The Awful Truth

[lildogs]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 12:58pm

No, this has nothing to do with Bush...it's the 1937 Leo McCarey classic. I was watching it for the umpteenth time last night and was wondering if others liked this one as much as I do. IMO, this is the template for almost every film with Julia, Meg or Sandra. It's filled with great lines and even has Asta of Thin Man fame. I'm sure I've mentioned this picture before, but it's a slow day. So don't tell me to do a search.

Some of my favorite lines are:

"They forgot to touch second."

"Every time I open a door, somebody walks in."

"No one could accuse you of being a great lover, Armand."

"Why Mr. Warner, you're out of your continental mind."

"Don't anybody leave this room, I've lost my purse!"

This one, along with Bringing Up Baby, are my two favorite comedies, with Young Frankenstein a close third.

[BwayLover]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 1:05pm

Oh I love this movie! It's one of my favorite comedies of all time as well, it's just so funny and fresh, even today.

And I just adore Irene Dunne - she is SO underrated nowadays, it's upsetting. I also love her other movie with Cary Grant, "My Favorite Wife" - it has some great moments. All in all, they made three movies together, but the third one is a tear jearker named "Penny Serenade" (also very good).

Gosh I love the oldies.

[lildogs]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 1:22pm

I've seen all three--Penny is VERY sad...ah Applejack!

She is indeed an underrated actress--I'm not sure why. She has, what, 5 Oscar noms I believe?

[SorryGrateful]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 1:25pm

Oh my gosh, I CANNOT watch Penny Serenade. Cary Grant is my boyfriend, but that movie ripped out my heart, bulldozed it, and then ate it with butter and syrup.

The Awful Truth is good, I agree. And Bringing Up Baby is so funny! Katherine Hepburn was just that good. And, oh, The Philadelphia Story.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 1:26pm

I agree it is one of the best of the screwball comedies. Dunne is a brilliant actress and, as mentioned almost entirely forgotten today.
If you like this you should check out TROUBLE IN PARADISE, another hysterical and surprisingly moving early comedy.

[SorryGrateful]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 1:29pm

I haven't forgotten Irene Dunne. She was gorgeous and a dead-on great performer.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 1:32pm

I am probably the only one who doesn't really care for Bringing Up Baby. It lacks the spontaneity and light touch that makes the other screwballs so great. Everyone seems to be trying SOOO hard to be funny and quirky. I think it is one of the most overrated films of that era.

[lildogs]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 1:32pm

Trouble in Paradise is Lubitsch, right?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 1:33pm

Who is cuter? Asta:



Or PalJoey's very bitchy bitch Miss Holly:

[SorryGrateful]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 1:35pm

Since the odds of Asta being cute anymore are slim, i.e. she's prob dead, I'll go with your dog, PJ.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 1:36pm

Trouble in Paradise is Lubitsch, right?
Yes. There is an interesting extra on the DVD that has Peter Bogdonovich talking about how Lubitsch was really responsible for the Deco/Euro look that one associates with Hollywood high society of the period.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 1:39pm

I wish movies today had really snappy dialogue.

[lildogs]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 2:43pm

I'll vote for Miss Holly too--I doubt Asta got through Brenda Frazier.

I'm sad to hear you don't like Bringing Up Baby, Sueleen...I think Charlie Ruggles' performance in that one is one of the all-time greats.

[BrendanStryker]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 2:54pm

I'm not a fan of Katharine Hepburn or BRINGING UP BABY, although I love May Robson in that film; but, I adore Irene Dunne and THE AWFUL TRUTH. Although my favorite comedy films are THE PRODUCERS, IT'S A GIFT and PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

Updated On: 11/11/05 at 02:54 PM

[lildogs]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 2:57pm

Brendan, you don't like ANYTHING. No Kubrick, no Kate, what does it take? Irene aside, I mean...

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 3:08pm

After viewing the really great Screwballs, I returned to Bringing Up Baby to give it another chance. I still feel everyone is just trying way too hard, pushing, overemphasizing and throwing the comedy at the audience. I believe a lot of people like this film because it is so often held up as a standard and becomes the only film of that genre that people actually watch.
See My Man Godfrey, My Favorite Wife, and To Be or Not To Be...heck, even The Thin Man, as well as the other above mentioned films to see how effortless and easy true comedy should be...

[lildogs]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 3:21pm

See, I think it's got alot more laughs than Godfrey, which to me is more of a social/romantic comedy, and Thin Man, which is almost an exercise in pure style and dialogue. I never thought Baby was all THAT highly regarded, but maybe it is. And I always thought My Favorite Wife wasn't as funny as TAT, either...but what the hell do I know? I like Kubrick and Kate.

[BwayLover]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 4:02pm

Personally, I've always thought "Holiday" is the best Grant-Hepburn screwball comedy...I absolutely love it.

Btw, just a bit of trivia - two of Miss Dunne's most famous movies - "Love Affair" and "Anna And The King Of Siam" - were remade with Deborah Kerr in the lead roles: "An Affair To Remember" and "The King And I", respectively. Another of her famous movies, "A Guy Named Joe", was remade as "Always", with Holly Hunter filling her shoes. It's worth seeing the original movies as well as the remakes, to see how wonderful she was (And I LOVE Deborah Kerr).

It's amazing how many of her movies have been remade - "Show Boat", "My Favorite Wife"... I think that's a big reason why she was forgotten by most of the public (but not by us!).

Updated On: 11/11/05 at 04:02 PM

[lildogs]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 4:09pm

Holiday is great and has the remarkable Edward Everett Horton...he never met a scene he didn't steal...that's a Phil Barry play too I think.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 4:23pm

I too prefer Holiday to Baby or Philadelphia Story, although I like watching Asta films with Miss Holly, whose tail gets oddly erect when Asta barks. (And she's female!)

But Lubitsch is my all-time favorite film director and Trouble in Paradise is perfection in every millimeter of ever frame.

Lubitsch's sex comedies are not exactly "screwball." But his sophistication definitely influenced the various screwball directors, most of whose films were more effortful than Lubitsch's.

Sueleen--I know what you mean about Baby's forced humore--nevertheless I laugh every time. ("George?" "Here, George!" "George?" "Here, George!" "George?" "Here, George!")

Updated On: 11/11/05 at 04:23 PM

[BrendanStryker]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 4:39pm

lildogs, I just listed 3 comedies that I liked. What the hell do you want from me?

And I don't care what anyone says, HIGH SOCIETY is better than THE PHILADELPHIA STORY. So there!

Tis true, I hate Kubrick and Kate. Especially, Kubrick.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 4:42pm

You KNOW what the hell he wants from you, Brendan. And it ain't a screwball COMEDY.

[lildogs]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 4:50pm

Oh please! I'm just ribbin ya, Brendan. And I doubt it's worth the travel for a gentile. But very hot--at least in pics, and speaking of, I want the shirtless, 3/4 pic back...with the sun-kissed tufts of chest hair...

I'm not a huge fan of Philadelphia Story either.

Best exchanges from BUB:

Susan: He's hung up.
Maj. Applegate: Oo, so am I.

Susan: Nope, I lost my heel.
Cons. Slocum: Well, don't worry about him.


EDIT: I found this little tidbit for Brendan, Sueleen and PJ:

Howard Hawks said that he failed at making a good comedy here because of the characters were too "madcap", with no straight men/women to ground it. This comment may have resulted from his disappointment at the film's commercial failure at the time of its release, although many now consider it Hawks' best film.
(from www.imdb.com) Updated On: 11/11/05 at 04:50 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 5:03pm

But Philadelphia Story has:

"My, she's yar!"

[BrendanStryker]

Posted: 11/11/05 at 5:07pm

So does HIGH SOCIETY.