Stephanie Kirk

Supplementary Film Review

February 12, 2003

The Awful Truth: A “Screwball” Comedy

The Awful Truth, directed in 1937 by Leo McCarey, is classified as a “screwball” comedy of the 30’s. Put together Jerry and Lucy Warriner (played by Cary Grant and Irene Dunne) and you’ve got a pair that is just too much alike to get along. They are a married couple who find themselves “straying” from their vows, and decide to get a divorce. However, they both want custody of their fox terrier, Mr. Smith, who (we find out in the courtroom scene) is the one who brought them together in the first place. Lucy is granted custody, but Jerry is allowed court-mandated visits. And it ends up being those visits, and Mr. Smith, that bring the two back together again. Lucy and Jerry both work to put to ruin each other’s engagements, which occur within the 60 days before they are divorced.

It’s short enough (91 minutes) to keep the interest, but maybe too short. Lucy’s new found beau is Daniel Leeson, an oiler from Oklahoma (who ends up being very boring and just not right for New Yorker Lucy). By the time the sequence of Jerry breaking the two of them up is over, it’s almost too late to squeeze in anything for Jerry’s relationship with Barbara Vance, a rich debutante. However, for the amount of time, both breakups come off hilariously, and the ending arrives just as predicted.

This romantic comedy is good if you are looking for a change from the ordinary sappy romances. Dunne and Grant are equally humorous, but Dunne is the real star of this film. I don’t think you ever really find out what “the awful truth” is, but if you like “screwball” romance, this is the one to see.