'' Time '' said " Grant and Dunne can not overcome the ten-little-fingers-and-ten-little-toes plot . Written by scripter Morrie Ryskind , produced and directed by George Stevens ( '' Alice Adams '' ) , it is too often a moving picture which does not move . Skillful direction saves it from turning maudlin . " Bosley Crowther , in a somewhat ambivalent review , concludes " some very credible acting on the part of Mr. Grant and Miss Dunne is responsible in the main for the infectious quality of the film . Edgar Buchanan , too , gives an excellent performance as a good-old-Charlie friend , and Beulah Bondi is sensible as an orphanage matron . Heart-warming is the word for both of them . As a matter of fact , the whole picture deliberately cozies up to the heart . Noël Coward once drily observed how extraordinarily potent cheap music is . That is certainly true of '' Penny Serenade '' . " Grant was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor , losing at the 14th Academy Awards to Gary Cooper 's portrayal of '' Sergeant York . '' On the film review website Rotten Tomatoes , '' Penny Serenade '' receives a " Fresh " rating with 93 % ( 15 of 16 ) of its T-meter critics reviewed the film positively
14th Academy Awards
14th Academy Awards
Penny Serenade