The Awful Truth was a 1929 American romantic comedy film

Romantic comedy film

Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...

, distributed by Pathé Exchange, directed by Marshall Neilan

Marshall Neilan

Marshall Ambrose Neilan was an American motion picture actor, screenwriter, film director, and producer.-Early life:...

, and starring Ina Claire

Ina Claire

Ina Claire was an American stage and film actress.-Career:Born Ina Fagan in 1893 in Washington, D.C., Claire began her career appearing in vaudeville...

 and Henry Daniell

Henry Daniell

Henry Daniell was an English actor, best known for his villainous movie roles, but who had a long and prestigious career on stage as well as in films....

. The screenplay was written by Horace Jackson and Arthur Richman, based on a play by Richman. The film is now considered lost

Lost film

A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...

.

Cast

• Ina Claire
  Ina Claire
  Ina Claire was an American stage and film actress.-Career:Born Ina Fagan in 1893 in Washington, D.C., Claire began her career appearing in vaudeville...
  
   as Lucy Warriner
• Henry Daniell
  Henry Daniell
  Henry Daniell was an English actor, best known for his villainous movie roles, but who had a long and prestigious career on stage as well as in films....
  
   as Norman Warriner
• Theodore von Eltz
  Theodore von Eltz
  Theodore von Eltz was an American film actor. He appeared in over 200 films between 1915 and 1957.He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles.-Selected filmography:...
  
   as Edgar Trent
• Paul Harvey
  Paul Harvey (actor)
  Paul Harvey was an American actor who appeared in at least 177 films.-Selected filmography:*They Shall Have Music *Behind the News *Moonlight Masquerade *Spellbound...
  
   as Dan Leeson
• Blanche Friderici
  Blanche Friderici
  Blanche Friderici , sometimes credited as Blanche Frederici, was an American film and stage actress.-Early life and education:She was born in Brooklyn, New York.-Theatre:...
  
   as Mrs. Leeson
• Judith Vosselli as Josephine Trent
• John Roche
  John Roche
  John Michael Roche is a retired American professional basketball player in both the ABA and the NBA...
  
   as Jimmy Kempster
• Ernest Hilliard
  Ernest Hilliard
  Ernest Hilliard was an American actor. He appeared in 98 films between 1921 and 1947.He was born in New York, New York and died in Santa Monica, California from a heart attack.-Selected filmography:...
  
  

Other versions

There were two film versions of the original play on which the 1929 film was based: a 1925

1925 in film

-Events:*November 5: The Big Parade holds its Grand Premier*December 30: premier of Ben-Hur the most expensive silent film ever made costing 4-6 million dollars -Top grossing films :...

 silent version with Agnes Ayres

Agnes Ayres

Agnes Ayres was an American actress who rose to fame during the silent film era. She was best known for her role as Lady Diana Mayo in The Sheik and The Son of the Sheik opposite Rudolph Valentino.-Early life and career:...

 and Warner Baxter

Warner Baxter

Warner Leroy Baxter was an American actor, known for his role as The Cisco Kid in In Old Arizona , for which he won the second Academy Award for Best Actor in the 1928–1929 Academy Awards. Warner Baxter started his movie career in silent movies...

; and a best-known version made in 1937

The Awful Truth

The Awful Truth is a 1937 screwball comedy film starring Irene Dunne and Cary Grant. The plot concerns the machinations of a soon-to-be-divorced couple, played by Dunne and Grant, who go to great lengths to try to ruin each other's romantic escapades...

 with Irene Dunne

Irene Dunne

Irene Dunne was an American film actress and singer of the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s. Dunne was nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her performances in Cimarron , Theodora Goes Wild , The Awful Truth , Love Affair and I Remember Mama...

 and Cary Grant

Cary Grant

Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...

. The play was remade unsuccessfully in color, as the musical Let's Do It Again (1953) starring Jane Wyman

Jane Wyman

Jane Wyman was an American singer, dancer, and character actress of film and television. She began her film career in the 1930s, and was a prolific performer for two decades...

 and Ray Milland

Ray Milland

Ray Milland was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend , a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind , the murder-plotting...

.