The Awful Truth [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Leo McCarey

Overview

This screwball comedy is filled with merry mix-ups and romantic misadventures that lead previously happy couple Jerry and Lucy Warriner to divorce. The trouble begins when Jerry supposedly goes to Florida for some rest; actually, he is planning to spend the vacation with his buddies.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/17/2018
UPC:	0715515213417
Original Release:	1937
Rating:	NR
Source:	THE CRITERION COLLECTION, INC
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[B&W]
Language:	English
Time:	1:31:00
Sales rank:	9,309

Special Features

New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack; New interview with critic Gary Giddins about Director Leo McCarey; New video essay by film critic David Cairns on Cary Grant's performance; Illustrated 1978 Audio Interview with actor Irene Dunne ; Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the film from 1939, starring Grant and Claudette Colbert; Plus: An essay by film critic Molly Haskell

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Cary Grant	Jerry Warriner
Irene Dunne	Lucy Warriner
Ralph Bellamy	Daniel Leeson
Cecil Cunningham	Aunt Patsy
Molly Lamont	Barbara Vance
Esther Dale	Mrs. Leeson
Joyce Compton	Dixie Belle Lee
Robert Allen	Frank Randall,Frank Randall
Robert Warwick	Mr. Vance
Mary Forbes	Mrs. Vance
Claud Allister	Lord Fabian
Zita Moulton	Lady Fabian
Scott Colton	Mr. Barnsley
Wyn Cahoon	Mrs. Barnsley
Paul Stanton	Judge
Mitchell Harris	Jerry's Attorney
Alan Bridge	Motor Cop,Motor Cop
Edgar Dearing	Motor Cop
Leonard Carey	Butler
Miki Morita	Japanese Servant
Frank C. Wilson	M.C.,M.C.
Vernon Dent	Police Sergeant
George Pearce	Caretaker,Caretaker
Bobby Watson	Hotel Clerk
Byron Foulger	Secretary
Kathryn Curry	Celeste
Edward Peil Sr.	Bailiff
Bess Flowers	Viola Heath
John Tyrrell	Hank
Ed Mortimer	Lucy's Attorney
Alexander D'Arcy	Armand Duvalle
Marguerite Churchill	Barbara Vance
Ben Oakland	Composer

Technical Credits

Vi?a Delmar

Arthur Richman

Vi?a Delmar	Screenwriter
Leo McCarey	Producer
Everett Riskin	Producer
Arthur Richman	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

One of the greatest screwball comedies of the thirties, The Awful Truth is arguably the archetypal example of this influential genre. The plot -- in which a gorgeous, sophisticated couple (played by Cary Grant and Irene Dunne) divorce, dabble with various Mr. and Miss Wrongs, and get back together again -- is the screwball formula distilled to its essence. Also exemplary are the film's opulent sets and costumes, and Grant's and Dunne's fabulously witty dialogue. Like the featured couple in most screwball comedies, Jerry and Lucy Warriner are made for each other, a fact reinforced mostly by their sublime bickering (and the supporting characters' futile attempts to keep up with them). Based on a stage play by Arthur Richman that had been filmed twice before, Vina Delmar's script ably supplies the two stars with choice barbs, and Leo McCarey's confident direction keeps the action moving from set piece to hilarious set piece. Grant and Dunne are, unsurprisingly, brilliant as the warring Warriners, though special mention must also be made of some of the actors playing their hapless suitors: Ralph Bellamy as the hayseed Dan Leeson (Bellamy would later play nearly the same role in Howard Hawks' His Girl Friday); Alexander d'Arcy as the hilariously insipid Armand Duvalle; and Joyce Compton as the incomparable Dixie Belle Lee. Nominated for six Oscars in 1938, the film walked away with only one, for McCarey. Mark Pittillo