The Awful Truth

The Awful Truth
Theatrical release poster
Directed byLeo McCarey
Screenplay byViña Delmar
Based onThe Awful Truth
1922 play
by Arthur Richman
Produced byLeo McCarey
Starring
CinematographyJoseph Walker
Edited byAl Clark
Production
company
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • October 21, 1937 (1937-10-21)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$600,000 ($12.7 million in 2023 dollars)
Box officeOver $3 million ($64 million in 2023 dollars)

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, 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 success 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".[1] The Awful Truth was the first of three films co-starring Grant and Dunne, followed by My Favorite Wife (1940) and Penny Serenade (1941).

  1. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved September 16, 2020.