None But the Lonely Heart

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Movie
Original title None But the Lonely Heart
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1944
length 113 minutes
Rod
Director Clifford Odets
script Clifford Odets
production David Hempstead for RKO
music Constantin Bakaleinikoff , Hanns Eisler
camera George Barnes
cut Roland Gross
occupation

None But the Lonely Heart is a 1944 American film starring Cary Grant and Ethel Barrymore directed by Clifford Odets . The script is based on a novel by Richard Llewellyn . Ethel Barrymore won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance . The National Board of Review voted None But the Lonely Heart Best Film of 1944.

action

Ernie Mott is a restless young man who goes through life with no goals. He tries in vain to make a career as a musician and has an affair with the cellist Aggie Hunter. The divorced Ada Brantline's influence gives him hope to change his life. Ernie helps his seriously ill mother to keep the small shop running. Through a chain of unfortunate circumstances, his mother ends up in prison, where she dies lonely. The relationship with Ada also breaks up. Ernie is left with no hope.

background

The novel None But the Lonely Heart by Richard Llewellyn tells the tale of a 19-year-old boy who is trying to escape the terrible circumstances of his existence. When Cary Grant , who was nearly 40 at the time, showed his interest in the lead role, screenwriter and director Clifford Odets had to make numerous changes to adapt the course of events to the protagonist's advanced age.

The first choice for the cast of Ernie's terminally ill mother was Laurette Taylor , a former famous stage actress who just for her role as mother in Tennessee Williams play The Glass Menagerie a comeback experienced. She went on trial but was turned down on the grounds that she was bulky (other sources cite Taylor's alcoholism as the real reason for refusal).

The choice then fell on Ethel Barrymore , who at the time was a very successful Broadway star in The Grain Is Green . To sign Barrymore, the producers had to pay for all expenses and expenses incurred during the two-week hiatus due to Barrymore's absence.

criticism

The reviews were full of praise.

Bosley Crowther was extremely impressed in the New York Times :

“A film full of moving mood and desperate need, full of people who are relentlessly trying to find inner peace in a shabby and oppressive part of London. [..] At the same time, the film is told so sensitively, full of human warmth and poetic power that one wonders to see something like this on screen at all. [...] Because it is, frankly, an unusual film. And it will certainly catch the viewers off guard who are more used to light, escapist films. […] This film will probably not do very well at the box office, but over the years it will be remembered when today's hits are long forgotten. "

Awards

Oscar

The film went to the Academy Awards in 1945 with four nominations and won one of the trophies:

  • Best Supporting Actress: Ethel Barrymore - Won
  • Best Actor - Cary Grant
  • Best film editing - Roland Gross
  • Best film music (drama / comedy) - Constantin Bakaleinikoff, Hanns Eisler

National Board of Review

  • Best film of 1944

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lynn Kear: Laurette Taylor, American Stage Legend . McFarland, Jefferson 2014, ISBN 978-0-7864-5922-3 , pp. 212 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed December 21, 2019]).
  2. ^ None But the Lonely Heart (1944) - Notes. In: Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved December 21, 2019 .
  3. ^ None But the Lonely Heart. In: CaryGrant.Net. Retrieved on December 21, 2019 (English): “A film of haunting moods and desperate yearnings, of souls searching restlessly for peace amid the drab and oppressive surroundings of London's pre-war East End […]. And such a sensitive and warmly revealing and poetically lovely film it is that one may feel wonder and amazement at seeing it on the screen. […] For this is, frankly, an uncommon picture. And if it comes as a staggering surprise to folks who are accustomed to mere eye-wash, let no one abuse it therefore. […] It may possibly be that this picture will not be widely accepted just now, but we are sure that it will be remembered - and revived - long after many current favorites are forgotten. "