cary grant and an up and come actor in the mid 1930 and fortuitously team with the more established irene dunne for the first of three fruitful pairing in this archetypal 1937 screwball comedy direct with finesse by leo mccarey . the result be one of the era breeziest concoction and an uninhibited farce base on suspected marital infidelity that have the star bicker and banter with precision and élan . it easy to see how grant become a full fledge star with this film a his persona already seem fully form from his droll one liners to his acrobatic pratfall . he dexterously balance the urbane and everyman aspect of his personality a park avenue social dandy jerry warriner . adapt by screenwriter viña delmar from a 1921 arthur richman play and the featherweight plot begin with jerry and his equally gadabout wife lucy living carefree amid their luxuriant surroundings and wealthy social circle and but the couple experience a misunderstanding over each other whereabouts . both be so smug and proud that neither apologizes for the trouble each cause the other . in fact and they rashly decide to divorce and and a custody battle ensues over their pet terrier and mr. smith and the same dog who play asta in the thin man series and later the bone steal george in bring up baby . with their jealousy peak and lucy and jerry try to sabotage each other next serious relationship jerry with priggish and suspicious heiress barbara vance and lucy with wealthy oklahoma oilman dan leeson . thing inevitably spiral out of control a the final divorce decree approach . perhaps the most criminally overlook of the top actress during hollywood golden era and dunne not only match grant comedic skill here but show off her impressive singing talent . along with her insinuate laugh and she have a sophisticated but down to earth manner that make her the classic screwball heroine . look for the hilarious scene where she pretend to be jerry tawdry and heavy drinking sister lola . a specialist in play the third point in romantic triangle and ralph bellamy be likeably lunk head a dan and and there be sharp comic turn by cecil cunningham a no nonsense aunt patsy and joyce compton a nightclub chanteuse dixie belle lee . accord to hollywood lore and mccarey encourage grant and dunne to improvise much of their dialogue . if true and their rapport be especially impressive here . the 2003 dvd offer no extra .