As far as I know, Cary Grant had his only Academy Award nomination for his role in this movie and he didn't win. It remained one of his favourites but is way outside his usual sphere and, from that point of view, is of some interest. Made during World War II but set in a very dreary East End of London just before the war, Grant plays a shiftless "Cocker-ney" drifter who occasionally reappears at his Mum's home. The mother is played by Ethel Barrymore, lured back from the stage after a long interval, and she did win an Oscar here. He also goes into and out of the lives of a good girl and a bad one, the latter tempting him briefly into a career in crime led on by shifty George Coulouris.
Adapted from the novel of the same name and directed by left-wing playwright Clifford Odets, this remains a curiosity. It is also full of high-brow verbiage and anti-war sentiment that are somewhat out of place in the downbeat setting.
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