NONE BUT THE LONELY HEART
US, 1944, 108 minutes, Black and white.
Cary Grant, Miss Ethel Barrymore, Barry Fitzgerald, June Duprez, Jane Wyatt, George Colouris, Dan Duryea.
Directed by Clifford Odets.
None But The Lonely Heart was written by playwright Clifford Odets (Golden Boy, Waiting for Lefty). Odets was seen as a character in Tim Robbins' Cradle Will Rock and also in the film Frances, because of his relationship with actress Frances Fisher.
Cary Grant was nominated for an Oscar for this performance and Ethel Barrymore won the Best Supporting Actress award. However, it is difficult to know what the impact of the film was in its time. Now, it is very difficult to watch. The film is very stage bound, a studio-set London (seen to more advantage in contemporary British films such as Waterloo Road with Stewart Granger and John Mills, treating some of the same subject matter). Cary Grant gives a very odd performance, allegedly basing his character on memories of his own growing up in Bristol. Ethel Barrymore also seems quite mannered. The film's dialogue is full of rhetorical flourishes that might be much more acceptable on stage with the real physical presence of the actor, but which seem overblown on screen.
The film is meant to show Cary Grant as a London Everyman, a victim of circumstances, loving his mother, a wanderer, restless and getting mixed up with local gangsters, being arrested. There is a suggestion that he is the Everyman who could be the Unknown Soldier of World War II.
There is very little dramatic momentum in the film, rather a series of episodes of Grant relating with Barrymore, their emotional clashes. There is his romance with the divorced wife of local gangster, George Colouris, played by June Duprez. There is the devotion of Jane Wyatt as the neighbour across the street, and of Barry Fitzgerald as the friendly neighbour.
This is very much a film of its time, and, to contemporary eyes, seems antiquarian.
1. The impact of the film in its time? Oscar nominations and awards? The World War II effort? Its impact today, characters, issues, style, rhetoric?
2. The black and white photography, the studio re-creation of London? Stage bound? The musical score?
3. The title and the reference to the poem?
4. The style of the dialogue, Clifford Odets as a playwright, his rhetorical style, earnest speeches? Cinematic?
5. Cary Grant as Ernie, the opening, the Unknown Soldier, the cockney, his knowledge, lack of knowledge, wanderlust? With his mother, the clashes, love for her, her illness? His meeting with Aggie, her love for him, accepting it, leading her on, not? The meeting with Ada, falling in love, the discussions at the fair, dancing, learning she was Jim's wife? The relationship, her son? His concern for her, her wanting to go away and start again, his ambivalence? His relationship with the neighbours, friendly, calling them "Dad"? The old man at the war memorial? The fellow workers?
6. His relationship with the criminals, with Mordiney? Clashes, his gang, going to him, offering his services, the crimes, getting the money? The cigarette case? His going to the moneylender, the physical abuse, his hitting the other gang member? The police, the car crash and chase, his being in jail, the moneylender bailing him out? Going back to his mother, hospital? The finale, his wandering - and the film suggesting that he was typical of the Unknown Soldier? A cockney Everyman? Persuasive or not?
7. His mother, her background, father going, bringing up her son, his wandering, their fights, love, her illness, the gift? Her finally going to hospital, the reconciliation?
8. Aggie, devotion, no matter what? Ada, her love for him, following him, wanting to go away, the note? The fact that he could get the love of these women?
9. The neighbours, Barry Fitzgerald and his wisdom, the man in the shop? The moneylender and his kindness, his being bashed, bailing Ernie out?
10. The gangsters, the spivs of London, terrorising people, running the clubs, making money?
11. A view of Britain in the 30s and 40s, Hollywood style?
