The Awful Truth
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Movie Reviews of The Awful Truth
Movie Review: A classic of screwball comedy.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the movie that made Cary Grant a star. The big name at the time was his co-star, Irene Dunne. The two play a divorcing couple who fight over custody of their dog and attempt to break up any new romance the other might start. The physical comedy is perfect and the dialog witty. A classic of screwball comedy.Movie Review: The Awful Truth
Summary: 5 Stars
Leo McCarey was a genius with comedy, and this consistently sharp, side-splitting picture proves it. The film cemented the reputations of both Grant and Dunne as much more than pretty faces, but in fact, gifted comic players with superb timing. A delightful, sophisticated screwball comedy.Movie Review: Wonderful
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is wonderful. I love it. The best part of the film is when Cary is playing the piano and the dog is barking. Brillant. Worth the watch. Buy it or check it out at your local library. You'll be glad you did.Movie Review: The Awful Truth!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very sweet Cary Grant and Irene Dunne comedy. A couple with differences decide to divorce but can't seem to get it through their heads that their marriage will be ending. Lots of fun.Movie Review: Grant and Dunne Strike Comedy Magic in a Freewheeling Marital Misunderstanding Romp
Summary: 4 Stars
Cary Grant, an up-and-coming actor in the mid-1930's, fortuitously teamed with the more established Irene Dunne for the first of three fruitful pairings in this archetypal 1937 screwball comedy directed with finesse by Leo McCarey. The result is one of the era's breeziest concoctions, an uninhibited farce based on suspected marital infidelity that has the stars bickering and bantering with precision and élan. It's easy to see how Grant became a full-fledged star with this film as his persona already seems fully formed from his droll one-liners to his acrobatic pratfalls. He dexterously balances the urbane and everyman aspects of his personality as Park Avenue social dandy Jerry Warriner.
Adapted by screenwriter Viña Delmar from a 1921 Arthur Richman play, the featherweight plot begins with Jerry and his equally gadabout wife Lucy living carefree amid their luxuriant surroundings and wealthy social circle, but the couple experiences a misunderstanding over each other's whereabouts. Both are so smug and proud that neither apologizes for the trouble each causes the other. In fact, they rashly decide to divorce, and a custody battle ensues over their pet terrier, Mr. Smith, the same dog who played Asta in the Thin Man series and later the bone-stealing George in Bringing Up Baby. With their jealousy peaked, Lucy and Jerry try to sabotage each other's next serious relationship - Jerry with priggish, suspicious heiress Barbara Vance and Lucy with wealthy Oklahoma oilman Dan Leeson. Things inevitably spiral out of control as the final divorce decree approaches.
Perhaps the most criminally overlooked of the top actresses during Hollywood's golden era, Dunne not only matches Grant's comedic skills here but shows off her impressive singing talent. Along with her insinuating laugh, she has a sophisticated but down-to-earth manner that makes her the classic screwball heroine. Look for the hilarious scene where she pretends to be Jerry's tawdry, heavy-drinking sister Lola. A specialist in playing the third point in romantic triangles, Ralph Bellamy is likeably lunk-headed as Dan, and there are sharp comic turns by Cecil Cunningham as no-nonsense Aunt Patsy and Joyce Compton as nightclub chanteuse Dixie Belle Lee. According to Hollywood lore, McCarey encouraged Grant and Dunne to improvise much of their dialogue. If true, their rapport is especially impressive here. The 2003 DVD offers no extras.