Synopsis
The Awful Truth (1937) is the screwball comedy that wrote the rulebook, and you can watch it online on iFILM. Cary Grant and Irene Dunne play a married couple busy divorcing each other out of pure spite.
Jerry and Lucy each suspect the other of cheating, file for divorce in a huff, and squabble over custody of the dog. What follows is a courtship in reverse: both pretend they've moved on, then quietly sabotage whoever the other one starts seeing. Lucy lines up a guileless Oklahoma oilman (Ralph Bellamy); Jerry takes up with a society heiress. The divorce won't be final for ninety days, and neither of them plans to waste a single one.
Leo McCarey improvised much of it on set and walked off with the Best Director Oscar. The rapid-fire timing, Grant's double takes and Dunne's instinct for the absurd set the template that romantic comedy still runs on. If you only know the genre from modern rom-coms, this is the source code. Stream The Awful Truth online on iFILM.
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