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It’s been 30 years or more since I last watched THE AWFUL TRUTH. I was a young adult then, and I remember really enjoying it. Now, on July 10, 2024, as a 60 year old, I sat down to watch this 87 year old slapstick classic via the Criterion Blu Ray. Let’s just say, I had a blast.
Arguably the movie that created slapstick as a genre, Leo McCarey’s 1937 comedy did a few important things. It truly cemented Cary Grant as a star, and really created the “Cary Grant character” that so many of us know and love. It ensured Irene Dunn’s everlasting fame; she was great before and great after, but this movie is a sterling showcase for her range. And it set a bar for how briskly and wittily dialogue could be thrown at the screen. A few years later HIS GIRL FRIDAY might have upped the words-per-minute ration even more, but the jabs and jokes fly fast and furious here. And most important, it made me laugh my butt off. I surprised myself with laughter at time. The overt goings on are amusing enough, but it’s the asides, the risqué jokes, the clever jabs and even wittier comebacks, and the facial expressions that really make this film special.
The basic story is that Jerry (Grant) and Lucy (Irene Dunn), his wife, are a well-to-do Manhattan couple (we never really learn what they do well to be so well-to-do). Each is convinced of and tired of the other’s infidelities and lying, so they agree to divorce. It’s an amicable parting, except for the fight over custody of their dog. Dunn, lonely, thinks she needs to meet a man (at that time, a women couldn’t go out for a night on the town without an escort)…and sure enough, she meets the very gentlemanly but quite dull neighbor Daniel (a hapless Ralph Bellamy…hapless in a good way), a land baron from Oklahoma who immediately falls for Dunn. Their impending betrothal sets the stage for Grant to be able to mercilessly taunt his soon-to-be ex about her choice. But Grant winds up with a worthy target for mocking himself, and the two spar quite hilariously. More happens after that, but it’s really all about wit and some pratfalls (Grant pulls of at least on astonishing stunt when his chair slides out from under him at a recital; I had to laugh in startled delight. It was perfectly executed and utterly unexpected.)
I just want to emphasize how very good Dunn and Grant are here. Irene Dunn is charming in everything, but she is just this side of crazy in THE AWFUL TRUTH. A free spirit who tries to hide the fact. But her husband knows, and this is perhaps his biggest weapon against her…she can’t help but want to be socially unacceptably silly. And Grant’s performance is every bit the equal of the more experienced Dunn. Grant was 33 when this came out; Dunn was 38. These are not kids goofing around. These are well past “grown up” adults who are complete nutjobs around each other. Their jabs and scathing jokes land as lightly as feathers on the other. They can’t hurt each other’s feelings because they are too busy being amused by the other person’s wit, even at their own expense. McCarey (as we learn in bonus materials) largely had his (terrified) actors improvise most of their work, which is truly remarkable. Grant, apparently, tried to quit the film and Bellamy was lost at first. But everyone got into the groove, and what emerged is an all time comedy classic that doesn’t even need all my explanation or fawning or any prior knowledge of Grant or Dunn. It’s just funny. It was, no doubt, hilarious in 1937 and it’s flippin’ hilarious in 2024. The 90 minutes fly by and I had the hugest smile on my face at the end. Please do yourself a favor and see it, for the first time or the fiftieth.
And if you can, see it via Criterion’s excellent blu ray. The picture is nearly flawless, and the sound is immaculate too. A full restoration of both audio and film was done, and it’s great. The bonus materials, although not plentiful, are a must. There is a radio interview with Dunn from the late ‘70s, and that’s a great little appetizer to the truly excellent video essay that shows in detail how Grant struggled as an actor until THE AWFUL TRUTH came along and set him free. This is followed by a lengthy doc (60 minutes) about McCarey and how he worked, particularly on this film. Plan to spend a whole evening immersed in the movie and the bonuses. It’ll be time very well spent indeed.
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Poor packaging from Criterion
The movie,I am sure,is fine. This is the second copy I bought. I returned the 1st because of case damage. The second one also has damage,refer to the photo. The package from Amazon had no damage both times. For what you pay for a Criterion title,you kinda expect perfection. This time I switched it over to a better made case. Just be wary,because quality of case is low. I should note that I am a collector,do these things do bother me,where they might not a casual viewer.
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