The Awful Truth

The Awful Truth is a 1937 American screwball comedy film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Irene Dunne and Cary Grant. Based on the 1922 play The Awful Truth by Arthur Richman (1886-1944), the film recounts a distrustful rich couple who begin divorce proceedings, only to interfere with one another's romances. This was McCarey's first film for Columbia Pictures, with the dialogue and comic elements largely improvised by the director and actors. Irene Dunne's costumes were designed by Robert Kalloch. Although Grant tried to leave the production due to McCarey's directorial style, The Awful Truth saw his emergence as an A-list star and proponent of on-the-set improvisation. The film was a box office hit and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Dunne), and Best Supporting Actor (Ralph Bellamy), winning for Best Director (McCarey). The Awful Truth was selected in 1996 for preservation in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry, deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The Awful Truth was the first of three films co-starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, followed by My Favorite Wife (1940) and Penny Serenade (1941) (the latter of which earned Grant a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor).