Film Review
The film that catapulted Cary Grant from virtual obscurity to stardom
is one of the first great Hollywood screwball comedies, a genre that
proved to be extraordinarily popular in the late 1930s and early
1940s. This is the film in which Grant perfected his now familiar
screen persona and also marks the first of the actor's appearances
along side Irene Dunne. They made a memorable screen couple and
would subsequently work together on
My Favorite Wife (1940) and
Penny Serenade (1941).
The Awful Truth began life as
a popular stage comedy, first performed in 1922, and had been
previously adapted for cinema, once in 1925 (starring Agnes Ayres and
Warner Baxter) and then in 1929 (with Henry Daniell and Ina
Claire). The film was remade, unsuccessfully, as the musical
comedy
Let's Do It Again in
1953 (with Jane Wyman and Ray Milland).
Director Leo McCarey initially had a poor working relationship with
Cary Grant, which came to a head when the former decided that Grant and
the supporting actor Ralph Bellamy should switch roles. The two
men patched things up and would work together on two subsequent films,
Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942) and
An Affair to Remember (1957).
The film won McCarey the Best Director Oscar.
A seductive melange of sophisticated comedy and riotous slapstick,
The Awful Truth is one of the
funniest films to come out of Hollywood in the 1930s. Perfectly
paced and with hilarious comic situations that have a touch of the old
Feydeau farce about them, the film is a classic that is just as
entertaining today as it was when it was made. The real
star of the film is neither Grant nor Dunne, but rather a delightful
fox terrier named Asta, who featured in
The Thin Man series.
© James Travers 2009
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Jerry Warriner returns home after his holiday to find that his wife
Lucy has apparently got herself romantically involved with her music
teacher, Armand Duvalle. Lucy suspects that Jerry also has
something to hide, because he clearly hasn't been to Florida as he
claims. The couple agree on an amicable divorce, and Lucy moves
out to live in an apartment with her mother. With what seems to
Jerry like indecent haste, Lucy soon finds herself another man, leaving
Jerry free to play the field and link up with a wealthy
socialite. Of course, Jerry and Lucy are still secretly in love
with one another and each sets about sabotaging the other's new love
life...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.