The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968) on Netflix

When deaf-mute Singer moves to a new town to be near his hospitalized friend, he makes an indelible impression on the lives of those around him.

Sentimental story centers around a deaf-mute, Singer, and Mick, a teenager who lives in the house where he rents a room. Mick and Singer become friends, though they are separated by Singer's lack of communication ability and Mick's struggle with teenage problems. The lives of the people Singer touches are varied, linked only by their friendship with Singer. His friends include a deaf-mute, a drunk, and a doctor. Singer does his best to help those around him solve their problems, but who is there to help him solve his own?

—Melissa Portell <mportell@s-cwis.unomaha.edu>

Singer is a deaf-mute whose small world brings him in contact with a young girl, Mick, who cherishes a seemingly hopeless dream of becoming a concert pianist. At first hostile, Mick soon becomes friends with Singer, hoping to enlarge his small world. Three other central characters come to Singer for help also, each of them seeing in him a powerful force. Simply because he is a deaf mute, they are able to create their understanding of his being from their own desires.

—alfiehitchie