Editing The Awful Truth (section)

===Improvising the film===
Irene Dunne had never met Cary Grant before, but she later recalled that they "just worked from the first moment" and called Grant a very generous actor.{{sfn|Bawden|Miller|2017|page=170}} Cary Grant, in turn, said "we just clicked". Dunne so trusted his comedy judgment that she would often turn to him after a take and ask in a whisper, "Funny?"{{sfn|Bawden|Miller|2017|page=123}}

Nearly every day during principal photography, Leo McCarey would arrive in the morning with ideas for the film written down on scraps of paper.{{sfn|Morgan|Davies|2016|page=149}}{{sfn|Gehring|2006|page=86}}{{Efn|According to Cohn biographer Bob Thomas, McCarey often wrote down dialogue and directions for the day while riding in a [[taxi]] from his home to the studio.{{sfn|Thomas|1990|page=124}}}} On days when he had nothing in mind, McCarey would arrive on the set and play the piano until inspiration struck. He would then have the [[script supervisor|script girl]] write down his ideas or dialogue, and give the actors their instructions.{{sfn|Harvey|1998|page=269}}{{Efn|Dunne told an interviewer that all the film's dialogue was written by McCarey on the set, while the crew and actors waited.{{sfn|Harvey|1998|page=682}}}} Although he asked the cast to rehearse scenes, McCarey also encouraged his actors to improvise and build up the scene on their own. At times, McCarey himself acted out bits with the performers.{{sfn|Morgan|Davies|2016|page=149}}{{Efn|According to sound supervisor [[Edward Bernds]], improvisation almost always occurred during rehearsal. Lines might be improvised while photography occurred, but blocking never was. The [[Boom operator (media)|microphone operator]] had to know where the boom went in order to capture the sound.{{sfn|Bernds|1999|page=290}}}} McCarey continued to meet with screenwriter Viña Delmar every evening,{{sfn|Bernds|1999|page=290}} sitting with her in a parked car on [[Hollywood Boulevard]] and improvising scenes for her to write down.{{sfn|Wansell|1983|page=121}}{{sfn|Greene|2008|page=266}} McCarey also relied for dialogue on writer [[Sidney Buchman]], who had joined Columbia in 1934 and who had written ''Theodora Goes Wild'' for Irene Dunne.{{sfn|Stempel|2000|page=101}} Some of the best lines and comic moments in the film remained improvised, however.{{sfn|Kendall|2002|page=197}} For example, McCarey himself came up with the idea of arguing over a dog rather than property.{{sfn|Kendall|2002|page=200}} Another example occurs when Cary Grant appears at Lucy's apartment while she is meeting for the first time with Dan Leeson. The writers did not have a line of dialogue for Grant, who [[Ad libitum|ad-libbed]] the line, "The judge says this is my day to see the dog."{{sfn|Gehring|2006|page=88}}{{sfn|McCann|1998|page=88}}{{sfn|Wansell|1983|page=122}} Grant and Dunne also came up with the idea for Jerry to tickle Lucy with a pencil while Dan Leeson is at Lucy's door.{{sfn|Kendall|2002|page=203}} Grant quickly became an accomplished improvisational actor during the shoot. He ad-libbed with such speed and composure that his co-stars often "[[Corpsing|broke character]]".{{sfn|McCann|1998|page=88}}

The nightclub scene was apparently also somewhat improvised on the set. In the Delmar script, Jerry's date is named Toots Biswanger and the scene is meant to parody the novel ''[[Gone with the Wind (novel)|Gone with the Wind]]'' (two years before the film). She has a [[Southern American English]] accent, and Toots believes her song is a tribute to the novel. Jerry has a line in which he slyly criticizes Lucy's date by telling Dan "It's a book." As Toots sings the song's critical line ("my dreams are gone with the wind"), the wind machine on the stage was to have blown off her hat, then her muff, then her cape.{{sfn|Kendall|2002|page=203}} On the set, the singer's name is changed to Dixie Belle, much of the dialogue is improvised, and the wind machine joke changed to a more restrained blowing of the dress.{{sfn|Kendall|2002|pages=203-204}}

According to Dunne, the action and dialogue for the scene in the Vance mansion was all written on the set.{{sfn|Harvey|1998|page=682}} Dunne choreographed the dance and at least one line of dialogue,{{sfn|Gehring|2006|page=9}} while the bit with the long handkerchief was a classic comic routine from silent films.{{sfn|Harvey|1998|page=683}}

Columbia Pictures head Harry Cohn was not happy with McCarey's directorial methods, either. On the first day of shooting,{{sfn|Bawden|Miller|2017|page=34}}{{sfn|Thomas|1990|page=124}} he walked onto the soundstage to see Bellamy singing ''Home on the Range'' off-key while Dunne tried to pick out the tune on a piano. He shook his head in disbelief and left.{{sfn|Bawden|Miller|2017|page=170}} Later, Cohn became angry when he learned McCarey was apparently dawdling on the set by playing the piano and telling stories. He angrily confronted McCarey in front of the cast and crew, shouting, "I hired you to make a great comedy so I could show up [[Frank Capra]]. The only one who's going to laugh at this picture is Capra!"{{sfn|Wiley|Bona|MacColl|1986|pages=77-78}} When Cohn caught McCarey playing the piano another time, McCarey dismissed his concerns by claiming to be writing a song for the film.{{sfn|Thomas|1990|page=124}} Cohn also came on the set the day [[Harold Lloyd]] was visiting. Cohn was so incensed that McCarey seemed to be telling jokes that he ordered the set cleared. Lloyd departed, and so did McCarey. Cohn finally reached McCarey at home, and in a profanity-laced conversation demanded that McCarey return to work. McCarey demanded in turn that Cohn apologize personally to everyone on the set, and send his apology to Lloyd. Cohn, unwilling to abandon the picture, perfunctorily apologized.{{sfn|Thomas|1990|page=125}} Nevertheless, Cohn did not rein in the director.{{sfn|Morgan|Davies|2016|page=149}} Cohn decided instead to write the entire picture off as a loss, since he was obligated to pay Dunne's salary whether the film was made or not and he could not fire McCarey since only McCarey knew where the film was headed.{{sfn|Greene|2008|page=266}}

Improvisation proved to be a problem for actor Alexander D'Arcy, who played the suave musician Armand Duvalle. Initially, D'Arcy portrayed Duvalle as [[French people|French]]. Columbia Pictures' in-house censors vetoed his performance, saying it would offend overseas audiences. D'Arcy tried an [[Austrians|Austrian]], [[Italians|Italian]], [[Spaniards|Spanish]], and even vaguely [[South America]]n persona. Each time, the censors disapproved of his work. Finally, after much experimentation, the actor's [[Theatrical makeup|makeup]] was changed to fair from swarthy, he was told not to gesticulate too much, and he created a nondescript, vaguely European accent (which was nicknamed "Spenchard") for his role.<ref>{{cite news|last=Shaffer|first=George|title=Plays Villain of Five Lands, Then All in One|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=September 7, 1937|page=20}}</ref> The accent proved difficult to maintain. During [[long take]]s, D'Arcy would slip into his native [[French language|French]]-inflected voice, forcing these scenes to be reshot multiple times.<ref name=parsonsblowing />

Improvisation could sometimes be a risky choice for the production in other ways as well. Delmar's script called for the film to be set in [[Connecticut]]. The critical plot element had the divorce court judge issue a 90-day [[interlocutory]] [[decree]], and it is during this period in which most of the action in the film occurs. As filming commenced, it became clear that no one knew if Connecticut permitted interlocutory decrees. It turned out that the state did not, and Columbia Pictures' in-house lawyers could not determine which state did. By coincidence, [[David T. Wilentz]], the [[New Jersey Attorney General]], was visiting Los Angeles. McCarey called him on the telephone, and Wilentz confirmed that [[New Jersey]] divorce courts used them. The setting of the film was then changed to New Jersey.<ref>{{cite news|title=Hollywood Talkie-Talk|newspaper=[[Baltimore Evening Sun]]|date=September 22, 1937|page=23}}</ref> Improvisation also led to minor visual inconsistencies in the film, such as when Jerry Warriner appears to both stand and sit during the divorce proceedings.{{sfn|Eagan|2010|page=266}}