE: Where the hell would you go?
LENNIE: I could go... I could go off in them hills there and find a cave.
GEORGE: Yeah? How'd you eat? You ain't got sense enough to find noth-
ing to eat.
LENNIE: I find things. I don't need this nice food with ketchup. George, if
you don't want me, I'll go off in them hills and get a cave. -
And I wouldn't get no mice stole off me, either! -
GEORGE: Jesus Christ, your aunt Clara wouldn't like you running off by
yourself. Hey. Go get some wood so we can build a fire before it gets dark.
6. At the campfire (18:20)
LENNIE: George.
GEORGE: What?
LENNIE: Tell me like you done before.
GEORGE: Tell you what ?
LENNIE: About the... About the rabbits.
GEORGE: Not tonight.
LENNIE: Come on, George. Tell it like you done before. Please?
GEORGE: You get a kick out of that, don't you? O.K. I will. - Guys like us that
work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world. They ain't got no family,
and they don't belong no place, and they got nothing to look ahead to.
LENNIE: But not us, George. Tell about us now.
GEORGE: We ain't like that. We got a future. We got somebody that gives
a damn about us. If them other guys gets in jail, nobody cares.
LENNIE: But not us, George, because I got you to look after me, but you
got me to look after — George, tell about how it's gonna be.
GEORGE: Someday, we're gonna have us a little house and a couple of
acres... And a cow and a pig -
LENNIE: - a pig ... And chickens. We gonna live off the fat of the land and
have rabbits. - George, tell what we got in the garden. Then tell about the
rabbits in winter and about the stove and, uh, uh... How thick the cream was
on the milk, like you t — go ahead, George. Tell it.
GEORGE: Why not do it yourself ?
LENNIE: George. no! It's not the same when I tell it. It's not the s — tell wh-
what — how I get to tend the rabbits.
GEORGE: We're going to have a big vegetable patch. We're going to
have a rabbit hutch. Down in the flat, we'll have- —
LENNIE: - a little piece of alfalfa for the rabbits. And I get to tend the rab-
bits.
GEORGE: When it rains in the winter, we'll just say, "hell with going to work,"
and we'll just build a fire in the stove, and we'll just sit there, and we'll listen to
the rain. [gets up]
- Lennie, I want you to look around here. If you get in any trouble, I want you
to come right here. You hide in the brush.
LENNIE: Hide in the brush.
GEORGE: Hide in the brush until I come for you. Can you remember that?
LENNIE: Sure I can, George. Hide in the brush till you come for me.
GEORGE: But you're not going to get in any trouble because if you get in
trouble, I ain't gonna let you tend the rabbits.
LENNIE: I'm not gonna get into any trouble.
GEORGE: O.K.
LENNIE: I can remember. By God.
GEORGE: Let's get some rest. It's gonna be nice sleeping here... Looking up
at the leaves.
LENNIE: George.
GEORGE: What do you want?
LENNIE: I think we should get them different-colored rabbits.
GEORGE: Sure. Red rabbits and blue rabbits and green rabbits.
7. On the road again and arrival at Tyler Ranch (22:20)
(Barking dogs)
GEORGE: Leave them alone.
CANDY: Be quiet, dogs! Be quiet, goddamn it! Be quiet! Shut up, Smiley!
Shut up! Smiley! Down! You fellas looking for something?
GEORGE: We come here to work. Where's the boss?
CANDY: He's at the ranch house. I'm Candy. I'll take you up there. He was
expecting you last night. He was sore as hell that you wasn't here this morning.
He said "where the hell is them new men?" And he gives the stable buck hell,
too. See, the stable buck's a nigger. There he goes. He got a crooked back
where a horse kicked him one day. The boss gives him hell every time he gets
mad, but the stable buck... The stable buck don't give a damn about that!
Boss' office in here. [Knock on door]
BOSS: Come in.
CANDY: These guys just came.
BOSS: I wrote Murray and Ready's for two men to work this morning.
Where's your work slips?
(George handing the slip over)
LENNIE: Is my slip there?
BOSS: Wasn't Murray and Ready's fault. Says you were supposed to be
ready to work this morning.
GEORGE: Bus driver lied to us. We had to walk 10 miles.
BOSS: I don't give a damn about that. What's your name?
GEORGE: George Milton.
BOSS: What's yours?
GEORGE: His name's Lennie Small.
BOSS: Where've you been working?
GEORGE: Up around Weed.
BOSS: What about you?
GEORGE: Yeah. Him, too.
BOSS: He's not much of a talker, is he?
GEORGE: No. No, he ain't. He's a hell of a good worker. He's strong as a
bull.
LENNIE: Strong as a bull?
GEORGE: He can do anything you tell him. He's, uh... He's a good skinner.
He can rassel grain bags, drive a cultivator.
LENNIE: Cultivator.
GEORGE: I ain't sayin' he's bright. He ain't. But he's, ... He's a damn good
worker.
BOSS: Say... What are you selling? What's your stake in this guy? Are you
taking his pay from him?
GEORGE: Hell, no. He's my cousin. Told his old lady I'd take care of him. He
got kicked in the head by a horse when he was a kid.
BOSS: All right. But you better not try to put anything over on me. Now,
catch your grain teams after dinner.
LENNIE: I wasn't kicked in the head with no horse, George.
GEORGE: It would be a damn good thing if you was, it'd save everybody a
lot of trouble.
LENNIE: You said I was your cousin.
GEORGE: That was a lie. If I was a relative of yours, I'd shoot myself.
8. At the bunkhouse (26:30)
CANDY: Come on. I'll show you the bunkhouse. Go on. Go on, boy. Come
on. Come on. You can take these two bunks right here.
GEORGE: That's a hell of an old dog.
CANDY: Yeah. And he´s getting older, too. I had him since he was a pup.
God, he was a great sheepdog when he was younger.
GEORGE: Hey. What the hell is this? Says "positively kills lice, roaches, and
other scourges." What kind of beds are you giving us?
CANDY: Wait a minute there, young fella. Let me see what you're talking
about there. -- Oh, yeah, yeah. Now I remember. Last guy that had this bunk
was a blacksmith. He'd squirt this stuff around even if there was no bugs. He
used to wash his hands even after he ate!
(In comes CURLEY)
CURLEY: Candy! Seen my old man?
CANDY: Yeah. He, uh... He's up at the house.
CURLEY: You the two new guys the old man's waiting for?
GEORGE: We just came in.
CURLEY: Let the big guy talk.
GEORGE: Suppose he don't want to talk.
CURLEY: What the hell are you getting into this for?
GEORGE: We travel together.
CURLEY: Oh, so it's that way.
GEORGE: Yeah, it's that way.
CURLEY: And you won't let the big guy talk?
(GEORGE looking at LENNIE)
LENNIE: We just come in.
CURLEY: Well, next time, you answer when you're spoken to.
(CURLEY out)
GEORGE: What the hell? Lennie didn't do nothing to him.
CANDY: That's the boss' son. Curley's pretty handy with his fists. Done a lot
of fighting in the ring.
GEORGE: What's he got against Lennie?
CANDY: Well, I'll tell you what: Curley's like a lot of little guys — hates big
guys. He's mad at them because he ain't a big guy.
GEORGE: Well, he better make no mistake about Lennie. Lennie ain't
handy. This Curley bastard's going to get hurt if he messes around with Lennie.
CANDY: Yeah, well. -- Hey. hey, come here. I want to show you something.
Come on. Come here. I want to show you something. See that glove on his
hand?
GEORGE: Yeah.
CANDY: It's full of vaseline.
GEORGE: What for?
CANDY: Curley says he's keeping that hand soft for his wife.
GEORGE: That's a real nice thing to tell around.
CANDY (to his dog): Come on, boy.
GEORGE: Lennie... Look. See that guy?
LENNIE: Yeah.
GEORGE: The one that was just in here? He figures he got you scared. He's
gonna get a sock at you the first chance he gets.
LENNIE: George, I don't want no trouble. Don't let him sock at me!
GEORGE: Just try to keep away from him. If he comes in the bunkhouse,
move clear to the other side of the room.
LENNIE: George, you ain't mad at me, are you?
GEORGE: No, Lennie, I ain't mad. Just try to keep away from Curley. Don't
let him pull you in.
LENNIE: George, I wasn't going to say a word.
GEORGE: If you get in any trouble, you remember what I told you?
LENNIE: If I get in any trouble, I can't tend them rabbits.
GEORGE: No, that's not what I mean. Remember where we slept last night
down by the river?
9. The first encounter with Curley's wife (30:42)
(In comes CURLEY'S WIFE)
CURLEY'S WIFE: I'm looking for Curley.
GEORGE: He was here a minute ago, but he went.
CURLEY'S WIFE: Oh. Sometimes Curley's in here.
GEORGE: He ain't now.
CURLEY'S WIFE: Well, if he ain't, guess I better look someplace else.
GEORGE: If I see him. I'll tell him you was looking for him.
CURLEY'S WIFE: Nobody can't blame a person for looking. See ya around.
LENNIE: She's pretty.
GEORGE: Lennie...
LENNIE: Don't you think she's pretty. George?
GEORGE: Listen to me! Don't even look at her!
LENNIE: But —
GEORGE: I don't care what she says. She's a rattrap.
LENNIE: I wasn't doing nothing.
GEORGE: When she was shoving her legs around, you weren't looking the
other way. Keep away from her!
LENNIE: I don't like this place.
10. Lunch in front of the farm house (32:40)
SLIM: You the new guys?
GEORGE: Yeah.
SLIM: I'm Slim. You'll be on my team.
GEORGE: I'm George Milton. This here's Lennie Small.
SLIM: You travel around together?
GEORGE: Yeah.
SLIM: There ain't many guys travel around together. I don't know why.
Maybe everybody in the world's scared of each other.
GEORGE: Maybe.
SLIM: So, you ever bucked barley before?
GEORGE: Hell, yes. I ain't nothing to scream about, but Lennie's strong as-a
bull.
SLIM: Good. I got punks on my team. They don't know barley from a blue
bell. (To CARLSON) These guys just came.
CARLSON: I meant to ask you, Slim, how many puppies does your bitch
have?
SLIM: She slung eight. I drowned four. She couldn't feed that many, so I
kept the biggest.
(Dog barks)
CARLSON: Yeah, Candy's dog is old and no good. Candy should shoot
him. Then you could give him a puppy.
(After dinner)
LENNIE: George, ask that man, can I have a puppy?
GEORGE: I will. Don't worry.
11. Work in the fields and a puppy for Lennie (33:58)
(Lennie is working "like a bull". The others have difficulties to keep up with him.)
(After a day's work.)
GEORGE: You done real good today, Lennie. You done real good.
(Lennie pointing in the direction of Slim)
GEORGE: O.K., I'll ask him now. Hey, Slim.
(In the barn)
LENNIE: George, can I have this white one?
SLIM: If that's the one you want.
GEORGE: Can he stay here and hold it awhile?
SLIM: Sure.
GEORGE: Lennie... You can't take that pup out of here. It's too young to
leave the mother.
LENNIE: I ain't going to; George.
(On the way to the field. Everybody is ready to leave for work.)
CURLEY: You talking today?
SLIM: No, he ain't talkin'.
CURLEY: He's working? - Is he a good worker?
SLIM: Best I ever had.
CURLEY: What about his partner? What about him? Is he a good worker?
My old man wants to know.
SLIM: Yeah, he's a good worker.
CURLEY: Heeya!
(Work in the fields)
SLIM: Come on. - George, this mule has a sore foot. Lead her back to the
stable and ask Crooks for another one.
(George takes the mule back to the ranch)
SLIM: Go on, now. - Jake!
GEORGE: Come on. girl. Come on. Come on.
12. The second encounter with Curley's Wife (39:09)
(In the barn. George has just arrived with the mule.)
GEORGE: Come on. - Crooks!
CURLEY'S WIFE: Can I help?
GEORGE: No. I'm looking for Crooks. This mule's got a hurt foot.
CURLEY'S WIFE: He ain't here. Nobody's here but me. Now you. - I feel so
lazy today. You feel lazy?
GEORGE: No.
CURLEY'S WIFE: I could take a nap right here. It's nice and cool here in the
barn and quiet. Everybody in the fields working in the hot sun. We're in a cool
barn. - I got a hurt foot, too. - I got mad at Curley last night, kicked at him and
missed, and kicked a chair instead. - Let go of that old mule and talk to me!
Are you from far away?
GEORGE: Pretty far.
CURLEY'S WIFE: How far is far away? - What's the town you came from?
GEORGE: You wouldn't know it if I told you.
CURLEY'S WIFE: You got a sweetheart back there?
GEORGE: No.
CURLEY'S WIFE: Did you ever have a sweetheart?
GEORGE: No.
CURLEY'S WIFE: You've never had a sweetheart?
GEORGE: No.
CURLEY'S WIFE: You're kidding me. A good-looking guy like you must have
had a million sweethearts. Your name's George, ain't it?
CURLEY: What the hell you doing out here?
CURLEY'S WIFE: Nothing.
CURLEY: I ain't talkin' to you.
CURLEY'S WIFE: Who are you talking to?
CURLEY: Talking to him!
CURLEY'S WIFE: His name's George.
CURLEY: I know what his name is.What are you doing out here?
GEORGE: Minding my own business.
CURLEY: The last guy I caught minding his own business, I beat the hell out
of him and kicked him off the ranch. - Get on back to the house.
CURLEY'S WIFE: You don't own me, Curley!
CURLEY: Shut up! Get back in the house!
13. Night on the farm (42:42)
(In front of the bunkhouse. Lennie is approaching, hiding something.)
(SLIM: ... about 10,000, 12,000 feet.)
GEORGE: How you like your pup, Lennie?
LENNIE: I like that puppy. It's white like I wanted. (Enters quickly the bunk-
house.)
GEORGE: Lennie?
LENNIE: Yeah?
GEORGE: I told you not to bring that pup in here.
LENNIE: George, George, give it to me!
GEORGE: Back in the barn.
LENNIE: George, give it to me. George, I didn't mean no harm. George,
please, I'll take it back to the barn. I just want to feel him a little bit.
GEORGE: All right. Don't you take him out no more.
(Lennie walks away in the direction of the barn.)
SLIM: Jesus! He's still just like a kid, ain't he?
14. The killing of Candy's dog (44:21)
(At the bunkhouse.)
CANDY: Either of you guys got a slug of whiskey? I got a gut ache.
SLIM: I ain't. I'd drink it if I had, and I ain't got no gut ache.
CARLSON: God almighty, that dog stinks. He's got no teeth. He's all stiff from
rheumatism. Ain't no good to you. Hell, he ain't no good to hisself. Why don't
you just shoot him, Candy?
CANDY: Well, I couldn't do that. I had him too long. I herded sheep with
him.
CARLSON: That poor old dog suffers hisself all the time.
CANDY: No, no.
CARLSON: Look... Take him out and shoot him in the back of the head.
Right there. Hell, he'd never even know what hit him.
CANDY: Oh, I couldn't do that. I had him too long.
CARLSON: I'll tell you what, Candy. I'll shoot him for you. Then it won't be
you who done it. Slim´s bitch has got a litter right now. Slim would give you a
pup.
SLIM: Sure. You can have any one of them pups you want.
CANDY: No, no, no.
SLIM: Carlson's right, Candy. That dog ain't no good to hisself.
WHIT: Hey, Slim, read this.
SLIM: "Dear editor, I read your magazine for six years and think
it's the best on the market. I like stories by Peter Rand." - What you want me
to
read that for?
WHIT: Read the name at the bottom.
SLIM: "William Tenner."
WHIT: You met Bill Tenner, right?
SLIM: Yeah. Baldheaded guy, drove a cultivator.
(In the meantime Carlson has taken his Luger pistol out of his bag.)
CARLSON: Candy, if you want me to, I'll put that dog out of his misery right
now. Won't hurt him at all.
CANDY: Let's wait till tomorrow.
CARLSON: Let's get it over with. We can't sleep with that stinking dog in
here.
CANDY (after a pause): All right. Take him.
CARLSON: Come on, boy. Come on. He won't even feel it. Come on, boy.
Come on.
SLIM: Carlson... - Get a shovel.
CARLSON: Yeah.
SLIM: Candy, you can have any one of them pups you want.
WHIT: Uh, does anybody want to play a little -rummy?
GEORGE: Yeah.
[Gunshot]
15. The life story of George and Lennie (50:12)
(Out on the field.)
WORKER: Hey. [grunts] Hey, hey! Slim?
SLIM: Yeah?
WORKER: I can't keep up with that guy. It'll kill me.
SLIM: All right. - Jack!
WORKER: Yeah?
SLIM: Take Mike's place.
WORKER: Aw, Slim!
SLIM: Just for a little while. –
SLIM: How long you and Lennie been together, George?
GEORGE: A long time, a real long time.
SLIM: Seems kind of funny... You two travelling around together.
GEORGE: What's funny about it?
SLIM: A cuckoo and a smart guy like you.
GEORGE: I ain't so smart, or I wouldn't be bucking barley for my 50 bucks a
month.
SLIM: I guess you're right. How did you two meet up?
GEORGE: I knew his aunt Clara. She took him when he was a boy. She
raised him up. When she died, Lennie just come along with me working. I used
to play jokes on him because he's too damn dumb to take care of himself.
He's been doing any damn thing I told him.
(SLIM: Put that on back in here.)
GEORGE: One day... a bunch of guys standing around on the Sacramento
river, and I says, "Jump in, Lennie." and he jumps. He couldn't swim a stroke. He
damn near drowned. He's so damn nice to me for saving him. He forgot I told
him to jump in.
SLIM: He's a nice fella. A guy don't need no sense to be a nice fella.
GEORGE: Yeah, but he gets in trouble all the time because he's so god-
damn dumb. Like what happened in Weed.
SLIM: What did he do in Weed?
GEORGE: He seen this girl in a red dress, and the dumb bastard that he is,
he just... - He wants to touch everything he likes, so he reaches out to touch this
red dress. So the girl starts screaming, and that gets Lennie all mixed-up, so he
holds on. and he won't let go. Because that's the only thing he can think to do.
SLIM: So what happened?
GEORGE: Well, she runs off across the field screaming. So me and Lennie
take off running. Pretty soon, here are a bunch of guys with dogs coming after
us. Had to hide in the irrigation ditch until it was safe to get away.
SLIM: Didn't hurt the girl none?
GEORGE: Hell, no. He just scared her.
SLIM: Well.... He ain't mean. I can tell a mean guy a mile off.
BOSS: Milton! I ain't payin' you to stand around. Get back to work.
SLIM: He came over for a drink.
BOSS: You get back to work. Get these men moving. They're way behind.
You men get moving here!
16. Curley the boxer (54:19)
(Curley is hitting a punching ball.)
BOSS: Goddamn it! Stop that racket!
17. At the bunkhouse: The little place and the rabbits (56:13)
GEORGE: Lennie... I told you not to bring that pup in here.
LENNIE: I ain't got no pup. Ha ha ha!
WHIT: Ha ha ha!
(In comes Curley.)
CURLEY: Any of you boys seen my wife?
WHIT: She ain't been here.
CURLEY (looking around): Where the hell's Slim?
WHIT: Went out to the barn. (Curley out.)
WHIT: Carlson, do you think he'll find Slim in the barn with his wife?
CARLSON: Better not tangle with Slim.
WHIT: Curley's looking for a fight. I got to see this. Come on, George.
GEORGE: No. I'll stay here. Thanks. (Carlson and Whit out.)
(TO LENNIE). Is Curley's wife in the barn?
LENNIE: If she was, I didn't see her. - George? Both the ends is the same.
Why are both the ends is the same?
GEORGE: I don't know. It's just the way they make them. You sure she did-
n't come in the barn like she come in here?
LENNIE: No. Never.
GEORGE: Give me a good whorehouse every time. A guy can go in, get
drunk and get it all out of his system and no messes.
LENNIE: George...
GEORGE: Yeah?
LENNIE: How long will it be till we get the little place and live off the fat of
the land?
GEORGE: Got to get some money together first. I know a place where you
can get cheap, but they ain't givin' it away.
LENNIE: Tell about that place, George.
GEORGE: It's 10 acres. It's got a windmill, got a little shack on it and a
chicken run.
LENNIE: Got rabbits, George?
GEORGE: Well, I could build a few hutches, and you could feed them al-
falfa.
LENNIE: You damn right! You goddamn right I could! But, George, tell what
that — that house.
GEORGE: Well, we'd have a little house, and we'd have a room to ourself.
We'd have a fat iron stove, and in the winter, we'd keep the fire going.
LENNIE: And rabbits. I'm gonna tend them. How do I tend the rabbits?
GEORGE: Well, you go out to the alfalfa field. You have a sack. You fill up
that sack, and you put it in the rabbit cage. We have pigeons that fly around
the windmill, like they done when I was a kid. It'd be our own. Nobody could
can us. We don't like a guy, we say, "get the hell out." If a friend come along,
we'd have an extra bunk, we'd say, "why don't you spend the night," and, by
God, he would. We'd have a dog and a couple cats. - You got to make sure
them cats don't get them rabbits.
LENNIE: You just... You just let them try. I'm going to break them goddamn
cats' necks. I smash them cats with a stick. Ha ha ha!
CANDY: You know a place like this?
GEORGE: Suppose I do. What's it to you?
CANDY: How much they want for a place like that?
GEORGE: Could get it for 600 bucks.
CANDY: 600.
GEORGE: Old people that owns it is broke.
CANDY: I ain't much good with only one hand. That's why they give me a
job sweeping. They give me $250 because I lost my hand. I got 50 more saved
in the bank. That's, uh. 300. I got 50 more coming at the end of the month.
Suppose I went in with you fellas. That'd be $350 that I'd put in. Let me tell you
something. I could cook. I could tend the chickens, and I could hoe in the
garden. Huh? Now, how would that be?
LENNIE: O.K.
GEORGE: I got to think about that. We's always gonna do it by ourselves.
LENNIE: We was gonna do it by ourselves.
CANDY: I tell you what. I'd make a will and leave my share to you in case I
kick off. I ain't got no relatives or nothin'. You fellas got money? We could do it
right now.
GEORGE: We got 10 bucks.
CANDY: 10 Bucks.
GEORGE: Yeah.
CANDY: Well.... You seen what they done to my dog. They said he wasn't
no good no more. I wish somebody would shoot me when I ain't no good. But
they won't do that. They'll can me, and I ain't gonna have no place to go.
GEORGE: Look, if me and Lennie work a month and don't spend nothin',
we'll have 100 bucks. And you got 350?
CANDY: Yeah. You can have every cent of it.
GEORGE: That'd be 450. I bet we could get it for that. You could get her
started. I'd get a job and make up the rest.
LENNIE: I'll take that goddamn pup.
GEORGE: Sure – know what I do? I'll write those people that we'll take it,
and Candy will send $100 to hold it?
CANDY: Sure. I'll have $30 more when you're ready to quit.
LENNIE: I get to tend rabbits.
CANDY: I'll hoe the garden, even if I ain't no good. They got a nice stove?
GEORGE: Yeah, they got a nice stove.
LENNIE: I bet that pup would like it there.
GEORGE: We're going to do it. God damn it, we'll fix up that little place
and go and live there.
LENNIE: When we gonna do it?
GEORGE: One month. Right smack in one month.
(Men talking outside)
GEORGE: Don't tell nobody about it.
LENNIE: Don't tell nobody.
CANDY: George... I ought to have shot that dog myself. I shouldn't let no
stranger shoot my dog.
18. The fight: Curley – Lennie (1:02:00)
SLIM: Shut up! You been asking too often. I'm sick of it! If you can't look
after your goddamn wife, what do you expect me to do? You lay off me.
CURLEY: I didn't mean nothin'. Just thought you might have seen her. That's
all.
CARLSON: Tell her to stay home where she belongs. You punk. You're yel-
low as a frog belly. You come for me, I'll kick your goddamn head in.
THE OTHERS: Bawk! Bawk, bawk, bawk! Bawk, bawk. Bawk, bawk. bawk,
bawk, bawk, bawk.
CURLEY (addressing Lennie): What the hell you laughing about? Huh? You!
Come on, you big bastard, get up. No big son of a bitch is going to laugh at
me. Get up. I'll show you who's yellow. Get up!
GEORGE: Come on, Curley!
CURLEY: Get up and fight.
GEORGE: He didn't do nothin'! Cut it out, Curley!
GEORGE: Come on, Lennie. Fight back. Get him. Lennie! Fight back! Get
him, Lennie! Get him!
CURLEY: Uh! Unh! Ah! Get him off of me! Get him off! Get him off of me!
Aah! Slim, help me.
GEORGE: Lennie! Let go! Unh... Lennie. Oh, my God! Lennie! Let go of his
hand! Come on!
CURLEY: Argh!
SLIM: Jesus.
LENNIE: You told me to, George! You told me to.
GEORGE: I know. Take it easy now.
SLIM : We got to get him to a doctor. Get the wagon hitched up. We'll
take him into Soledad.
CURLEY: Ahh...
LENNIE: I didn't want to hurt him!
GEORGE: I know. I know.
SLIM: It ain't your fault. Lennie. This punk had it coming to him.
GEORGE: Slim, is Curley's old man going to can us now?
SLIM: Hey, you hear me? Huh? Hey. you hear me? Huh... I think you got
your hand caught in a machine. Now. if you don't tell nobody what hap-
pened, we ain't goin' to. You tell and try to get this guy canned, we'll tell eve-
rybody what really happened. You got that?
CURLEY: Uh-huh.
SLIM: Good. George, you and Whit give me a hand. ... Lift him up. That's it.
Candy, get the door.
CURLEY: Ooh!
SLIM: Whit, you go on into town with Carlson.
(After the fight.)
LENNIE: George.
GEORGE: Jesus, you look like hell.
LENNIE: Do I still get to tend the rabbits?
GEORGE: Sure: You ain't done nothin' wrong.
LENNIE: I didn't want... I didn't want no trouble.
GEORGE: It's all right. I know you didn't. Come on. Be quiet so I can clean
you up, O.K.?
LENNIE: O.K.
19. After the fight (1:06:09)
(In the fields.)
CURLEY'S WIFE: Hi, boys. Hot out here. Not cool like in the barn. - I said, it's
hot out here!
GEORGE: Why don't you go back to your house? We don't want no trou-
ble.
CURLEY'S WIFE: I ain't givin' you no trouble. Think I don't like to talk to some-
body every once in a while?
GEORGE: You got a husband. Go talk to him.
CURLEY'S WIFE: Ha! Sure, I got a husband. Swell guy, ain't he? Say, what
happened to Curley's hand?
GEORGE: He got his hand caught in a machine.
CURLEY'S WIFE: Baloney! What do you think you're selling me? - How'd you
get them bruises on your face?
LENNIE: Who, me?
CURLEY'S WIFE: Yeah, you.
LENNIE: Got his hand caught in a machine.
CURLEY'S WIFE: Yeah, O.K.
20. Lennie and Crooks (1:09:10)
(In the barn.)
LENNIE: Little more. Giddy-up. Ha! Come on.
(Puppy barking)
GEORGE: Lennie. I'm going to go into town with the guys.
LENNIE: Can I stay here?
GEORGE: Yeah. Just stay here for a little while, and then you go back to
the bunkhouse.
LENNIE: O.K.
MEN (shouting from outside): Come on, George
GEORGE: Don't you get in no trouble.
(Lennie stands in the door of Crook's room.)
CROOKS: You ain't got no right to come into my room. Nobody got a right
to be here but me.
LENNIE: I--I seen your light.
CROOKS: I ain't wanted in y'alls' bunkhouses. You ain't wanted in my room.
LENNIE: Why ain't you wanted?
CROOKS: Because I'm black. They say I stink. All of y'all stink to me.
LENNIE: Everybody went into town.
CROOKS: Well, what you want?
LENNIE: Nothing. I see — I seen your light.
CROOKS: Well, come on in and sit awhile, if you won't get out of here and
leave me alone. Goddamn y'alls' soul! All the boys go into town?
LENNIE: All but old Candy. He just sat in the bunkhouse, figuring about the
rabbits.
CROOKS: What rabbits you talkin' about?
LENNIE: The rabbits we gonna get, and I get to tend them.
CROOKS: You nuts! You crazy as a wedge! I don't blame that guy you
travelin' around with for keeping you out of sight.
LENNIE: No. Every word is the truth. You can ask George.
CROOKS: You travel around with George, don't you?
LENNIE: Me and George go everywhere together.
CROOKS: Sometime he talk to you, and you don't understand what the hell
he's talkin' about. Ain't that so?
LENNIE: How long do you think it's going to be before the pup is old enough
to take away from its mother?
CROOKS: Whew, boy, I tell you. A guy can talk to you and be sure you ain't
gonna go blabbin'. Mm-mm. Just talking, and you don't understand nothin'. It
don't make no difference if you don't hear or understand, you just... Mmm
mwn... talking! Ha ha ha! Just talking. Just being with another guy. That's all.
Suppose... George don't come back no more. What you do then?
LENNIE: What?
CROOKS: I said, suppose George go into town tonight, and you never
heard of him no more.
LENNIE: George would never do nothing like that.
CROOKS: Suppose he get hurt or killed and can't come back.
LENNIE: George can't get killed, because George is careful.
CROOKS: Well, just suppose. Suppose he don't come back. What you do
then?
LENNIE: I don't know. Why are you doing anyways? That ain't true. George ain't
hurt.
CROOKS: They'd take you to the booby hatch, and they'd lock you up with
a collar.
LENNIE: Who'll hurt George?
CROOKS: Just supposing. George ain't hurt. He's all right! He's going to
come back.
LENNIE: What you supposing for? Ain't nobody talk no hurt to George.
CROOKS: Just keep calm.
LENNIE: Now — now, George ain't hurt. Ain't nobody talk no hurt to
George!
CROOKS: All right. All right. Just — just sit down. Calm down. Go on. Well,
maybe you can see now. You got George. Suppose you ain't got nobody.
Suppose you can't go into the bunkhouse and play rummy because you's
black. Suppose you have to sit out here with the mules and read books. Books
ain't no good. A guy goes nuts, he ain't got nobody. I tell you, a guy gets too
lonely, he gets sick!
LENNIE: Maybe George come back already. Maybe I better go see.
CROOKS: I- I didn't mean to scare you. George gonna come back all right.
I was just talking about myself.
LENNIE: We're going to get a little place of land and rabbits and windmill.
CROOKS: Hmm? You nuts.
GEORGE: Lennie!
LENNIE: That - that George! George is back.
CROOKS: Yeah.
LENNIE: I'm in here, George.
GEORGE: What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here.
CROOKS: I told him, but he come on in anyway.
GEORGE: Why didn't you kick him out!
CROOKS: I guess I didn't care much.
GEORGE: Come on. Good night.
21. The third encounter with Curley's Wife (1:15:15)
(On the way to the bunkhouse.)
LENNIE: I thought you was gonna stay in town.
GEORGE: Why'd you think that?
LENNIE: That nigger told me. He said you got hurt.
CURLEY'S WIFE: Hey! You see Curley in town?
GEORGE: No.
CURLEY'S WIFE: He went into town. His old man went into town, too. Yeah.
Couldn't even play my records tonight. Got no records left. I had four — "Am I
blue?" "Little by little", "Button up your overcoat", and "10 cents a dance".
Curley got mad at me after supper, broke all my records. (Addressing Lennie.) I
know how you got them bruises on your face... And how Curley got his hand
busted.
LENNIE: He got his hand caught in a machine.
CURLEY'S WIFE: Yeah, all right. If you say so. (Walks back to the house, turns
around again.) Someday I'm going into town. and no one's ever going to see
me again, not Curley, not his old man, not a damn one of you bindle stiffs!
LENNIE: George. she's crying. George, why is she crying?
GEORGE: I don't know.
22. The horseshoe tournament (1:17:23)
(Men playing horseshoes)
MEN: Aw, that ain't touching. Just pick it up. Ready to go? Ah, nothing. Unh!
Next play! Line up to pitch, men. Let's go.
(In the bunkhouse.)
CANDY: I finished the letter. Maybe we ought to send the binding money
with the letter, George.
GEORGE: No. Let's wait till we hear from them.
CANDY: Now, I hope they ain't already sold it.
GEORGE: Don't you worry about that.
CANDY: I'd feel a lot better sending the money now.
GEORGE: Well, let me think about it.
CANDY: You know, I could hardly sleep last night, thinking about us getting
that farm.
GEORGE: We'll be there before you know it.
(Outside)
MEN: All right. Here we go. Come on, Crooks. Put her in. [Clank] Whoa!
Good shot. Almost. It's still in there. Pack them away. All right. Come on,
Crooks. Yeah, Crooks. He can do it. Put one on it. [Clank] Good!
(In the barn.)
LENNIE: (Crying) Why did you get killed? You ain't so little as the mice.
George is never... George is never going to let me tend them rabbits if he finds
out you got killed.
(Outside)
MEN: Come on, George. Yeah, George. Come on. There you go. There
you go. [Clank] Neither one of them got very close. O.K., Slim, come on. Shut
up, Smiley. [Clank] Whoa! No way! Nothing no way. Here I go. Tell him, Crooks.
Ringer time. Ringer time. Get a ringer, George. There you go.
23. The fatal encounter in the barn: Lennie and Curley's Wife (1:18:20)
(In the barn.)
CURLEY'S WIFE: What you got there, sonny boy?
LENNIE: George says I ain't got nothing to do with you.
CURLEY'S WIFE: George giving you orders about everything?
LENNIE: I ain't gonna talk to you or nothin'.
CURLEY'S WIFE: All the guys got a horseshoe tournament going on. None of
them is gonna leave. Why can't we talk? I never get to talk to nobody. I get
awful lonely.
LENNIE: Uh, I ain't supposed to talk to you.
CURLEY'S WIFE: You can talk to people, but I can't talk to nobody but
Curley, because he gets mad. How do you like not to talk to anybody? - What
do you got covered up there?
LENNIE: A d — little pup. That's the little pup.
CURLEY'S WIFE: Why is he dead?
LENNIE: Uh...I was just playing with him.
CURLEY'S WIFE: Don't you worry none. He's just a mutt. You can get another
one easy.
LENNIE: Well, uh... George ain't gonna let me tend them rabbits now.
CURLEY'S WIFE: Why don't he?
LENNIE: Well, he said when... Any — I did any bad things, then I wouldn't be
tending rabbits.
CURLEY'S WIFE: Don't you worry about talking to me. Listen to the guys yell
out there. They won't leave till it's over.
LENNIE: I ain't supposed to talk to you.
CURLEY'S WIFE: What's the matter with me? Ain't I got a right to talk to
nobody?
LENNIE: George said you get the people in a mess.
CURLEY'S WIFE: Oh, nuts! What kind of harm am I doing to you? I tell you, I
ain't used to living like this. God, I could have made something of myself.
Maybe I will yet. One day a show came through Salinas, and I met one of the
actors. He says I could go with the show. My old lady wouldn't let me. He says I
could've. I wouldn't be living like this.
LENNIE: We were supposed to get a little place and then get rabbits.
CURLEY'S WIFE: (Sighing) Another time, I met a guy. He was in pictures.
Went out to the riverside dance palace with him. He says he was going to put
me in the movies. He says I was a natural. When he got back to Hollywood, he
was going to write me about it. I never did get that letter. I always thought my
old lady stole it, too. She said no. So, um... I married Curley. Met him at the
riverside dance palace that same night. Are you listening?
LENNIE: S-sure.
CURLEY'S WIFE: I ain't told this to nobody before. Maybe I oughtn't to. - I
don't like Curley. He ain't a nice fella. - I could have been in the movies, had
nice clothes. This guy said I was a natural.
LENNIE: May-maybe if — if you took this pup and you throwed him away,
then George would never know. I could tend them rabbits.
CURLEY'S WIFE: What makes you so nuts about rabbits?
LENNIE: I — I like to pet nice things with the fingers- soft things.
CURLEY'S WIFE: Well, who don't? Everybody likes that. Do you like to feel
velvet?
LENNIE: You bet, by God! I — I had me some, too, that the lady give me
some. Then I lost it.
CURLEY'S WIFE: You're nuts. But you're kind of a nice fella, just like a big
baby. -
CURLEY'S WIFE: Sometimes when I'm doing my hair, I just stroke it because
it's so soft. Feel right here.
LENNIE: That's nice.
CURLEY'S WIFE: You like it, don't you? I like it, too. It feels nice.
LENNIE: That's nice. - That's nice.
CURLEY'S WIFE: Don't mess it up. Look out, now. You'll mess it up. Don't mess
it up. Let go. Hey, let go. Will you let go? Let go! (Screaming)
LENNIE: Shh. Shh. Shh. Hey, no. Don't do none of that. Please, don't you go
yelling! Shh. Shh. Don't — don't you go yelling! Don't. Don't. (Screaming) don't
yell! Don't do that. George is going to be mad if you yell. -----
LENNIE: Don't want to hurt you, but you're going to get me in trouble. You
done a bad thing. I — I done a bad thing. I done a — a really bad thing. (A
pigeon scares Lennie. He runs away.)
(Outside)
MEN: [Cheering] All right, George. You did good.
24. The disclosure of the death of Curley's Wife (1:28:54)
(In the barn)
CANDY: Lennie! Lennie! Lennie! I got something here to show you. – (Sees
Curley's Wife lying there.) I didn't know you was out here. You oughtn't to sleep
out here. Jesus Christ!
(Outside. Candy looks out for George.)
(Inside the barn.)
GEORGE: Hey. Damn!
CANDY: What are we going to do now, George?
GEORGE: We ought to tell the guys.
CANDY: No, no. We ought to let him get away. You don't know that Curley.
Curley's going to want to get him lynched.
GEORGE: I won't let him hurt Lennie. - All right, now, listen. The guys might
think I was in on it. I'll go in the bunkhouse. You give me a minute. You come
out and tell the guys, and I'll come along like I never seen her. Will you do that?
CANDY: Sure, George.
(Outside)
MEN: Come on. You can do it. Let's see what you got. Whoa! O.K., Slim,
come on. There you go. Whoa! Whoa! Ha ha!
CANDY: Slim! Slim! Something happened to Curley's wife! Come quick!
Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on!
SLIM: What the hell's going on, Candy? Let's go see.
CANDY: I don't know. Let's go. Over here. Move it.
(In the barn.)
SLIM: She ain't movin'.
CURLEY: I know who done it. That loony son of a bitch done it. I'm going to
get him. I'm going to get my rifle, and I'll kill him myself. I — I'll get my gun.
CARLSON: I'll go with you. Tom, let's get the horses.
CURLEY: Saddle my horse! Get the dogs ready! Get my gun!
SLIM: I guess Lennie done it, all right. Her neck's bust. Lennie could have
done that!
(George nods.)
SLIM: All right. boys! Well, I guess we got to get him.
GEORGE (to Slim): Couldn't you bring him in and lock him up? He's nuts. He
never done this to be mean.
SLIM: If we could keep Curley in, we might, but Curley wants to shoot him. -
Suppose they lock him up and strap him down in a cage. That ain't no good,
George. (Dogs barking)
CARLSON: Let's get a move on! That bastard stole my gun. Take the nigger's
shotgun.
(Slim takes a quick look at George.)
SLIM: Curley. maybe you'd better stay with your wife.
CURLEY: Oh, no, goddamn it. I'll kill the son of a bitch myself. Come on! Let's
move! (Dogs barking) Whit, Carlson, you fellas ride with me.
25. The man hunt (1:34:30)
CURLEY: anybody finds him first, hold him there. I want first crack at him!
Slim, take your men south. I'm going to take my men north. Let them go! Move
out! Move it!
[Whistling] Hyah! Hyah! Hyah! Come on. Let's go.
CANDY: What you gonna do, George?
GEORGE: I've got to find Lennie before they do.
CANDY: Will you help him?
GEORGE: I don't know what I'm going to do.
(Dogs barking)
MEN: Hyah! Hyah! Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!
26. George's and Lennie's final meeting (1:37:20)
GEORGE: Lennie? Lennie? Lennie!
LENNIE: George... George. I didn't. I didn't forget, George. I didn't. I didn't
remember
where we was, but I didn't forget. I couldn't — I couldn't find it.
GEORGE: It's O.K. It's O.K. - O.K.?
LENNIE: I didn't forget where you told me.
GEORGE: It's O.K. It's O.K.
LENNIE: George?
GEORGE: Yeah?
LENNIE: Ain't you gonna give me hell? Like — like you done before? Like, "if I
didn't have you I'd take my 50 bucks, go into a cathouse..."
GEORGE: Jesus Christ, Lennie. You can't remember nothing that happens;
but you remember every word I say.
LENNIE: I thought you was mad at me, George.
GEORGE: No. I ain't mad. I ain't never been mad.
LENNIE: You — you ain't gonna leave me, George. I — I know you ain't. -
George, I done a - I done a bad thing.
GEORGE: It don't make no difference.
LENNIE: George? George? Where we going to go now?
GEORGE: I don't know.
LENNIE: I — I like it here. George, tell — tell me like you done before. You
know, about them other guys and about us. (Dogs barking in the background.)
George, tell it like you done before.
GEORGE: O.K. - O.K. You look over there, -
LENNIE: O.K.
GEORGE: And I'll tell you so you can almost see it, O.K.?
LENNIE: Where?
GEORGE: Over there.
LENNIE: O.K. Over there.
GEORGE: O.K. Guys like us, they got no family. And they ain't got nobody
who gives a hoot in hell about them.
LENNIE: But not us, George. That's it, George. Tell about us now.
GEORGE: Not us.
LENNIE: Because?
GEORGE: Because I got you.
LENNIE: And I got you, George, that gives a hoot in hell about us. George,
tell now how it's going to be.
GEORGE: We're going to get a little place. Yeah. We're going to get a little
place. We're going to... Have... We're going to have a cow and some pigs and
maybe — maybe a chicken. Down in the flat, we'll have...
LENNIE: a field of alfalfa for the rabbits. I get to tend the rabbits...
27. Leaving on an train (1:42:40)
[The noise of an approaching train can be heard and the picture of George
and Lennie fades out while a new picture - George, in sorrowful thoughts,
leaving on a train - fades in.]
28. Days gone by (1:43:00)
[In a flashback, George sees pictures of the past: He is working in the fields with
Lennie and then the two of them walk out of the picture, side by side, and
Lennie, affectionately, touches George.]
29. Credits (1:43:43)
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