Editing The Awful Truth (section)

===Songs and choreography===
During pre-production, McCarey knew that he needed two songs for important scenes in the picture.{{sfn|Eagan|2010|page=266}} Composer [[Ben Oakland]] and lyricist [[Milton Drake]] wrote two numbers for the film, "I Don't Like Music" and "My Dreams Are Gone with the Wind".{{sfn|Burton|1953|page=99}} Both were finished by the time principal photography began.<ref>{{cite news|last=Parsons|first=Louella O.|title=Warners and Selznick Plan John D. Rockefeller Pictures|newspaper=San Francisco Examiner|date=June 25, 1937|page=16}}</ref> Compton's original delivery of "My Dreams Are Gone with the Wind" and Dunne's reprise of it were filmed by July 25.<ref>{{cite news|title=On the Lots With the Candid Reporter|newspaper=[[Rochester Democrat and Chronicle]]|date=July 25, 1937|page=60}}</ref>

One critical scene in ''The Awful Truth'' occurs in a [[nightclub]], during which both Dunne and Grant dance. In a second scene, Dunne's character dances in front of Jerry, his fiancée, and her family. Usually, the production would hire a [[choreographer]] for these scenes, but McCarey declined to do so. Instead, he asked an [[African American]] youth working on the Columbia lot to teach Dunne and Grant how to dance. Their inept efforts to imitate him made their on-screen dances funnier.<ref>{{cite news|title=Talk of the Talkies|newspaper=[[Brooklyn Daily Eagle]]|date=September 6, 1937|page=17}}</ref> Ralph Bellamy was required to do the fictional "Balboa Stomp" in the nightclub scene while Irene Dunne feebly tries to imitate him. The dance proved so physically intimidating that Bellamy lost {{convert|15|lb}}<ref>{{cite news|last=Parsons|first=Louella O.|title=Russell, Once 'Another Loy', Cast With Her|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=July 22, 1937|page=12}}</ref> and his muscles and joints were sore for weeks afterward.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kendall|first=Read|title=Around and About Hollywood|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=September 9, 1937|page=14}}</ref> Irene Dunne choreographed the burlesque dance which her character performs at the Vance mansion to embarrass Jerry. In rehearsal, Leo McCarey asked her to insert a "[[stripper]] bump"{{Efn|This is a physical move where the performer swiftly pushes the hips forward suddenly, as if thrusting sexually. It is often performed with the hands behind the head or on the hips. In live theater, especially [[vaudeville]], it might be accompanied by a [[rimshot]] or [[cymbal]] strike for comic effect.}} into her routine. Dunne replied, "Never could do that." McCarey laughed so hard at her response that he asked her to include it in the performance.{{sfn|Gehring|2006|page=9}}

One of the film's best remembered comedy moments is when Lucy Warriner accompanies an out of tune Dan Leeson on the piano while he sings "Home on the Range". This was filmed on June 21, the first day of filming.{{sfn|Bawden|Miller|2017|page=34}}{{sfn|Maltin|2018|page=172}} McCarey wanted the song in the film, but knew neither performer would agree if requested. Instead, McCarey tricked them into it{{sfn|McCann|1998|page=85}} by casually asking Dunne if she could play the piano. She said she could, a little.{{sfn|Greene|2008|page=266}}{{sfn|Maltin|2018|page=172}} McCarey then asked Bellamy if he could sing. The actor said he knew the words to the song, but could not sing.{{sfn|Bawden|Miller|2017|page=34}} McCarey asked them to do the song anyway, telling Bellamy to "belt it out" in an Oklahoman accent.{{sfn|McCann|1998|page=85}}{{Efn|At this point, Bellamy did not know what part he was to play, or that Dan Leeson was to be from Oklahoma.{{sfn|Maltin|2018|pages=171-172}}}} McCarey had their performance filmed,{{sfn|Greene|2008|page=266}}{{sfn|Maltin|2018|page=172}} and it turned out so well that he ordered the footage printed.{{sfn|Bawden|Miller|2017|page=34}} Dunne was furious when she realized McCarey had intended to use the footage in the film all along.{{sfn|Maltin|2018|page=172}}