The Awful Truth
| The Awful Truth | |
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theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Leo McCarey |
| Produced by | Leo McCarey |
| Screenplay by |
Viña Delmar Sidney Buchman (uncr.) |
| Based on |
The Awful Truth 1922 play by Arthur Richman |
| Starring |
Irene Dunne Cary Grant |
| Music by | Ben Oakland |
| Cinematography | Joseph Walker |
| Edited by | Al Clark |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | over $3 million |
The Awful Truth is a 1937 American screwball comedy film starring Irene Dunne and Cary Grant. The plot concerns the machinations of a soon-to-be-divorced couple, played by Dunne and Grant, who go to great lengths to try to ruin each other's romantic escapades. The film was directed by Leo McCarey (who won the Academy Award for Best Director) and was written by Viña Delmar, with uncredited assistance from Sidney Buchman and McCarey, from the 1922 play by Arthur Richman. This was the first of two films that Cary Grant and Ralph Bellamy appeared in together, the second being His Girl Friday (1940) and the first of three wherein Irene Dunne starred with Grant, the others being My Favorite Wife (1940) and Penny Serenade (1941).
In 1996, The Awful Truth was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, having been deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Jerry Warriner (Cary Grant) returns home from a trip, which he falsely says was to Florida, to find that his wife, Lucy (Irene Dunne), is not at home. When she returns in the company of her handsome music teacher, Armand Duvalle (Alexander D'Arcy), Jerry learns that Lucy spent the night in the country with Armand, after his car, they claim, broke down unexpectedly. Lucy then discovers that Jerry did not actually go to Florida, though he went so far as to get an artificial tan and write multiple fake letters home to convince her that he did. Mutual suspicions result in divorce.
During the divorce proceedings, Lucy moves into an apartment with her Aunt Patsy (Cecil Cunningham) and becomes engaged to a neighbor, Oklahoma native Dan Leeson (Ralph Bellamy), while Jerry is seen on a date with singer Dixie Belle Lee (Joyce Compton). However, Leeson's mother (Esther Dale) does not approve of her. Eventually, Lucy realizes that she still loves Jerry and decides to break off the engagement. However, before she can inform Dan, Armand shows up at her apartment to discuss Jerry's earlier interruption of Lucy's singing recital. When Jerry knocks on the door, Armand decides it would be prudent to hide in the bedroom. Jerry wants to reconcile, much to Lucy's delight, but then Dan and his mother make an appearance. Wanting to avoid complications, Jerry slips into Lucy's bedroom, too. A fight erupts when he finds Armand already there. When Jerry chases Armand out of the apartment in front of the Leesons, Dan and his mother stalk out.
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Wikipedia