Format: Turner Classic Movies on rockin’ flatscreen.
I’ve never been shy about the fact that I like Cary Grant. If you list out the actors from the golden age of Hollywood, there are plenty more accomplished, many with more awards, and some who were more talented actors than Cary Grant. But none of them had Grant’s style or raw personal magnetism. I’m always pleased to watch anything featuring him, even if it turns out I don’t love the film itself.
This is a simple story that gets convoluted pretty quickly. Ernie Mott (Grant) is the sort of guy who doesn’t spend too long in any one place. He’s shown up at home after a long period of wandering from place to place, earning a living as he finds it. Ernie has a basic mechanical knowledge, allowing him to repair watches and perfect pitch, which allows him to tune pianos. His mother (Ethel Barrymore) runs something akin to a pawn shop. What she wants more than anything is for her son to return home and take over the shop for here, something he is uninterested in doing. She offers an ultimatum: stay and work at the shop or leave and never return.
Ernie wanders off and bumps into Aggie (Jane Wyatt), a fellow musician. Aggie is deepy in love with Ernie, which he knows and only partially requites. That evening, Ernie meets Ada (June Duprez) and is immediately smitten with her, but assumes that things will go nowhere because he is planning on leaving the next morning.
Plans change after a conversation with family friend Ike (Konstantin Shayne), who informs Ernie that Ma Mott is dying of cancer. Ernie does an about face and decides to stay on to help his mother and to see her through her illness as best as he can. Around this time, a few more other pop up into the mix. The first, at least as Ernie is concerned, is the more serious one. His new girlfriend Ada is or recently was married to a local thug and gangster named Mordinoy (George Coulouris).
coming soon
Why to watch None but the Lonely Heart: When Cary Grant earns a nomination, you should pay attention.
Why not to watch: It’s depressing as all hell.
