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The Awful Truth | Year: 1937 Classification: Comedy Directed: - Leo McCarey Actors/Actresses: - Irene Dunne - Cary Grant Who says the truth has to be awful? One of the best screwball comedies of '30's, right on par with Frank Capra's "It Happened One Night" and "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town". In their first screen paring, Cary Grant and Irene Dunne play Jerry and Lucy Warriner, a married high class couple who seem to be getting along fine. Until one night, when the two become convinced, for various small reasons, that there are infidelities in the relationship. They both reveal their feelings about one another ("I wouldn't go on living with you if you were dipped in platinum") and get a divorce. Lucy gets custody of the couple's beloved dog, Mr. Smith. But, Jerry is also able to get a court order allowing him to see the dog twice a week. And, although the divorce doesn't become final for 60 days, the two start forming other relationships, with each partner trying to sabotage the others romances. Lucy has a relationship with a millionaire Oklahoma rancher named Daniel (Ralph Bellamy), while Jerry has one with singer Dixie Belle Lee (Joyce Compton). However, Jerry is able to mess up that one when he and Lucy's voice teacher get caught in the same place and battle out of Lucy's apartment. This Daniel to remark "Well, I guess a man's best friend is his mother" (Similar to words later said by Norman Bates in 1960's "Psycho"). And Jerry's romance with Lee is short lived. He soon starts to go out with high-class socialite Barbara Vance (Molly Lamont). But one day, when Lucy visits Jerry's apartment (On their last day as husband and wife), Lucy answers the telephone only to find out it is Barbara. Jerry lies to Barbara that it's his sister, which causes Barbara to invite her along with Jerry over to her residence that night. Lucy (Or Lola, the name Jerry gave her as his sister) shows up drunk and makes a fool of Jerry, who decides to leave along with Lucy in her car. But, there is a problem with the car radio that causes them to get pulled over by the cops. And the "breaks" give out (Actually, Lucy lets them loose), causing the car to crash. The two are given rides by the policemen to Lucy's aunt's place, where they sleep in rooms that are next to one another. But, the door separating the two rooms has a problem of not staying closed. Now, what does one think of the things Jerry and Lucy do to one another in their relationships? It seemd to me, at first, that they were trying to put the other through hell. But, they seem to love one another more as they are doing it. For example, the scene where Jerry goes to Lucy's voice teacher's apartment. He expects to see her alone with the intructor, only to find Lucy is performing for a group. Jerry sits down and, in a funny moment, leans too far back and falls over. Lucy, in the middle of singing, makes a little laugh; she likes seeing Jerry make a fool of himself. But, she makes sure the laugh isn't noticed. This can be interpreted on that she loves how Jerry makes her laugh. The more they try to hurt one another, the more they see their mutual love for one an Decent movie, Bad release. Cary Grant and Irene Dunne star in this very funny Screwball comedy directed by Leo McCarey who won the oscar for Best Director. The film was released in 1937 and was nominated for 6 Academy Awards. The story of it is basically, Jerry and Lucy (Cary Grant and Irene Dunne) are a married couple who decide to get a divorce, since they both suspect they are cheating. Lucy finds herself getting engaged to a rich millionaire, named Daniel (Ralph Bellamy, in yet another great role). Jerry and Lucy even try to decide in a court, who is going to get custody over their dog, Mr Smith (Yes, the dog!). Lucy wins, while Jerry gets visiting rights, to see Mr. Smith. This keeps the two seeing each other, and you can guess how it turns out in the end. The movie is very fast moving, extremely funny, and you will see why it was so successful on its release. The print on this DVD is not really very good and the sound is not great either, (You might like to compare it to Columbia's other poor effort for the DVD of 'Holiday') but it is worth buying and still very watchable, I am not trying to say it isn't. They just could have done better with it. It has a total lack of extras also. Even though it has a slightly poor release that could have been a lot better, I would still recommend this brilliant film which I am sure anybody will enjoy. PLEASE NOTE: I own the Region 2 release, which, appears to be no different to this anyways. The comparison to the bad print on the DVD of 'Holiday', also refers to the Region 2 release. Sheer Entertainment One of several tremendously fun screwball comedies Grant made in the relatively early part of his career. In actuality, he had already been in nearly 30 movies before he made this one. In 1932, his debut year, he was in seven movies. He was in six in '33 and so on. I guess the idea was to be in as many movies as possible in hopes something would get noticed. Also, under the studio system, inexperienced or not particularly in demand actors were at the studio's mercy and the studio could work them to death if they felt like it. Only fame gave an actor enough power to call his own shots. That Grant was paired with Dunne is a happy coincidence. Their timing and chemistry are perfect. Talent makes all the difference. Dunne was more famous and accomplished at the time. She had already been nominated for an Academy Award for Cimarron. Grant was still perfecting his witty, offhand, debonair and slightly amoral screen persona. He had been in She Done Him Wrong w/ Mae West and that got him on the map but the late 30's were his breakout period with Topper and The Awful Truth. Buy The Awful Truth at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The Awful Truth Search with the Priority Search Engine on The Awful Truth This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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