The Awful Truth

Leo McCarey directs this screwball marital comedy that stars Cary Grant and Irene Dunne as a divorcing couple who secretly still love each other, so try desperately to thwart the other's romance: He to a "haughty" socialite(Molly Lamont), she to a "country bumpkin" oil magnate(Ralph Bellamy) He comes up with a scheme to visit their dog Mr. Smith, she tries to convince his fiancée that she is his scandalous sister. Guess what happens next. Oddly unappealing comedy has some laughs, but two obnoxious lead characters that aren't as wonderful as they think they are; stacks the deck by making their rivals look bad, which was grossly unfair. They really didn't seem that awful to me.

When I was a little child, my mother used to tell me again and again the main scenes of this irresistible comedy, and we laughed our asses off. Much later, I had the good fortune to see it myself, at an oldies-goldies TV re-run, and it amused me like nuts. Today, as a movie professional, I can safely state that it's an instance of PURE COMEDY: bright humor, pointed satire, a healthy dose of absurd, deliciously foolish, a fast-paced rhythm that makes the 90 minutes seem barely 9 seconds! You see it again and again, and wish for it never to come to an end! THIS, ladies and gentleman, is the stuff of real comedy - not all the Apatow and Seltzer moronic obscenities! Platinum class vintage!

A fine cast and director Leo McCarey's expert sense of the absurd make this a very amusing classic comedy. It is a good example of what master craftsmen can do to turn a thin and deliberately implausible plot into a fun movie. The actual story is pretty simple, serving only as a setup for a lot of pleasant nonsense - Cary Grant and Irene Dunne play a couple who get divorced, and then make each other jealous when they pursue other relationships. Both leads are excellent, and they are helped by a good supporting cast. Ralph Bellamy is well-cast as a bumpkin who starts a relationship with Dunne, and Alexander D'Arcy has some very funny moments with Grant, as Dunne's voice teacher who provokes Grant to fits of jealousy. Not an awful lot really happens, but there are a lot of zany moments. If you enjoy these 30's 'screwball comedies', "The Awful Truth" is one of the best ones, and you almost certainly won't be disappointed with it.

This is a favorite film, starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne at their absolute goofy best as a divorced couple who can't admit they still love one another. The comedy is flawless, the dialogue witty, the chemistry great between the two stars. Cary Grant is handsome, sophisticated, but not above the occasional pratfall. And Dunne is fantastic as his wife. Her ultimate comedy scene comes in the home of Grant's high-class fiancée. Dunne enters, pretending to be his sister. She's total trash. She performs "Gone With the Wind" a tawdry nightclub act shown earlier in the film, where the gimmick is that the "wind" blows up the woman's dress Then she screams, "DON'T ANYBODY LEAVE THE ROOM. I CAN'T FIND MY PURSE." She's hilarious. One of the top films of the '30s. I think it's a riot.