For today’s meme “Favorite Romantic Couple,” let me start by saying that I like my pairs evenly matched. They’ve got to be able to fight fairly, meet on common ground, and each keep the other on edge. My favorite Shakespearean couple is Beatrice and Benedick; out of all classic dramatic movies, I love Scarlett and Rhett the best; and for comedies (which means my most beloved of all), it’s Lucy and Jerry Warriner of The Awful Truth. I seem to have brought us inevitably back to Cary Grant, but it’s probably going to be the final time, so bear with me. I love this movie nearly as much as His Girl Friday, and they both deal with a favorite trope; as Stanley Cavell called it, the “Comedy of Remarriage.”

This sub-genre allowed movies to get around another piece of the aforementioned Production Code; since adultery was outlawed by it, they could do the next best thing and have a couple break up, move on to others, and then reunite at the end of the picture. This convention also allowed for far more risque dialogue and situations, as it was understood they’d had legal carnal knowledge of the other, and thus a darker, more sexual vibe was acceptable between them. Some of my favorite parts of the four of Grant’s “remarriage” movies (additionally, The Philadelphia Story and My Favorite Wife) involve him cheerfully announcing some intimate fact or anecdote about his wife or their life together in front of his replacement. It’s a sly and manipulative, “Remember, I was there first” that he smoothly stabs through the other guy’s heart.

But of the four movies, it’s only The Awful Truth that focuses on nothing else but their relationship and whether or not they’re going to mend it. We see them break up because of suspicion; Jerry catches Lucy coming home after a night out and doesn’t believe her story. Meanwhile, he’s just returned from a vacation heaven-knows-where, because he sure as hell wasn’t where he said he was. They’ve gotten complacent with each other, and whether or not Lucy is intentionally trying to make him jealous to get his attention back, it backfires and one fight leads to them calling the whole thing off. The most fun couples to watch are those who never stop challenging each other, and that’s exactly what Jerry and Lucy do best. Once they’d stopped trying, however, it was time to either take a break or chuck it all for good. There are naturally a number of twists and turns, and each of them wind-up for a time with other people. They’re in genuine danger of not working it all out, and you can see in a number of moments that there is real affection between them. If they lose their marriage, they’ll both regret it.

What I love most about Jerry and Lucy is that they are reminded of how much they love each other when each makes the other laugh. They’re quick-witted, clever, sophisticated people, and probably very few mortals can keep up with them. It’s difficult for folks like that to keep entertained, so when they each found someone who could hold their interest, they held onto them. Now, without that perfect other half, they’re each facing a life of ordinariness, and what could be worse than that? It comes down to the wire on the last day before their divorce is final. Jerry is about to be engaged to a vapid heiress, and Lucy got him tangled in a lie to the hapless woman earlier in the evening. It’s clear in this scene with whom he really belongs; Grant and Dunne are marvelous at showing us the very real and genuine connection between the two of them.

 

Marvelous. There’s more that has to happen between them before lights out, but she’s ensnared him again, and he’ll follow that crazy girl anywhere.