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The Awful Truth Overview:

The Awful Truth (1937) was a Comedy - Romance Film directed by Leo McCarey and produced by Leo McCarey and Everett Riskin.

The film was based on the play of the same name written by Arthur Richman performed at the Henry Miller's Theatre, NY from Sep 18, 1922 - Jan 1923.

SYNOPSIS

In their first on-screen matchup, Grant and Dunne play a divorcing couple bent on mutual ruination. Jerry Warriner returns from a two-week Florida vacation to find his socialite wife, Lucy, has also been away. When she saunters in on the arm of the handsome Armand, Jerry looks the fool in front of society pals. But after discovering that the oranges Jerry has brought from Florida are stamped "California," Lucy realizes that her husband, too, has been up to no good.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

The Awful Truth was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1996.

Academy Awards 1937 --- Ceremony Number 10 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Supporting ActorRalph BellamyNominated
Best ActressIrene DunneNominated
Best DirectorLeo McCareyWon
Best Film EditingAl ClarkNominated
Best PictureColumbiaNominated
Best WritingVina DelmarNominated
See More Oscar Winners

The Awful Truth BlogHub Articles:

Irene Dunne and Cary Grant discover “The Awful Truth”

By Stephen Reginald on Nov 27, 2024 From Classic Movie Man

Irene Dunne and Cary Grant discover “The Awful Truth” In 1937, Irene Dunne was at the height of her career. The year before, Dunne received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for Theodora Goes Wild, a comedy role she was reluctant to take. That picture was a critical success f... Read full article

COMEDY GOLD #5: Sister Act from The Awful Truth (1937)

By Carol Martinheira on May 27, 2018 From The Old Hollywood Garden

COMEDY GOLD #5: Sister Act from The Awful Truth (1937) On May 27, 2018 By CarolIn Uncategorized I think Irene Dunne’s performance in The Awful Truth (1937) is one of the greatest, most nuanced comedic performances of all time and while I could have chosen any scene f... Read full article

Review: The Awful Truth (1937)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Sep 21, 2016 From 4 Star Films

The Awful Truth came out of a trend that was in vogue during the 1930s. It’s called a comedy of “remarriage.” During the Hays Code era, it allowed films to nimbly skirt the whole issue of divorce and extramarital romance. We would see it again in the more remembered screwball His G... Read full article

Review: The Awful Truth (1937)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Sep 21, 2016 From 4 Star Films

The Awful Truth came out of a trend that was in vogue during the 1930s. It’s called a comedy of “remarriage.” During the Hays Code era, it allowed films to nimbly skirt the whole issue of divorce and extramarital romance. We would see it again in the more remembered screwball His G... Read full article

o/t: The Awful Truth (1937)

By John Grant on Jul 8, 2014 From Noirish

== One of the delights about contributing a few essays to the Wonders in the Dark Romantic Movie Countdown is that in a couple of instances I’ve been pushed well outside my comfort zone. Nowhere is this more true than with the screwball comedy The Awful Truth. I mean, this is me: I don’t... Read full article

See More The Awful Truth Articles

The Awful Truth Quotes:

Lucy Warriner: [Lucy, posing as Jerry's louche sister Lola, has crashed a formal social gathering at the home of the Vances, Jerry's fiancé]
Lucy Warriner: Well, I don't want to be rude, but, ah, may I have a drink.
Mrs. Vance: Certainly.
Lucy Warriner: I had three or four before I got here, but they're beginning to wear off, and you know how that is.
Lucy Warriner: Good night.
Lucy Warriner: I wouldn't go on living with you if you were dipped in platinum. So go on, divorce me. Go on, divorce me! It'll be a pleasure.
Lucy Warriner: I guess it was easier to her to change her name than for her whole family to change theirs.
Dixie Belle Lee: [singing in solo nightclub performance] I used to dream about a cottage small, a cottage small by a waterfall, but I wound up with no home at all, my dreams are gone with the wind.
[air jets blow her dress up]
See More Quotes from The Awful Truth
The Awful Truth Facts
It was in this film that Irene Dunne first utters the name 'Jerry The Nipper' implying that Grant's character was often fond of a stiff drink or two. The following year in Bringing Up Baby, in the scene when they're all in the 'lock up' 'Katherine Hepburn' says "Haven't you heard of Jerry The Nipper?" To which Grant replies that "She's making it up out of Motion Pictures she's seen".
Premiere voted this movie as one of "The 50 Greatest Comedies of All Time" in 2006.
Adapted from a Broadway play. The original stage production of "The Awful Truth" opened on Sept. 18, 1922 at Henry Miller's Theatre in New York and ran for 144 performances.
"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on March 10, 1941 with Ralph Bellamy reprising his film role.
"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on March 17, 1940 with Ralph Bellamy reprising his film role.
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