None but the Lonely Heart
Encyclopedia
None but the Lonely Heart is a 1944 film
which tells the story of a Cockney
lad who returns home with no ambitions but finds that his family needs him. Adapted by Clifford Odets
from the novel by Richard Llewellyn
and directed by Odets, the movie stars Cary Grant
, Ethel Barrymore
, Barry Fitzgerald
, June Duprez
, Jane Wyatt
, George Coulouris
, and Dan Duryea
.
The title of the film is taken from one of Tchaikovsky's best-known songs
, which is featured in the background music.
None but the Lonely Heart won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
(Ethel Barrymore
) and was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role
(Cary Grant
), Best Film Editing
and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
(Hanns Eisler
and Constantin Bakaleinikoff
).
The screenplay was published in Best Film Plays—1945, eds. John Gassner and Dudley Nichols (New York: Crown, 1946).
Musical comedian and parodist Spike Jones
recorded a three minute spoof of radio soap operas entitled None but the Lonely Heart (A Soaperetta) in the 1940s.
None but the Lonely Heart and Sylvia Scarlett
(1935) were the only two films in which Cary Grant used a Cockney
accent, though that was not his original accent, as he was from Bristol, which has a very different accent from London. The unique vocal intonations with which he spoke in every other film were the happy results of an unsuccessful attempt to go from an English to an American accent so that he wouldn't be limited to playing British roles in American movies.
) is a restless, irresponsible, wandering cockney with a good musical ear. His father died in World War I
. Ernie wants a better life but doesn't want to settle down or work for it. This extends to his love life; musician Aggie Hunter (Jane Wyatt
) genuinely cares for him, but he prefers the company of fickle gangster's ex-wife Ada Brantline (June Duprez
).
When Ernie finds out that his mother has cancer
, he decides to stay put, be a good son, and help her run her shop. A series of unfortunate incidents leads to his mother dying in prison, and he fails to win the lasting affection of Ada. At the end of the film there is a mention of the on-going war (World War II
) and some indication that Ernie may be going to straighten out his life and perhaps think seriously about settling down with Aggie.
1944 in film
The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....
which tells the story of a Cockney
Cockney
The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...
lad who returns home with no ambitions but finds that his family needs him. Adapted by Clifford Odets
Clifford Odets
Clifford Odets was an American playwright, screenwriter, socialist, and social protester.-Early life:Odets was born in Philadelphia to Romanian- and Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, Louis Odets and Esther Geisinger, and raised in Philadelphia and the Bronx, New York. He dropped out of high...
from the novel by Richard Llewellyn
Richard Llewellyn
Richard Dafydd Vivian Llewellyn Lloyd , better known by his pen name Richard Llewellyn, was a Welsh novelist.Llewellyn Richard Dafydd Vivian Llewellyn Lloyd (8 December 1906 – 30 November 1983), better known by his pen name Richard Llewellyn, was a Welsh novelist.Llewellyn Richard Dafydd...
and directed by Odets, the movie stars Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
, Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors.-Early life:Ethel Barrymore was born Ethel Mae Blythe in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second child of the actors Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Drew...
, Barry Fitzgerald
Barry Fitzgerald
Barry Fitzgerald was an Irish stage, film and television actor.-Life:He was born William Joseph Shields in Walworth Road, Portobello, Dublin, Ireland. He is the older brother of Irish actor Arthur Shields. He went to Skerry's College, Dublin, before going on to work in the civil service, while...
, June Duprez
June Duprez
June Duprez was an English film actress.The daughter of American vaudeville performer Fred Duprez, she was born in Teddington, Middlesex, England, during an air raid in the final months of World War I....
, Jane Wyatt
Jane Wyatt
Jane Waddington Wyatt was an American actress perhaps best known for her role as the housewife and mother on the television comedy Father Knows Best, and as Amanda Grayson, the human mother of Spock on the science fiction television series Star Trek...
, George Coulouris
George Coulouris
George Coulouris was a prominent English film and stage actor.-Early life:Coulouris was born in Manchester, England, the son of Abigail and Nicholas Coulouris, a merchant of Greek origin. He was brought up both in Manchester and nearby Urmston and was educated at Manchester Grammar School...
, and Dan Duryea
Dan Duryea
Dan Duryea was an American actor, known for roles in film, stage and television.-Early life:Born and raised in White Plains, New York, Duryea graduated from White Plains Senior High School in 1924 and Cornell University in 1928. While at Cornell, Duryea was elected into the Sphinx Head Society...
.
The title of the film is taken from one of Tchaikovsky's best-known songs
None but the lonely heart
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed a set of six romances for voice and piano, Op. 6, in late 1869; the last of these songs is the melancholy "None but the Lonely Heart" ....
, which is featured in the background music.
None but the Lonely Heart won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors.-Early life:Ethel Barrymore was born Ethel Mae Blythe in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second child of the actors Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Drew...
) and was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
), Best Film Editing
Academy Award for Film Editing
The Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. Since 1981, every film selected as Best Picture has also been nominated for the Film Editing...
and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
(Hanns Eisler
Hanns Eisler
Hanns Eisler was an Austrian composer.-Family background:Eisler was born in Leipzig where his Jewish father, Rudolf Eisler, was a professor of philosophy...
and Constantin Bakaleinikoff
Constantin Bakaleinikoff
Constantin Romanovich Bakaleinikov, or Bakaleinikoff was a Russian-born composer.Bakaleinikoff was from a large musical family. His brothers were Nikolai Bakaleinikov , Vladimir Bakaleinikov , and Mikhail Bakaleinikoff . He studied at the Moscow Conservatory...
).
The screenplay was published in Best Film Plays—1945, eds. John Gassner and Dudley Nichols (New York: Crown, 1946).
Musical comedian and parodist Spike Jones
Spike Jones
Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny and other Warner Brothers cartoon characters, performed a drunken, hiccuping verse for 1942's "Clink! Clink! Another Drink"...
recorded a three minute spoof of radio soap operas entitled None but the Lonely Heart (A Soaperetta) in the 1940s.
None but the Lonely Heart and Sylvia Scarlett
Sylvia Scarlett
Sylvia Scarlett is a 1935 romantic comedy film starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, based on The Early Life and Adventures of Sylvia Scarlett, a novel by Compton MacKenzie. Directed by George Cukor, it was notorious as one of the most famous unsuccessful movies of the 1930s...
(1935) were the only two films in which Cary Grant used a Cockney
Cockney
The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...
accent, though that was not his original accent, as he was from Bristol, which has a very different accent from London. The unique vocal intonations with which he spoke in every other film were the happy results of an unsuccessful attempt to go from an English to an American accent so that he wouldn't be limited to playing British roles in American movies.
Plot
Ernie Mott (Cary GrantCary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
) is a restless, irresponsible, wandering cockney with a good musical ear. His father died in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Ernie wants a better life but doesn't want to settle down or work for it. This extends to his love life; musician Aggie Hunter (Jane Wyatt
Jane Wyatt
Jane Waddington Wyatt was an American actress perhaps best known for her role as the housewife and mother on the television comedy Father Knows Best, and as Amanda Grayson, the human mother of Spock on the science fiction television series Star Trek...
) genuinely cares for him, but he prefers the company of fickle gangster's ex-wife Ada Brantline (June Duprez
June Duprez
June Duprez was an English film actress.The daughter of American vaudeville performer Fred Duprez, she was born in Teddington, Middlesex, England, during an air raid in the final months of World War I....
).
When Ernie finds out that his mother has cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
, he decides to stay put, be a good son, and help her run her shop. A series of unfortunate incidents leads to his mother dying in prison, and he fails to win the lasting affection of Ada. At the end of the film there is a mention of the on-going war (World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
) and some indication that Ernie may be going to straighten out his life and perhaps think seriously about settling down with Aggie.
Cast
- Cary GrantCary GrantArchibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
as Ernie Mott - Ethel BarrymoreEthel BarrymoreEthel Barrymore was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors.-Early life:Ethel Barrymore was born Ethel Mae Blythe in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second child of the actors Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Drew...
as Ma Mott - Barry FitzgeraldBarry FitzgeraldBarry Fitzgerald was an Irish stage, film and television actor.-Life:He was born William Joseph Shields in Walworth Road, Portobello, Dublin, Ireland. He is the older brother of Irish actor Arthur Shields. He went to Skerry's College, Dublin, before going on to work in the civil service, while...
as Henry Twite - June DuprezJune DuprezJune Duprez was an English film actress.The daughter of American vaudeville performer Fred Duprez, she was born in Teddington, Middlesex, England, during an air raid in the final months of World War I....
as Ada Brantline - Jane WyattJane WyattJane Waddington Wyatt was an American actress perhaps best known for her role as the housewife and mother on the television comedy Father Knows Best, and as Amanda Grayson, the human mother of Spock on the science fiction television series Star Trek...
as Aggie Hunter - George CoulourisGeorge CoulourisGeorge Coulouris was a prominent English film and stage actor.-Early life:Coulouris was born in Manchester, England, the son of Abigail and Nicholas Coulouris, a merchant of Greek origin. He was brought up both in Manchester and nearby Urmston and was educated at Manchester Grammar School...
as Jim Mordinoy - Dan DuryeaDan DuryeaDan Duryea was an American actor, known for roles in film, stage and television.-Early life:Born and raised in White Plains, New York, Duryea graduated from White Plains Senior High School in 1924 and Cornell University in 1928. While at Cornell, Duryea was elected into the Sphinx Head Society...
as Lew Tate - Roman BohnenRoman BohnenRoman Bohnen was a stage and film actor.Born Roman Aloys Bohnen in St. Paul, Minnesota, Bohnen attended the University of Minnesota, where he was a cheerleader. He cheered so vigorously that it changed his voice for the rest of his life. After graduating in 1923 with a B.A., Roman served his...
as Dad Pettyjohn - Konstantin Shayne as Ike Weber