Editing The Awful Truth (section)

===Casting===
Irene Dunne had freelanced and had not been under contract to a studio since her arrival in Hollywood.{{sfn|Carman|2016|pages=48-52}} She appeared in ''[[Theodora Goes Wild]]'' (1936) for Columbia, and despite her misgivings about doing comedy her performance had garnered her an [[Academy Award]] nomination as [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]].{{sfn|Gehring|2006|page=38}} Dunne wanted to undertake a new project quickly after negative reaction to her performing in [[blackface]] in ''[[Show Boat (1936 film)|Show Boat]]'' (also 1936).<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Devine|first=John F.|title=Irene Goes Wild|magazine=Modern Movies|date=April 1937|pages=34–35, 73–75}}</ref>{{Efn|Film historian Wes Gehring claims Dunne wanted to do a comedy to restore her public appeal and prestige after the box office failure of ''[[High, Wide and Handsome]]''.{{sfn|Gehring|2006|page=84}} This seems unlikely, as that film did not premiere until July 21, 1937,{{sfn|Schultz|1991|page=13}} and Dunne had signed on to ''The Awful Truth'' five months earlier.<ref name=parsonscolbuys />}} Her agent, [[Charles K. Feldman]], helped develop ''The Awful Truth'' for Dunne,{{sfn|Carman|2016|pages=24, 173 fn. 58}}{{sfn|Kemper|2010|page=90}} and the film was rushed into production to accommodate her.{{sfn|Thomas|1990|page=123}}{{sfn|Schultz|1991|page=276}} McCarey wanted her for the film{{sfn|Wiley|Bona|MacColl|1986|pages=77-78}} because he thought the "incongruity" of a "genteel" actress like Dunne in screwball comedy was funny,{{sfn|Parish|1974|page=154}} and she was asked to appear in it even though Delmar was still working on a script.{{sfn|Eagan|2010|page=265}} Dunne was attached to the picture in mid-February 1937, although commitments to other stage and film projects meant production could not begin for several months.<ref name=parsonscolbuys>{{cite news|last=Parsons|first=Louella O.|title=Columbia Buys Comedy Success for Irene Dunne|newspaper=San Francisco Examiner|date=February 16, 1937|page=23}}</ref> Dunne was paid $75,000 (${{Format price|{{Inflation|US|75000|1937|r=-5}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars) for her work.{{sfn|Dick|2009|page=125}}{{Efn|In 1935, Dunne signed a three-picture deal with Columbia Pictures, guaranteeing her $65,000 for her first film, $75,000 for her second, and $85,000 for her third.{{sfn|Dick|2009|page=125}} She was to be paid whether the film she was assigned to was made or not.{{sfn|Greene|2008|page=266}}{{sfn|Thomas|1990|page=124}} Her total income for 1937 was $259,587 (${{Format price|{{Inflation|US|259587|1937|r=-5}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars).<ref name=highestpaid />}} Dunne later said her decision to work on the film was "just an accident".{{sfn|Bawden|Miller|2017|page=170}}

Cary Grant was cast three days after Dunne.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bits From the Studios|newspaper=[[The Pittsburgh Press]]|date=February 19, 1937|page=24}}</ref> Grant had also recently become a freelance actor without long-standing contractual obligations to any studio.{{sfn|McCann|1998|pages=83-84}} By late 1936, he was negotiating a contract with Columbia. He ran into McCarey on the street, and told McCarey he was free.{{sfn|Wansell|1983|pages=120-121}} In February 1937, he signed a non-exclusive contract with Columbia Pictures in which he agreed to make four films over two years, provided each film was a [[prestige picture]].{{sfn|Morgan|Davies|2016|page=149}} He was paid $50,000 (${{Format price|{{Inflation|US|50000|1937|r=-5}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars) to appear in ''The Awful Truth''.{{sfn|Morecambe|Sterling|2001|page=98}}{{Efn|Grant's contract paid the actor $50,000 for each of the first two movies, and $75,000 for each for the third and fourth films.{{sfn|Morecambe|Sterling|2001|page=98}} The first two films were ''[[When You're in Love (film)|When You're in Love]]'' (released February 16, 1937){{sfn|Larkin|1975|page=212}} and ''The Awful Truth'' (released October 21, 1937). The second two films were ''[[Holiday (1938 film)|Holiday]]'' (released June 15, 1938){{sfn|Larkin|1975|page=116}} and ''[[Only Angels Have Wings]]'' (released May 15, 1939).{{sfn|Larkin|1975|page=271}} Grant's total income for 1937 was $144,291 (${{Format price|{{Inflation|US|144291|1937|r=-5}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars).<ref name=highestpaid>{{cite news|title=Film Industry Leads High-Salaried Field|newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|date=April 8, 1939|page=5}}</ref>}} Grant was eager to work with McCarey,{{sfn|Morgan|Davies|2016|page=149}} McCarey wanted Grant,{{sfn|Wiley|Bona|MacColl|1986|pages=77–78}} and Cohn assigned Grant to the picture.{{sfn|Eagan|2010|page=265}}

For Ralph Bellamy, a contract player with Columbia, the film was just another assignment.{{sfn|Bawden|Miller|2017|page=34}} Delmar's draft script, sent to Bellamy by his agent,{{sfn|Maltin|2018|page=171}} originally described Dan Leeson as a conservative, prudish Englishman,{{sfn|Bawden|Miller|2017|page=34}} a role written with [[Roland Young]] in mind. Per his agent's request, Bellamy ignored the script. Some time later, Bellamy got a call from his good friend, the writer Mary McCall, who asked him to work with her on redeveloping the role. McCall had been instructed to change the Leeson character into someone from the American West. They spent an afternoon together, and recrafting the character as well as writing a scene for his entrance in the film.{{sfn|Maltin|2018|page=171}}{{Efn|Leeson was to have climbed down a fire escape at a hotel and entered Lucy's room through a window.{{sfn|Maltin|2018|page=171}}}} After more time passed, Bellamy ran into writer Dwight Taylor at a cocktail party and learned that Taylor was rewriting his part. After a few weeks more, Dorothy Parker called Bellamy to tell him she was now working on the script and changing his role once more.{{sfn|Maltin|2018|page=171}} The second week of June 1937, Bellamy's agent told him he'd been cast in ''The Awful Truth'' and was to report to the studio the next Monday.{{sfn|Maltin|2018|page=171}} His casting was announced on June 23.<ref>{{cite news|last=Parsons|first=Louella O.|title=Carl Laemmle, Jr., Plans More Eerie Melodrama|newspaper=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]|date=June 24, 1937|page=12}}</ref>

Joyce Compton was cast on June 9,<ref>{{cite news|title=The Movie Lots Beg to Report|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=June 10, 1937|page=19}}</ref> and Alexander D'Arcy was cast some time before July 11.<ref name=parsonsblowing>{{cite news|last=Parsons|first=Louella O.|title=Movie-Go-Round|newspaper=San Francisco Examiner|date=July 11, 1937|page=27}}</ref>

For the animal role of Mr. Smith, two dogs were cast but did not work out. [[Skippy (dog)|Skippy]], better known to the public as "Asta" in the [[The Thin Man (film)|''Thin Man'' film series]], was cast at the end of June. Skippy proved difficult to work with. For a critical scene in which Mr. Smith is to leap into Jerry Warriner's arms, a white rubber mouse (one of the dog's favorite toys) was placed in Cary Grant's breast pocket. But whenever Grant held his arms open, Skippy would dodge him at the last moment. It took several days to get the shot.<ref>{{cite news|last=Carroll|first=Harrison|title=Movie Gale Batters Actors|newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph]]|date=July 2, 1937|page=12}}</ref> The human cast of ''The Awful Truth'' was also forced to take several unscheduled days of vacation in late July 1937 because Skippy was booked on another film.<ref>{{cite news|last=Megahan|first=Urie|title='Stargazing' With Urie Megahan|newspaper=[[Indiana Weekly Messenger]]|date=July 29, 1937|page=Town Weekly Magazine Section 11}}</ref>