The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss
A bored millionaire wagers he can live for a year on his own earnings alone.
The Story
Cary Grant plays Ernest Bliss, a bored, wealthy young Englishman who wagers his doctor that he can support himself for a year on his own labor, without touching his inherited fortune. Taking a series of ordinary jobs under an assumed identity, Bliss discovers hardship, romance, and a sense of purpose he had never known as an idle millionaire, ultimately proving himself and winning the woman he loves along the way.
Production Context
Filmed in Britain and released in 1936, The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss was directed by Alfred Zeisler for producer Bertram Ostrer, a remake of the 1920 silent film based on E. Phillips Oppenheim's novel The Curious Quest. Grant, by then an established Hollywood star, returned to his native England to make the picture, one of the few features of his mature career shot outside the American studio system. It was released in the United States the following year under the title The Amazing Adventure, trimmed for American distribution.
Why It Mattered Then
The film gave British audiences the novelty of seeing their Bristol-born star, by then a Paramount leading man, return home in a homegrown production, and it capitalized on Oppenheim's well-known novel to build a modest star vehicle around Grant's established charm.
Why It Matters Today
Largely a footnote in Grant's filmography today, The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss is nonetheless of interest as a rare instance of the Hollywood star working in the British film industry mid-career, and its rags-to-recognition premise — a wealthy man discovering the value of honest work — anticipates the everyman warmth Grant would later bring to more celebrated roles.
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