The greatest artistic achievement here is from Cary Grant—this is
like his 30th feature (and 6th archiveable film) but
until The Awful Truth he had
mostly been playing the handsome beefcake-type roles (he is always pretty stiff
in them until this film) next to Marlene Dietrich or Mae West (always second
billing at best). This role best showcases not only his good looks, but his
comedic talents- both with the witty one-liners and his physical comedy
Irene Dunne pairs well with Grant, and Ralph Bellamy is sublime
as the “home on the range”-singing square from Oklahoma. Bellamy would be so
good here he’d reprise this role of sorts in 1940’s (similarly themed, and
brilliant) His Girl Friday with Grant
It is the first leg in the unofficial divorce-remarriage trilogy
for Grant. This, His Girl Friday, and
The Philadelphia Story
Wipe editing that McCarey forgets about after about a half hour
Great gag about Grant faking he’d been to Florida and gets Dunne
a gift basket of California oranges
Grant shows off his skills as an acrobat doing cartwheels and fighting
with the butler in one scene, an falling over in his chair, hilariously, in the
next
Dunne’s fashion and costume is reason worth watching the film
alone
Gags like Grant trying on a hat that’s too big (it’s the man
hiding in Dunne’s apartment) – he looks great and then she asks “did you have a
haircut maybe?”
Ends with a bit of a variation on the walls of Jericho we-have-to-sleep-in-the-same-room
bit in It Happened One Night. A door
that won’t stay shut
Highly Recommend for the writing and performances. It wouldn’t make me want to see what MccCarey does next necessarily and there is wide gulf between this what Hawks and even Capra are doing in the genre with pacing and editing
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