The Awful Truth

Who also, you know, who directed Make Way for Tomorrow, which is a beautiful movie.

The Awful Truth.

He also did...

Which one's The Awful Truth?

It's with, I haven't seen it, but he did it with Irene Dunn and Cary Grant.

I might've seen this film.

the anything about it

it's when they had a bunch of um pre-code uh movies on the criterion channel um back in the few a while

Oh, yeah.

Asta from The Awful Truth.

Yep.

He'd have a little briefcase.

Not terrible, but just sort of like, what are we doing here? Definitely could feel it's a Frank Capra inspiration on it.

Now, the reason I talk about that is Leo McCary returns to the pod and to the Academy with The Awful Truth, a screwball comedy between two very well-known actors that we'll talk about here in a moment.

And I've been excited for this one.

I've had this on Criterion Blu-ray for a while.

I completely spaced on that.

You're so right.

So today's movie is The Awful Truth.

This had six nominations behind it.

Yeah.

Well, you and I will be covering these three next week, but the next film we'll be talking about is, of course, The Awful Truth.

Ooh, I can't wait to learn all the dirty deets.

I have that on Criterion Blue-

It's, it, it moves at a pace, but it's like, yeah, I would s- you know.

Well, well, my number 10 is where I have The Awful Truth is my number 10.

So this is a movie that, uh, is, was pretty iconic when it comes to screwball comedies.

Um, and you've got Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, and they are getting a divorce, and the judge basically gives them 90 days until it's finalized.

Uh, they worked together a lot.

They did, yeah.

You know, there's Penny Serenade, My Favorite Wife, uh, here in The Awful Truth.

I think My Favorite Wife was like, this was on contention when we did the rom-coms, but I think I went with My Favorite Wife.

I know I'm not alone in having a fondness for it.

Cary Grant and Irene Dunn re-teamed after having first been teamed in The Awful Truth at Columbia in 1937.

They also made Penny Serenade together for George Stevens at Columbia.

But I think of the films they made together, this is my favorite one, and my favorite one, my favorite wife.

Mm-hmm.

We've seen him in The Awful Truth.

We've seen him in Bringing Up Baby.

But this time, Asta had a Mr. Asta, and when they got home to San Francisco after being in New York, took the train, were in San Francisco, and they let the dog out of the car when they got to the house.

Well, tell me, what was your last starring role?

I was awful in The Awful Truth.

[laughs]

Oh, you were?

Once you get Cary Grant in color, it's a whole other situation.

And it's just like so many of these movies are not things that I have seen, but like even just like the titles, The Awful Truth and, you know, Sylvia Scarlet and whatnot, all these movies.

Sylvia Scarlet.

Queer.

People didn't, like, drop, like, a bomb, you know, in the way that they maybe did.

This... later on this

does this does cite the awful truth which is i think one of the great screwball comedies and was like kind of as kind of his breakthrough and that was like a movie that was nominated for oscars although he was not um and uh so that i think is is probably as good but he like was working several years before he got the awful truth so yeah

yeah so the nomination was penny serenade in 1941 And, like, Bringing Up Baby famously was a bomb when it was released.