The Awful Truth (1937)

 

The Awful Truth - 1937

Coming up next is 1937's "The Awful Truth", a story about a married couple whose mistrust of each other leads to divorce.  However, they find that they just can't let each other go.

The film's cast includes Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Ralph Bellamy, Alexander D'Arcy, Cecil Cunningham, Molly Lamont, Esther Dale, Joyce Compton, Mary Forbes, Bess Flowers, and Asta.

Jerry Warriner returns from a trip to "Florida" and discovers that his wife Lucy is not home.  In fact, when she returns, she's accompanied by a man and also wearing the previous night's clothes.

Jerry is very suspicious, and nothing that Lucy can say or do can convince him that there is a perfectly innocent explanation.  "You've come home and caught me in a truth, and it seems there's nothing less logical than the truth," says Lucy.

Lucy catches Jerry in a situation when she sees a basket of fruit he has brought her all the way from "Florida".  The California stamp gives him away.  She wants to know why he's so tan when the newspapers said that Florida was in the midst of a horrible downpour during the whole time he was supposed to have been there.

Naturally, he can't explain that one.  So, they exist in an atmosphere of mistrust.

The next thing we know, Jerry and Lucy are in divorce court, where one of the top priorities is working out their dog's custody arrangements.  Both are very partial to him.

The dog, Mr. Smith, is quite the character.  He enjoys singing along while Jerry plays the piano.

He also enjoys a game of "hide your eyes".  Lucy hides a treat and tells him to go hide his eyes, while she counts.  Then, he comes to find it.

Lucy ends up moving into an apartment with her aunt, who is very disappointed at the fact that Lucy doesn't want to go out and meet other men.

Jerry and Lucy eventually start seeing other people.  Jerry takes up with a nightclub singer, whose big act is a song called "Gone With The Wind" and is completed with effects that make Jerry cringe.  Lucy finds an Oklahoma oil man and becomes engaged to him.  When Jerry finds out that Lucy will be moving to Oklahoma City, he laughs and remarks, "And if it should get dull, you could always go over to Tulsa for the weekend."

One day, Jerry bursts in on what he's sure is one of Lucy's assignations with another man.  It turns out that she's giving a singing recital.  He makes a fool of himself, and she can't help but laugh during her song.

Jerry gets engaged to an heiress.  Naturally, Lucy is jealous.  She realizes she still loves him and wants to put a stop to the engagement.

So, Lucy decides to crash the engagement party and masquerade as Jerry's sister, the hard-drinking, showgirl Lola.  It's a very funny scene, and Jerry can't get her out of the place fast enough!

Everything comes out all right in the end.  They end up at Lucy's aunt's cabin, where they have to borrow some nightclothes.  "Air conditioned," announces Jerry proudly as he shows off his borrowed nightshirt.  They have a long talk.  Initially, Lucy isn't sure that things will work.  "Things are just the same as they always were, only, you’re the same as you were, too.  So, I guess things will never be the same again," she says.  However, Jerry realizes that he loves her, as well, and the two kiss and make up.

Cast rundown:

   Irene Dunne....................................Lucy Warriner

   Cary Grant......................................Jerry Warriner

   Ralph Bellamy..................................Daniel Leeson

   Alexander D'Arcy..............................Armand Duvall

   Cecil Cunningham............................Aunt Patsy Adams

   Molly Lamont...................................Barbara Vance

   Esther Dale.....................................Mrs. Leeson

   Joyce Compton................................Dixie Belle Lee

   Mary Forbes....................................Mrs. Vance

   Bess Flowers....................................Viola Heath

   Asta...............................................Mr. Smith

And that's it for The Awful Truth.  The film went on to define the persona that has become synonymous with Cary Grant, the charming, debonair leading man.  Though this film was a success at the box office, the cast had a very hard time making it due to the director's filming style.  More than once Grant asked to be released from filming, and he became so nervous that it made him physically ill. Irene Dunne would break down into tears several times a day.  The director did not believe in scripts and the actors would go into a scene with little to no material to work with.  They were forced to ad-lib their lines.  Despite the on-set troubles, director Leo McCarey went on to win the Academy Award for Best Director for this film, and Cary Grant went on to work with him several more times.

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