There was no actor better at romantic comedy
than Cary Grant. From "She Done Him Wrong"
(1933) to "Father Goose" (1964) he averaged
over one comedy a year. While he could play
dramatic roles, his real talent was for comedy.
His sarcastic voice and staccato delivery
was perfect for one-liners. Always jealous
or aggrieved, he was so natural at it that
audiences had to laugh.
Although Grant had been appearing in feature
films since 1932, "The Awful Truth" would
help establish him as Hollywood's top actor
in romantic comedies. The film was nominated
for six Academy Awards, and soon led to even
better roles for Grant, in "Bringing Up Baby"
(1938) and "His Girl Friday" (1940). "The
Awful Truth" was also important for director
Leo McCarey, providing the first two of his
twelve Academy Award nominations.
"The Awful Truth" began life as a 1922 play.
There were film versions made in 1925 and
1929, but there were significant revisions
in Vina Delmar's script, taking advantage
of Grant's comic talents. Grant and Irene
Dunne play Jerry and Lucy Warriner, a
married couple who decide to divorce after
incorrectly concluding that the other partner
was cheating. Although it is clear that
they are still in love, they put each other
through the ringer, trying to make the other
jealous.
Jerry takes up with a dimwit nightclub
singer (Joyce Compton) and a wealthy socialite
(Molly Lamont). Lucy becomes engaged to
a gregarious oilman from Oklahoma (Ralph Bellamy)
with a meddling mother (Esther Dale), while
continuing to see her voice teacher (Alex D'Arcy).
Once Lucy's engagement is broken, she plots
wicked revenge on Jerry. "The Awful Truth"
concludes that the best way to save your
marriage is to behave like an drunken lunatic,
and not even Dunne's best Katherine Hepburn
impersonation can quite pull this off.
Perhaps the best supporting performance
comes from an energetic, well-trained doggie,
Mr. Smith. The dog would also appear in
Grant's "Bringing Up Baby", hiding a dinosaur
bone, and in the "Thin Man" series (as Asta).
Grant and Dunne would be successfully reunited
in "My Favorite Wife" and "Penny Serenade".
Grant and Bellamy would be reunited in "His
Girl Friday", with poor Bellamy again playing
a man whose engagement would be broken by Grant.
"The Awful Truth" won Leo McCarey an Oscar for
Best Director. As producer, he was also nominated
for Best Picture. Dunne and Bellamy pulled
down Best Actress and Supporting Actor nominations,
as did Vina Delmar for the screenplay. (71/100)
In one of the supreme screwball comedies young husband and wife Jerry and Lucy Cary Grant and Irene Dunne respectively suspicious that the other is ha...More at Family Video
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