The Awful Truth (1937)

Classic Cary Grant/ Irene Dunne Screwball Comedy which skips the unnecessary Boy Meets Girl part and jumps directly to Boy Loses Girl.

Suspicious of each other, (he was on a supposed Florida trip which is immediately revealed to be mere subterfuge, and never satisfactorily explained; and, she spent the night with her music teacher, which is,) a couple gets a time-delayed divorce: They now have 90 days before it takes effect, but in the meantime they try to date an Oklahoma oil magnate (who’s not only a mama’s boy but wants to take a sophisticated New York lady back with him: Not much of a future there, is there?); an (immediately disavowed) showgirl; and finally, a high-society playgirl.

Will they be able to make it to the deadline that finally frees them?

The obvious Boy gets Girl in the End conclusion, after they take the long way around to realizing how good they had it (the titular awful truth,) should not surprise anyone; but the true joy is seeing these two characters maliciously sabotage, (or even self-sabotage,) each and every one of their attempts at starting a 'serious' relationship with other people; the best one with Dunne (who is great at enjoying playing openly and utterly phony,) passing herself off as Grant’s loutish, drunken sister.

Lots of odd, funny touches here and there; for example, the showgirl admitting to a fake Southern accent only to immediately fool the dumb, unsophisticated oil tycoon; Grant going on and on about how good life on Oklahoma is; or, how about that stupid cat stubbornly blocking their adjoining door.

With Ralph Bellamy, Alexander D'Arcy and Cecil Cunningham.

Directed by Leo McCarey.

A true gem.