Editing The Awful Truth (section)

===Previews and release===
''The Awful Truth'' was shot in just six weeks,{{sfn|Gehring|2006|page=86}}{{sfn|Pallot|1995|page=42}} a record for a film of this genre (according to Ralph Bellamy).{{sfn|Gehring|2006|page=86}} It was finished ahead of schedule and $200,000 (${{Format price|{{Inflation|US|200000|1937|r=-5}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars) under budget.{{sfn|Greene|2008|page=266}} The film contained several risqué moments which normally would have run afoul of the [[Motion Picture Production Code]], including Jerry making [[double entendre]]s about coal mines to an oblivious Dan, Dixie Belle Lee's exposed underwear, Lucy "goosing" pompous Mrs. Vance, and the final moment of the film when the cuckoo clock figures go into the same room together. Code administrator [[Joseph Breen]] permitted these gags because the picture and its cast were high-quality, which served to undercut the raciness of the moments.{{sfn|Leff|Simmons|2001|pages=64-65}}

The film was [[Test screening|test screened]], and the audience's reaction was good but not outstanding.{{sfn|Gehring|2006|pages=86-87}} Audiences were unused to seeing the three stars in a comedy, and were unsure whether they should laugh.{{sfn|Thomas|1990|page=126}} McCarey realized the opening was too somber, and that viewers were not certain the picture was a comedy. He rewrote the opening scenes,{{sfn|Gehring|2006|pages=86-87}} adding one in which Lucy calls her attorney to discuss her impending divorce. A new bit in this scene helped establish the tone of the film more clearly. While on the phone, Lucy's lawyer tries to tell her that "Marriage is a beautiful thing". Each time, his wife (standing in the background of the shot) yells impatiently at him to remind him that dinner is ready. This happens three times. The attorney's response is harsher the second time. The third time, he shouts back "Shut your big mouth!"{{sfn|Gehring|2006|page=87}} At a second preview, audiences roared with laughter.{{sfn|Thomas|1990|page=126}}

''The Awful Truth'' was released in theaters in the United States on October 21, 1937.<ref name=aficatalog />