Editing The Awful Truth (section)

===Initial disruptiveness of McCarey's working style===
The first four or five days on the set{{sfn|Gehring|2006|page=86}} were deeply upsetting to Dunne, Grant, and Bellamy due to the lack of a script and McCarey's working methods.{{sfn|McCann|1998|page=84}} McCarey had the cast sit around on the set the first few days and largely swap stories.{{sfn|Bawden|Miller|2017|page=34}} The lack of rehearsal activity and script{{Efn|One source says Dunne had seen fragments of a script.{{sfn|Thomas|1990|page=125}}}} caused Dunne such emotional distress that she spontaneously burst into tears several times each day.{{sfn|McCann|1998|page=85}} Grant was so nervous that at times he became physically ill.{{sfn|Gehring|2006|page=88}} When McCarey bowed to the cast's concerns and [[Blocking (stage)|blocked]] a scene for Dunne and Grant, Grant refused to perform it.{{sfn|McCann|1998|pages=84-85}}
[[File:The Awful Truth 1937.jpg|thumb|right|Ralph Bellamy, Cary Grant, and Irene Dunne in ''The Awful Truth'']]
Cary Grant in particular was unnerved by McCarey's behavior and lack of a script. Grant had spent most of his career at [[Paramount Studios]], which had a factory-like approach to motion picture production;{{sfn|Kendall|2002|pages=197-198}} actors were expected to learn their lines and be ready every morning, and shooting schedules were strictly enforced.{{sfn|Morgan|Davies|2016|page=149}} McCarey's [[Improvisation#Performing arts|improvisational]] style was deeply unsettling to Grant,{{sfn|Morgan|Davies|2016|page=149}} and at the end of the first week Grant sent Cohn an eight-page memorandum titled "What's Wrong With This Picture".{{sfn|McCann|1998|page=85}} Grant asked Cohn to let him out of the film,{{sfn|Morgan|Davies|2016|page=149}}{{sfn|McCann|1998|page=85}}{{sfn|Eagan|2010|pages=265-266}} offering to do one or more pictures for free{{sfn|Bawden|Miller|2017|page=34}}{{sfn|McCann|1998|page=85}} and even saying he'd reimburse Cohn $5,000 if he were released.{{sfn|McCann|1998|page=85}}{{sfn|Bogdanovich|2005|page=101}}{{Efn|Grant allegedly asked his friend, actor [[Joel McCrea]], to take over the part.{{sfn|Harvey|1998|page=269}}}} McCarey was so angry at Grant that he stopped speaking to him and told Cohn he'd kick in another $5,000 to get Grant off the film.{{sfn|Wansell|1983|page=121}} Cohn ignored both the memo and the offers.{{sfn|Morgan|Davies|2016|page=149}}{{sfn|McCann|1998|page=85}} Grant also sought to switch roles with Bellamy{{sfn|Eagan|2010|pages=265-266}}{{sfn|Bogdanovich|2005|page=101}} and asked Cohn to pressure McCarey into sticking to a more conventional style of filmmaking.{{sfn|Morgan|Davies|2016|page=149}} Again, Cohn said no to Grant's requests.{{sfn|Morgan|Davies|2016|page=149}}{{sfn|Eagan|2010|pages=265-266}} McCarey later said that Grant "had no sound judgment" when it came to determining what made for good comedy,{{sfn|Bogdanovich|2005|page=101}} and McCarey seemed to harbor a grudge against Grant for decades for trying to get out of the picture.{{sfn|Harvey|1998|page=269}}