BOOTLEG FILES 936: “The Awful Truth” (1956 made-for-television production starring Bob Hope and Greer Garson).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It is probably a case of clearing the rights to the source material.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Maybe someday.
As a comedian, Bob Hope was always a case of extremes. Either he was laugh-out-loud hilarious or groan-out-load awful. To be honest, I approached this 1956 made-for-television version of “The Awful Truth” with Hope playing opposite Greer Garson expecting the groan-out-loud version of the funnyman. After all, “The Awful Truth” is a classic 1937 screwball comedy that helped secure Cary Grant’s stardom. Hope starred in a radio version of “The Awful Truth” in 1941, so he was clearly familiar with the material. But, hey, Bob Hope doing a Cary Grant role?
I am happy to report that this version of “The Awful Truth” is the laugh-out-loud version of Hope, operating at the top of his talents. Yes, the adaptation of the source material was wildly stretched to accommodate Hope’s penchant for firing off one-liners – six writers plus a “consultant” were credited with creating the script for this new version, which had to be chopped down to fit the one-hour (minus commercials) format of “The Chevy Show,” which was Hope’s television showcase during 1956. But, then again, the 1937 film heavily reconfigured its source material, Arthur Richman’s 1922 play.
The bare bones concept of “The Awful Truth” survives, with a couple (Hope and Garson) whose marriage unravels. Hope is the dishonest husband who disappears claiming to be on business trip to Florida, when he is actually closer to home in a poker marathon with his drinking buddies. Garson is the wife whose friendship with a Texas oilman is moving beyond platonic. The couple have no children, but fight in court over the custody of their dog. Needless to say, the couple manage to reconcile before their divorce is finalized.
However, since Bob Hope is the star of the show, “The Awful Truth” has to accommodate his trademark wisecracks and sharp fondness for topical humor. For example, when crowing over his success at the poker table, Hope comments, “Grace grabbed the wrong prince, I wanna tell you that.” When he pulls out a bag full of golf clubs, he jests, “I hope Ike doesn’t notice it’s missing.”
Later, when listening to a windbag of an aristocrat describing a safari where he “brought the leader of the herd with a crash that resounded throughout the jungle,” Hope declares, “It must have been Jackie Gleason, huh?” Other topical references involve Arthur Godfrey, drive-ins, Lili St. Cyr, and Miltown. Hope even cross-references himself twice and puts in a plug for his Chevrolet sponsor. The inevitable Bing Crosby joke happens in the opening credit sequence.
“The Awful Truth” was staged before a live studio audience, and the laughter responding to Hope’s jokes is genuine. Having a live audience responding with such merriment clearly seemed to fuel Hope – I cannot recall another televised appearance by Hope where he sailed so rapidly through the material, clearly enjoying his material and fellow cast members with unbridled gusto.
And it is the other cast members that help to keep “The Awful Truth” from turning into an extended Bob Hope sketch. Hope had a habit of steamrolling over his leading ladies with his rat-a-tat-tat delivery of jokes, but the warmth and gentle humor Greer Garson provides a perfect counterbalance to his kinetic energy. Garson doesn’t try to one-up Hope with jokes, but her strong yet subtle presence creates a genuine character who patiently attempts to put up with her loose cannon of a husband.
Also worth noting is Dick Foran as the Texas oilman who pursues Garson. It is a thankless role that finds him mostly as the target of Hope’s humor, but he creates a sympathetic and likeable personality. Vivian Blaine turns up as a bubbly nightclub entertainer who catches Hope on the rebound after his initial divorce hearing – she has a farm-inspired song-and-dance number in the middle of the production that’s a cute distraction from the comedy.
A nice surprise here is presence of Margaret Dumont, doing her outraged dowager act while Hope mercilessly kids around with her during a party scene. Her gasps of exasperation steal the show from the ski-nosed comic. Oddly, gossip columnist Hedda Hopper was recruited to introduce the evening and was brought back for the curtain call when the show ended – why she needed to take a bow is unclear.
The curtain call segment takes on an abruptly serious note when Garson does a quick fundraising pitch on behalf of the “Society for Crippled Children.” The closing credits also feature an off-screen announcer informing the viewers that “televising of ‘The Awful Truth’ was made possible through the courtesy of Columbia Pictures, producers of the soon-to-be-release ‘The Harder They Fall’ starring Humphrey Bogart.”
“The Awful Truth” was broadcast on NBC on March 20, 1956. I don’t believe it was ever rebroadcast, nor can I locate evidence of it being made available in any commercial home entertainment release. I assume clearing the rights to the source material – not just the film version, but the original play – is the obstacle here. Nonetheless, a surprisingly clean copy of the work can be found on YouTube in an unauthorized upload. And if you’re a Bob Hope fan, you’re in for a treat with this gem:
IMPORTANT NOTICE: While this weekly column acknowledges the presence of rare film and television productions through the so-called collector-to-collector market, this should not be seen as encouraging or condoning the unauthorized duplication and distribution of copyright-protected material, either through DVDs or Blu-ray discs or through postings on Internet video sites.
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