The Awful Truth

 Tonight's Cary Grant fix is by way of the excellent screwball comedy, 1937's The Awful Truth. Also starring Irene Dunne and Ralph Bellamy, directed and ghost produced by Leo McCarey, with co-producer Everett Riskin.

Cary (Jerry) and Irene (Lucy) are man and wife until they start to get jealous. Jerry thinks Lucy is cheating on him with her foreign singing instructor, and Lucy thinks he is lying about his travels. They decide to get a divorce. But who will get Mr. Smith, their dog whom they both love? The court decides to let the dog choose, and he goes with Lucy.

Lucy moves in with Aunt Patsy and starts sulking because she misses her ex husband. Jerry gets visitation rights with the dog. One night Aunt Patsy scores a date for Lucy named Daniel played by Ralph Bellamy. He is an Okie visiting New York and Lucy thinks he is a bit of a dud. Jerry comes over to play with the dog so Lucy leaves with Daniel and third wheel Aunt Patsy. After one night on the town Daniel is in love. 

Before you know it, Lucy realizes Daniel has serious feelings for her, and realizes that she still has feelings for Jerry. Meanwhile Jerry does what he can to break off the engagement because he still loves her too.

Lucy still has contact with her singing instructor and he and Jerry get in a shuffle when they both get sent to her room to hide from Daniel. Once Daniel gets wind of all Lucy's men, he is over it. Jerry starts dating a rich heiress and they make plans to wed.

While visiting his future in-laws, Jerry finds himself in a pickle when his fabricated sister shows up at the party, and it is Lucy! She plays a boozer and the in-laws are not impressed. She and Jerry take off once it is clear there will be no wedding bells for anyone.

On the way back, they get pulled over by the cops, and after Lucy lets the car run into a tree, they need an escort back to her folk's house for the night. I love the safe way the cops let them ride on the motorcycles. In the end they make a truce and realize the awful truth about their relationship. 

I love this film for many reasons. 

One: Cary - I mean, look at him. He had mastered the art of timing early on, with this film coming before Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday, or Monkey Business where he really could perfect his craft.

Two: Lucy's wardrobe is beautiful thanks to Robert Kalloch who worked as chief costume designer for Columbia pictures starting in 1933 and the later MGM in 1941. Some of his highlights at Columbia were designs for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, His Girl Friday, Holiday, and There's Always A Woman. 

And Three: The ultimate laughable scene where Jerry is hiding behind the door trying to make Lucy laugh while she is supposed to be serious with Daniel.

Cary tried to get out of finishing the picture due to the writers not telling the actors what scenes they would be doing the next day, which made Cary very anxious. Director Leo McCarey convinced him to stick it out, and The Awful Truth ended up being one of the best hits of the year. Irene said she and Grant "meshed from the first moment", and they would go on to star in two more pictures in the coming years.