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Cary Grant plays a wandering Londoner who’s reluctant to settle down. This changes when he discovers his mother, played by Ethel Barrymore, has terminal cancer. Poverty and loneliness drive Grant and Barrymore to desperate measures, and just when you think things can’t get any gloomier, the film ends with foreshadowing of the second world war. None But the Lonely Heart is a dark film, but it has heart. Cary Grant drops his trademark wit and confidence for a much more vulnerable performance, one of the most dramatic of his career (up there with Penny Serenade). The best scenes are the early ones between Grant and Barrymore, where the estranged mother and son take cautious strides to reconnect with one another. Barrymore’s performance earned her an Academy Award (for supporting actress) and Grant was nominated.

Academy Award: Best Supporting Actress (Ethel Barrymore)

Nominations: Best Actor (Cary Grant), Film Editing, Score