Horton Foote's adaptation of John Steinbeck's tragic tale about two migrant farmworkers in Depression-era California. Lennie, a sweet-natured, mentally-retarded man who doesn't realize his own crushing strength, and George, his companion and protector, befriend an aging farmhand on the ranch where they work as wheat harvesters. The three men resolve to buy a farm together and escape their down-trodden existence as itinerant laborers. But their dream is shattered when the child-like Lennie accidentally strangles the flirtatious wife of the ranch owner's son and George and Lennie are forced to run for their lives.