Customer Reviews

The Awful Truth [VHS]

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

- The five stars are for the film itself not the dvd edition-

This is one of those landmark films that really lives up to its well deserved fame, when one finally has the opportunity to watch it.

Irene Dunne and Cary Grant, are perfectly matched as the ever-quarreling wife and husband, who, in spite of loving each other, for rather childish reasons, are granted a divorce, but before it's final, they have the chance to think it over one last time.

Really hilarious scenes by the two leads and by the excellent supporting cast, especially Ralph Bellamy as Dunne's suitor, Cecil Cunnigham as the wisecracking Aunt Patsy and Esther Dale as Bellamy's mother. Nice bit by Joyce Compton too, as an "air-head" southern-accented, singer, who gives a very peculiar singing-act.

Perfectly paced, at 91 minutes running time, there's no time left to breathe between scenes, so expertly tied to each other, that it's hard to believe it was filmed, as it was told by the actors, mostly unaware of what was going on. Apparently the only one who knew was master of comedy, director Leo McCarey, who won one an Academy Award for it.

Now about the quality of the dvd edition, I must say that I bought this movie along with the dvd editions of "Talk of the Town" and "You Can't Take it with You", completely unaware of the absolutely negative customer reviews here at Amazon. As matter of fact, having watched this movie just last night, and still having not watched the other two, I was absolutely frightened of what I'd see (and what I still have to suffer!), upon reading all those negative reviews by Amazon customers, concerning these three classic films.

Concerning "The Awful Truth", I must say that I feared even worse, because at least some portions of the movie are crisp and clean, but many others are very grainy, bad quality, faded, etc, so one wonders about the "digitally mastered" and the "remastered in high definition", as said on the back of the dvd case. It's one of dvd's I own, and I have almost 200, with the most "uneven" image quality I ever saw.

It's really a pity that Sony-Columbia Classics, didn't treat this classics, the way they had treated the first classics they released on dvd, of which I own many, so I know waht I'm talking about: "It Happened One Night", "His Girl Friday", "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town", "Gilda", "Only Angels Have Wings", "Angels Over Broadway", "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington"......especially considering the price of their editions....we all know, Warner releases are cheaper, and until today, their editions are of very good quality, indeed.

So boooohhh for the people who released this editions, so unrespectfully to us classic film buffs, and for charging between U$ 25- 30, for something that shouldn't cost more than 11 bucks.

Still I wonder: The laserdisc editions of these three classics, were as bad as the dvd editions? I don't believe so, 'cos most of the laserdisc editions of classics were of very high definition and quality....so, what happened with the dvd editions? How can it be that one Amazon customer says that the VHS editions of some of this films are better than the dvd ones? I remember watching a TV showing of "You Can't Take It with You"...and its quality was excellent....maybe the laserdisc was the source? Or those excellent copies belong to some other company?.

Sony-Columbia owes an apology to its thousands of customers, and even more, they should release these three classic films, in the way they deserve, as their first aforementioned releases, and give the customers who had the bad luck of buying these bad quality dvd's, the right to exchange them for the really remastered-restored editions.

Until then, we'll have to stick to these editions, 'cos it's all we have, besides recording a better version on TV.

Cary Grant and Irene Dunne are a husband and wife who divorce on a whim and then regret the decision. Neither are willing to admit this, of course. So when Dunne gets herself involved with resident screwball guy-on-the-side, Ralph Belamy, Grant does everything in his power to submarine the relationship. This is perhaps the finest, most tightly realized example of what the British call "comedic farce". We, in North America have come to affectionately know this style of film making as the "classic screwball" and in "The Awful Truth" the formula works so incredibly well, I suddenly found myself starved for more great comedies like this one.
Columbia has given us a print of the film that, although riddled with scratches, tears, duped quality master print segments and fading is, nevertheless, free of all the digital anomolies that were present on their "Talk of the Town" DVD transfer released just a few weeks before. Yes, this film is dated, and yes, there are portions of the picture in which fine detail is practically non-existant, and yes, Columbia should have done a much better job on this classic film than they have for this DVD release. But it just doesn't look quite so bad as their other recent efforts from their B&W catalogue library. And although this disc has a long way to go before it starts winning any awards, the print, if not pristine, is nevertheless represented by a generally good gray scale that does not diminish the comedic elements of the story. LET THE BUYER BEWARE: I don't think this is a great DVD or even an adequate one. It is, however, an outstanding movie!
*Aside: There are no extras and although the print claims to be remastered in hi-def, this is a mute point since the original camera negative is badly worn, hence the over all quality will not be improved by hi-def mastering. Do not base your decision to buy this disc by what you read from the back of Columbia's packaging! You'll be bitterly disappointed.

This is one of the best screwball comedies, but Columbia has released an awful print of the film. There are even frames missing from the DVD. Not only does Columbia overcharge for their products, but they release hideous looking prints. The VHS video is better quality than this DVD.

Arguably the greatest of the screwball comedies, The Awful Truth presents Irene Dunne and Cary Grant as soon-to-be-divorced wife and husband who occupy themselves with spoiling each other's prospective new romances. This is my favorite Dunne performance, probably one of Grant's top three comic performances, and the best Leo McCarey picture. This is also the film that first introduced Ralph Bellamy as the other man who always loses out in love (see His Girl Friday for a reprise). The film is chock-full of great comic scenes: my favorites are Grant, Dunne, and Bellamy watching the awful (and risque) performance of Grant's showgirl girlfriend; Grant making Dunne laugh at Bellamy's love poetry; Dunne trying to figure out how to hide another man's hat from Grant; and Dunne's pretense of being Grant's sister (doing the same number the showgirl did earlier). The film ranges from the broad slapstick of Grant becoming entangled in a chair to the subtle expressions of the threesome watching the floor show. What makes the film particularly work are the attractive performances by Grant and Dunne, who engage in skull-duggery to break up each other's love affairs, but who remain likable--partly because underneath the antics, The Awful Truth remains a love story. Even when bickering, Grant and Dunne clearly love each other; they seem to spur each other, make each other more attractive when together. Even Dunne's throw-away line on not having won any dance cups with

Grant has a sweet, nostalgic, longing tone. Grant has a comic sweetness in the final sequence, befuddled as he tries to resist his desire to return to his wife's bed. The film won Best Director for McCarey, who keeps the film on a delightfully fizzy keel and who encouraged his performers to be spontaneous. Dunne inexplicably lost Best Actress to Luise Rainer for The Good Earth; maybe she should have lost it to Garbo for Camille, but not to Rainer. And this is probably the first of the many years in which Grant gave a great comic performance, only to be forgotten when the Oscar nominations were announced. Sure Grant was always identifiable as himself in comedy-after-comedy, but notice the difference between his performance here and the following year's Holiday, and you can better measure his genuine versatility.

Wonderful movie, completely misrepresented by Columbia as being digitally mastered and remastered in high definition.

The print is dreadful - wandering back and forth, almost incessantly, from bad to worse.

Avoid this.
Hold the studios accountable.
And wait for someone to release a decent print.

My favorite scene in the movie is when the characters are at the night club where Dixie Bell preforms "My Dreams are Gone With the Wind". Prior to the song Jerry invites himself and Dixie Bell to sit down with Lucy and Daniel. First Lucy and Jerry looks at each other, then at Dixie Bell, then at each other, then at Daniel, then at each other again. It's pretty funny. Unfortunately, the portion of the scene where they look at Dixie Bell has been removed from the DVD. Why would a DVD of a movie not have all the scenes of the original film? I was disappointed and will stick with watching the movie on tape.

The Awful Truth is a great movie with Irene Dunn stealing the show from a still great Cary Grant. My big disappointment was with the quality of the transfer to DVD. I never thought the VHS was too good from the standpoint of picture and audio quality, and the DVD is a big improvement, but come on guys. Is that the best master tape you could make the transfer from. The back of the DVD states "Digitally mastered audio and video", and "Mastered in High Definition", whatever that means. It's still a great movie, but we admirers of old black and whites sure to get played for suckers with some of these old classics.

The Awful Truth is one of my all-time favorite movies! It is an absolutely hilarious screwball comedy. Essentially, The Awful Truth is the story of Jerry (Cary Grant) and Lucy (Irene Dunne) Warriner: a rich, elegant couple that decides to get a divorce. The only problem is that they clearly still love each other. As they respectively figure this out, they do their best to sabotage each others' relationships - resulting in incredibly funny scenes.

The Awful Truth has witty dialogue in the classic screwball style, hilarious situations, and great acting. Cary Grant is wonderful as the confident and charming husband - his facial expressions and muttered comments steal scene after scene. This movie is the first one in which Grant established his extraordinary screeen persona: a handsome, intelligent, and debonair man - and still a comedian more than willing to take a few pratfalls. His inspired performance makes the film work! Irene Dunne is equally excellent as his beautiful wife. She is the perfect, cool counterpart to Grant's often frantic behavior. The supporting cast also gets full honors.

Overall, this movie is excellent, and can be watched over and over again. It is witty and hilarious: perfect for the whole family! I don't know how else to recommend this - get this movie, and enjoy a priceless screwball comedy from Hollywood's Golden Age.

This was Cary Grant's first screwball comedy, and legend has it that the actor was unsure that he could pull off comedy, and asked the director of the film, Leo McCarey, to release him. Well it's good that Grant eventually changed his mind, because he turned out to be one of the silver screen's most gifted comedians. The Awful Truth teams him with the equally gifted Irene Dunne in a "remarriage comedy" that I personally like a lot better than "The Philadelphia Story."

Jerry (Grant) and Lucy (Dunne), two immature, spoiled, filthy rich brats, divorce amid a flurry of suspicions of adultery. They have a custody fight over their dog Mr. Smith. Lucy finds love with a dull Mama's boy (Ralph Bellamy) and Grant dates a socialite. But of course Lucy and Jerry can't get over each other, and each schemes to win the other back.

Of the Grant screwball comedies, I think His Girl Friday is probably his best. It has a better script, wonderful ad-libbed lines, better direction, and better performance by Grant, who by then was a master of the screwball comedy. His sarcasm, zaniness, and impeccable timing had been honed to perfection. But The Awful Truth has an awful lot of charm and humor. The movie is full of funny moments, like Jerry smugly watching as Lucy is pushed into "dancing" in a restaurant. Lucy's dancing is of course painfully bad. Grant and Dunne have great chemistry, and both of them manage to seem silly and lovable at the same time. And the has one of the sexiest endings in movie history. Watch the movie and you'll see what I mean.

Unfortunately, The Awful Truth was not given proper treatment in this DVD. The picture quality is awful -- full of white specks and other visual distortions. There are no extras either. Odd since other Columbia releases (It Happened One Night, His Girl Friday) have been released in very nice DVD packages.

One of the best screwball comedies of `30's, right on par with Frank Capra's "It Happened One Night" and "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town". In their first screen paring, Cary Grant and Irene Dunne play Jerry and Lucy Warriner, a married high class couple who seem to be getting along fine. Until one night, when the two become convinced, for various small reasons, that there are infidelities in the relationship. They both reveal their feelings about one another ("I wouldn't go on living with you if you were dipped in platinum") and get a divorce. Lucy gets custody of the couple's beloved dog, Mr. Smith. But, Jerry is also able to get a court order allowing him to see the dog twice a week. And, although the divorce doesn't become final for 60 days, the two start forming other relationships, with each partner trying to sabotage the others romances.

Lucy has a relationship with a millionaire Oklahoma rancher named Daniel (Ralph Bellamy), while Jerry has one with singer Dixie Belle Lee (Joyce Compton). However, Jerry is able to mess up that one when he and Lucy's voice teacher get caught in the same place and battle out of Lucy's apartment. This Daniel to remark "Well, I guess a man's best friend is his mother" (Similar to words later said by Norman Bates in 1960's "Psycho"). And Jerry's romance with Lee is short lived. He soon starts to go out with high-class socialite Barbara Vance (Molly Lamont). But one day, when Lucy visits Jerry's apartment (On their last day as husband and wife), Lucy answers the telephone only to find out it is Barbara. Jerry lies to Barbara that it's his sister, which causes Barbara to invite her along with Jerry over to her residence that night. Lucy (Or Lola, the name Jerry gave her as his sister) shows up drunk and makes a fool of Jerry, who decides to leave along with Lucy in her car. But, there is a problem with the car radio that causes them to get pulled over by the cops. And the "breaks" give out (Actually, Lucy lets them loose), causing the car to crash. The two are given rides by the policemen to Lucy's aunt's place, where they sleep in rooms that are next to one another. But, the door separating the two rooms has a problem of not staying closed.

Now, what does one think of the things Jerry and Lucy do to one another in their relationships? It seemd to me, at first, that they were trying to put the other through hell. But, they seem to love one another more as they are doing it. For example, the scene where Jerry goes to Lucy's voice teacher's apartment. He expects to see her alone with the intructor, only to find Lucy is performing for a group. Jerry sits down and, in a funny moment, leans too far back and falls over. Lucy, in the middle of singing, makes a little laugh; she likes seeing Jerry make a fool of himself. But, she makes sure the laugh isn't noticed. This can be interpreted on that she loves how Jerry makes her laugh. The more they try to hurt one another, the more they see their mutual love for one another, which is the awful truth. Daniel puts it best to Lucy in these words:

Daniel: Are you sure you don't like that fella?
Lucy: Like him? You saw the way I treated him, didn't you?
Daniel: That's what I mean. Back on my ranch, I got a little red rooster and a little brown hen and they fight all the time too, but every once in a while they make up again and they're right friendly.

Dunne got an Oscar nomination for her hilarious, and beautiful looking, performance.. The film was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Ralph Bellamy), Best Screenplay and Best Film Editing, with Leo McCarey picking up the first of two Best Director Oscars (His second would be for 1944's "Going My Way", which I have also reviewed"). Strangely, Grant was ignored in the nominations (Though he would be nominated twice in the `40's for dramatic roles). I don't know what the Academy had against Grant. Since Grant was from England, was it patriotism for the U.S? If so, why did Charles Laughton get a Best Actor award in 1933 for "The Private Life of King Henry VIII"? Maybe Grant wasn't a team player?

I must say this before I close the review: The dog, Mr. Smith, should have gotten an honorary award or nomination of some kind. He was very well trained, being able to cover his eyes during hide and seek and, in a clever (And often clichéd) scene, forced to decide on who should be it's master. He's also a great companion for Grant when he plays the piano during his visits.

When will this be on DVD?