The Awful Truth

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The Awful Truth

Directed by	Leo McCarey
Produced by	Leo McCarey
Written by	Arthur Richman (play) Viña Delmar Sidney Buchman (uncredited)
Starring	Irene Dunne Cary Grant
Music by	Ben Oakland
Cinematography	Joseph Walker
Editing by	Al Clark
Distributed by	Columbia
Release date(s)	October 21, 1937
Running time	90 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

This article is about the 1937 film. For other uses, see The Awful Truth (disambiguation).

The Awful Truth is a 1937 romantic comedy (also screwball comedy) film. The plot concerns the machinations of a soon-to-be-divorced couple, played by Irene Dunne and Cary Grant, who go to great lengths to try to ruin each other's romantic escapades. It also stars Ralph Bellamy.

The film was written by Sidney Buchman (uncredited) and Viña Delmar, from the play by Arthur Richman. It was directed by Leo McCarey. This film marked the first appearance of the uniquely effective light comedy persona used by Cary Grant in almost all his subsequent films, catapulting Grant's career. Writer/director Peter Bogdanovich has noted that after this movie, when it came to light comedy, "there was Cary Grant and everyone else was an also-ran." McCarey is largely credited with concocting this persona, and the two men even shared an eerie physical resemblance.

Ironically, Grant fought hard to get out of the film during its shooting, since McCarey seemed to be improvising as he went along, and initially even wanted to switch roles with Ralph Bellamy.

The film is one of a series of what the philosopher Stanley Cavell calls "comedies of remarriage", where couples who have once been married, or are on the verge of divorce, etc., rediscover that they are in love with each other, and recommit to the idea of marriage. Another example starring Cary Grant is, of course, The Philadelphia Story filmed shortly after "The Awful Truth". The original template for this kind of comedy is Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Many screwball comedies are based on the audience enjoyment of the humorous dynamic of people who are clearly too smart for their own desires.

The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

[edit] Awards

Best Picture (nomination)
Best Director - Leo McCarey
Best Actress (nomination) - Irene Dunne
Best Supporting Actor (nomination) - Ralph Bellamy

[edit] Cast

Actor	Role
Irene Dunne	Lucy Warriner
Cary Grant	Jerry Warriner
Ralph Bellamy	Dan Leeson
Alexander D'Arcy	Armand Duvalle
Cecil Cunningham	Aunt Patsy
Molly Lamont	Barbara Vance
Esther Dale	Mrs. Leeson
Joyce Compton	Dixie Belle Lee
Robert Allen	Frank Randall
Robert Warwick	Mr. Vance
Mary Forbes	Mrs. Vance