MovieChat Forums > The Awful Truth (1937) Discussion > Patsy or Patty? And What's with Ralph?

Patsy or Patty? And What's with Ralph?

posted 18 years ago by annmason1
11 replies | jump to latest

I am confused as to why Lucy's aunt was called Patsy during part of the movie and Patty during the other part. Was this just poor editing? The credits list the actress as "Aunt Patsy" yet she is not consistently called that. I never knew that the two names were interchangeable, and even if they are, wouldn't a person be consistently referred to by one or the other?

AND why did the director make "Dan" so obnoxious in his accent? He was horrible! Obviously these guys had been watching too many "Ma and Pa Kettle" films. Which were, by the way, about a couple who lived in the Northwest, not hillbillies, who, by the way again, don't live in Oklahoma either.

This horrendous portrayal (and I'm NOT from Oklahoma!) spoiled the film for me. One more "Maaaaa" and I would have through a bottle through the screen! I guess this isn't so much a question as a gripe. Had to get it off my chest.

[–] krajackex 18 years ago

No comments, on Daniel's accent, but yes, I definitely noticed the Patsy/Patty conflict. It was especially annoying during the latter half when I first began noticing the use of Patty while I had the subtitles on that said Patsy.

[–] rdooley-2 18 years ago

Possible explaination: The aunt's name is Patricia. She is called Patty by most, and Patsy on occasion by those close to her. Hence the switch.

Don't swank swells do this anyway?

And I often find myself doing the same with those close to me.

Don't forget: much of this film is supposed to be improvised. It seems interesting to me as well, but I think I want to give this most excellent cast and director the benefit of the doubt.

[–] HoferPM-1 17 years ago

My name is Patricia. Some call me Pat, some call me Patty and some call me Patsy. The names are interchangeable!! However, no one ever called me Trish or Trisha or Tish! These are also names one can call Patricia. Oops, one can always call Patricia....Patricia. LOL

[–] harrisjt 18 years ago

Dan's obnoxiously perfect accent was clearly intentional. His lines are just as stereotypically Oklahoman (if thats a word), not to mention the fact that he lives with his mother. The entire fill is so over-the-top Bellamy is just another example of that. If McCarey had created a Dan that wasn't so blatantly a wannabe cowboy it wouldn't have been nearly as funny. The best example of this: the terrible lounge singer fakes a western accent and Dan (the oklahoma boy) is the only person who buys into it. haha.

[–] X-Evolutionist 17 years ago

I've lived in Oklahoma City for ten years. I've never heard anybody talk the way Dan did!

Oklahoma City is a very big place. So, it takes a while to hitch up the team to pull the buggy to the general store. Tee hee. Seriously, Oklahoma City is a big city, with all the trimmings. We have everything!

If you drive a ways out of the city, you will see farms, of course, but inside the city, it's like any other city.

X

Here are the reasons why I believe in God:
www.X-Evolutionist.com

[–] joes119 17 years ago

And, if you get bored, you can always....

[–] titus25 17 years ago

LOL!

[–] jgroub 15 years ago

Yeah, but I bet it wasn't too much more than a cowtown 70 years ago.

I asked the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] osopestoso 13 years ago

NOTHING was much more than a cowtown 70 years ago. And don't bring up New York... It was just full of more obnoxious cows.

"They sucked his brains out!"

[–] rivkahchaya-455-928681 12 years ago

The terrible lounge singer is played by an actress from Lexington, Kentucky, and Irene Dunne is originally from Louisville, Kentucky (and also lived and worked in Atlanta as an opera singer for a while). The singer has a Southern, but not deep South accent, and sounds just like people in Kentucky, and Southern Indiana. When Irene Dunne is imitating the lounge singer (Dixie Belle Lee), she is using her natural accent. It's a fake dialect for "Lucy," but it's Dunne's real accent. She does this again in My Favorite Wife, when her character pretends to be from the South. It's a running in-joke in her films. She plays women in New England high society quite often, but they find a reason to pretend to be from Kentucky.

[–] joes119 18 years ago

AND why did the director make "Dan" so obnoxious in his accent? He was horrible! Obviously these guys had been watching too many "Ma and Pa Kettle" films. Which were, by the way, about a couple who lived in the Northwest, not hillbillies, who, by the way again, don't live in Oklahoma either.

The first Kettle film wasn't made until more than a decade after The Awful Truth, by the way.