None but the Lonely Heart (1944)

 This film earned Cary Grant one of his two Oscar nominations and it was a very different role for him. Gone is the worldly, suave, successful man and replace him with a genuinely talented but adrift, lonely and oddly uncaring person, who wanders around England, performing various menial jobs to get by. And even after he returns home, the only reason he stays is because his mother (Ethel Barrymore), whom he's quite fond of, is dying. 

He tries to settle in, selling furniture at the family business and even falling in love with movie ticket girl, Ada (June Duprez) who is the ex-wife of a gangster whose specialty is illegal business dealings. Bored or broke, Ernie (Grant) gets involved despite Ada's pleas for him to do otherwise. But then after a near brush with death and his mother getting arrested (for fishy reasons), Ernie finally decides to let Ada go (mainly because she leaves him) and reform his life. 

So yeah, while it was nice seeing Grant in a different sort of role, I found this film boring, mainly because while the film was supposed to be a character study on Ernie, it held him at arm's length, treating him with kid gloves, not allowing him to be himself (thanks to the Hays code). It is a safe film, when it could have been good. And I couldn't get behind the romance mainly because Ernie wasn't a catch and neither was Ada. The better option would have been the cello playing neighbor, Aggie (Jane Wyatt), who he seeks comfort from at the film's end. While Barrymore won an Oscar for her role, and though she's the best thing about this film, this is another classic that I could have skipped and not regretted it. Grade: B

Side Notes:

-While this film is set in the Cockney section of London, the accents are all over the board.

-Barry Fitzgerald gives support as Ernie's only friend, Henry, though it sounds like he calls him 'Dad'. 

-Though Ernie's mother refuses to buy or sell stolen goods, she doesn't argue when she's arrested and in fact, apologizes to her son for embarrassing the family. 

-The score oddly swells at the end. That was weird to me. 

-On the other hand, the set was relatively gritty and realistic, all things considered.