Great post, especially the first paragraph, which really lays out the case for why a person cannot possibly watch only an isolated segment of this film (heck, many films) near the end, and come away with any kind of informed opinion about its quality. One thing builds upon another. Of course, that's not to say that the person would have definitely loved the movie if only he/she'd watched it from the very beginning (like most people would have done).....it could just be the case of it's not their cup of tea. I love some of the films of Douglas Sirk, and Vincente Minelli, but I also know that 50's melodramas aren't for everyone. Lots of folks love musicals, but I do not....but I also don't go around panning West Side Story, Oklahoma!, or The Music Man, either, because I understand that something can be technically well-crafted (and far from "awful") while at the same time be something that I don't particularly want to watch five minutes of.
To build on the comments about the Awful Truth, in addition to it being well-acted, with crackling dialog, I wondered if anyone else noted a vague sort of "modernity" about some of the scenes/lines? A few times in the film, a character——usually Grant——would say something in a way that almost didn't seem like the way people acted back then, even in Hollywood movies. Some 30s films are already like that at times, especially the pre-code ones, but this is different; it's not a question of raciness, just a kind of humor that I don't usually see. One example takes place in the 2nd scene of the film, when Grant is already entertaining his friends, and Dunne and the music teacher show up. Grant is standing next to the music teacher (whose name keeps being amusingly mispronounced by everyone!) and getting increasingly perturbed by the talking about the sitatuation involving his wife and the teacher, but is trying mightily to not seem perturbed....and at on point, after Dunne says something in her own defense, he replies "of course not" in (pretend) agreement with her, and then, in a hilarious voice to the music teacher, says "a little nutmeg?" (offering him some for his drink). I can't describe the voice or the way he places the accents on the words, or the way he stares at the teacher when he says it, but it's pure comedy, and, I think, also kind of ahead of its time, in its irony. Cary Grant strikes just the right note, straddling the line between politeness and hostility, but in a kind of modern way. I also thought the way Cecil Cunningham portrayed Aunt Patsy had a kind of modern, funny flair, esp in her scene with Dunne, talking about wanting to get out and "do things" and dance, etc...just before they bump into Ralph Bellamy's character out in the hallway. Maybe it's just me, but did anyone else perceive a modernness to some of it?
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