“Whenever I have to weep for the cameras, I prefer to cry real tears … provided I have enough time to recover my emotions before I make the ‘take.’ But if I have to do another and greatly different scene afterward, it frequently is easier on my emotions just to put glycerin or some other tear substitute in my eyes.”– Irene Dunne
“I love beautiful things, but a woman who considers herself best dressed usually spends all of her time at it.” — Irene Dunne
“If people want salacious books, they are easily found, but the good ones are in the majority. The same is true of pictures. It is the duty of mothers and fathers to censor the pictures their children shall see and if parents do this and also stay away themselves, the bad pictures soon will die of starvation.” — Irene Dunne on film censorship in 1934.
Source: Robert Eichberg
“When we have learned to love our neighbor, not just ourselves, no matter where we come from, then America will be perfect.” — Irene Dunne
Photographer: Irving Lippman (1936)
The script for The Awful Truth (1937) had been rewritten numerous times, eventually being discarded the day before principal photography was to begin. However, the film was rushed into production anyway due to Irene Dunne‘s contractual commitment. So, to make up for an existing story but an almost non-existing screenplay, director Leo McCarey and the cast relied largely on improvisation, making the behind the scenes antics almost as screwball as the ones onscreen. Due to the strength of McCarey’s direction, Dunne, Cary Grant and Ralph Bellamy, et al, this film turned out to be a classic, nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and, believe it or not, Best Screenplay. McCarey took home the only Oscar.
