The Awful Truth

The Awful Truth. 1937 Columbia Pictures.
Starring: Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Ralph Bellamy, Alexander D'Arcy, Cecil Cunningham
Director: Leo McCarey
Available from Amazon as a single DVD, or as part of a Triple Feature with Born Yesterday and His Girl Friday.

This movie netted director Leo McCarey an Academy Award for Best Director. Cary Grant tried to leave the film during its production, feeling that McCarey was just making it up as he was going along. Grant even wanted to switch roles with Ralph Bellamy, but he stayed in the male lead part and gave an excellent performance.

Jerry Warriner (Grant) returns home from a trip to find his wife Lucy (Dunne) not at home. She soon returns with her music teacher, Armand Duvalle (D'Arcy), and it's revealed that she had spent the night in the country with him, after his car allegedly broke down. Lucy discovers that Jerry had not gone to Florida as he claimed, and mutual suspicions result in divorce.

Lucy quickly gets engaged to Dan Leeson (Bellamy) from Oklahoma after moving in with her Aunt Patsy, but Dan's mother doesn't approve of her. Then, Lucy realizes she still loves Jerry, and decides to break off the engagement. Before she can do so, Duvalle arrives to talk about Jerry's disruption of Lucy's recital. Jerry himself appears, prompting Armand to hide. He wants to reconcile, to Lucy's delight, but Dan and his mother make an appearance, sending Jerry hiding in the same place Armand is. A fight follows, and Jerry chases the music teacher out, right in front of the Leesons. Dan and his mother storm out.

Jerry is later sighted in town with heiress Barbara Vance (Molly Lamont) on his arm. Lucy decides to break them up by crashing a party at the Vance mansion, posing as Jerry's sister, acting like a showgirl, and claiming her "father" was merely a gardener at Princeton. This torpedoes the relationship between Jerry and Barbara, and he leaves with Lucy in her car. After being stopped by the police, Lucy damages the car, and get a lift to her aunt's cabin, where they finally reconcile.

Recommended.