Awful Truth & Born Yesterday & His Girl Friday [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

****It's wonderful to get all of these great movies in one DVD. "The Awful Truth" is such a funny movie which can be viewed over and over. Of course I love Judy Holiday and I think "Born Yesterday" is one of the funniest of all of her movies! Can't wait to watch all three of them together again.******

Marriage and divorce are the common themes in this package of feature films, all of which made the New York Times list of Best 1000 Movies Ever Made (St. Martin's Griffin, $24.95). Each comes with its own art work embossed on the disk, some come with a bevy of extra features.

Born Yesterday
Judy Holliday won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Billie Dawn in this 1950 film combining comedy, drama, and in Broderick Crawford's depiction of tycoon Harry Brock, a thuggish portrayal of those who arrive in Washington with other than honorable intentions.

Billie begins the film with an utter daffiness, a walk that approaches a waddle, and a siren wail that could have influenced The Honeymooners. William Holden is nurturing as reporter Paul Verrall, hired to refine Billie and make her more palatable to the Washington establishment Brock seeks to bribe. Billie awakens amid the monuments that are Washington's signature, and Verall is so successful cultivating her, Billie teaches a Congressman his first responsibility is to advocate for the people, although she does this deftly, never descending into preachy moralizing. But she pays a price for her conversion. At one point, refusing to rubber stamp Brock's corporate decisions any longer, insisting on understanding them on her own terms, she is beaten for her recalcitrance. The descent from comedy, to tension, to horror happens so quickly and convincingly viewers can only marvel at Ms.Holliday's ability to brilliantly convey the emotional content. A strong story line makes her recovery plausible; the cinematography and restoration yield a rich film print 60 years later.

William Holden fans will barely recognize him 25 years before Network, although the theme based argumentative style that made him famous is present in this earlier effort.

His Girl Friday
Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell get the lion share of credit for the repartee that spices this 1939 story about a newspaper editor trying to win back his ex-wife and at the same time, free a man sent to prison. The sets contribute mightily to the film's success and its continuing appeal. The symbolic weight of a stand alone middle of the room prison cell won't be lost on audiences conditioned to Silence Of The Lambs, although instead of incarcerating a cannibal, an ordinary (and by the end of the film, innocent) man inhabits the prison cell while petitioning for pardon.
The dialogue really is smart and witty but that isn't the script's only compelling feature. The sheer amount of words the actors had to memorize, along with their rapid fire delivery will astonish contemporary audiences used to movies with minimalist dialog. Tabloid journalism gets skewered in this film as beat reporters convene like birds of prey waiting for news of the impending execution. The film takes on absurdist, anything-can-happen overtones as an escape plot is hatched, but Grant and Russell keep things on track as they discover in their zeal for a story, they complement and attract. The restored film print is snappy and glitch free.

The Awful Truth
Mistrust and deceit characterize the relationship between Jerry (Cary Grant) and Lucy Warriner (Irene Dunne) in their collaboration with director Leo McCarey, who won an Academy Award for Best Director with this film. There were other Grant/McCarey collaborations to follow, most notably An Affair To Remember (1957).

Divorce on a dare is the outcome of a taunting episode between the couple. Each is determined to acquire the lion's share of the marital estate which includes custody of their irascible canine, Mr. Smith. Smitty's loyalties are hopelessly divided, the struggle to control the dog is followed by attempts to undo the new romances of the former partners. Each new attempt at madcap meddling has riotous consequences and it's a war of attrition that develops until both realize there is no one else they'd rather be with. Cary Grant's buffoonery is genuinely outrageous; he made Depression era audiences laugh, Irene Dunne made them care.

This is a great deal on this DVD for 3 movies. All 3 movies are classic and a must have for collectors.