Year: 1937
Director: Leo McCarey
Country: US
Language: English
Carey Grant tried desperately to get out of the movie. He didn’t like the loose script, and thought the overall scenario was unrealistic. So unnerved was he that he even offered money to get out of his contract. Co-Star Ralph Bellamy described The Awful Truth set as chaotic, with little script to begin with and daily rewrites as Director Leo McCarey banged away, hoping for inspiration to strike. Such times were fairly uncertain.
In The Awful Truth unfounded suspicions lead a married couple (Carey Grant & Irene Dunne) to begin divorce proceedings, whereupon they start undermining each other's attempts to find new romance.
Leo McCarey’s remarkable pacing and visual lucidity create a film that is a fleet and svelte romantic daydream. The best-known adaptation of Arthur Richman’s eponymous 1922 play, this cinematic adaptation proves both adult in its insinuating sense-of-humour, and distinctively verbal in its comedic orientation.
The Awful Truth does a remarkable job at evading the censors; McCarey is very careful with his sexual innuendos, often hiding them with clever dialogue and even more swift camera-work. this being 1937, sexuality has to be expressed in devious, contrived ways. A quick paced picture, both stars do a tremendous job at creating tension and then filling us with laughter due to their absurdity.
When he took home the Best Director Oscar for The Awful Truth, McCarey famously quipped, "You gave it to me for the wrong picture," referring to his other work from 1937, Make Way for Tomorrow. Though not as well regarded in film buff circles, The Awful Truth is far from an awful movie.
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