The Awful Truth
It seems that Irene Dunne was a big movie star while doing this movie, while Cary Grant was just an inexperienced newcomer. To be honest, I couldn’t see that at all. To me, Cary Grant was at its best with his mannerisms and executed his dialogue perfectly, just like in “His Girl Friday”.
Very clearly, I preferred “His Girl Friday”. Rosalind Russell is the better actress in my eyes and has much greater chemistry with Cary Grant; plus the whole topic of the strong woman who tries to leave her husband but ends up finding herself unable to is so much nicer than the housewife who tries to do the same thing. This is perhaps the only weakness of the film: Dunne’s character. She comes off as a little naive, stupid and nothing more than a stereotypical woman. Especially her attack on Grant’s new girlfriend felt rather dull, in which she ruins his reputation by playing a slutty, unlikeable woman – surprisingly suited for her.
But, before these last slightly disappointing 30 minutes, the film was just plain wonderful. I laughed out loud a few times, especially at the beginning when the war was going on passionately. “Marriage is a wonderful thing” huh? Wahahahaha. A marriage comedy was exactly what I needed and the beginning of the film perfectly delivers that. I was delighted to see Ralph Bellamy as “the other man” again, who might be the best actor for these kinds of roles ever: Nice yet plain looking, with a great sense for non-intended comedy.
Perhaps “The Awful Truth” is not as infamous as other screwball comedies because of its (comparably) slow tempo and the way how structurally simple the film is. It can be too easily separated into they decide to divorce – he tries to win her back – she tries to win him back – they get together. But I had enough laughs with the film to thoroughly enjoy it, and realize yet again that classic screwball comedies might be my favorite genre ever.