Nothing But the Truth

Richard Dix plays a stockbroker - and inveterate liar - who rashly accepts a wager that he must speak nothing but the truth for 24 hours. Naturally, complications quickly arise. The story is fanciful nonsense, but director Victor Schertzinger does manage to coax a likable performance from leading man Richard Dix. Unfortunately, the limitations of early-talkie camera movement and sound recording prove to be even more suffocating than the conditions of Dix's bet.

"Nothing But the Truth" is one of the first talking pictures by Paramount and the first by the studio's male lead from the silent films of the previous decade, Richard Dix. This is a good film to study the changes that sound would bring to the cinema. Dix was a good actor and a handsome leading man whose films and career improved with sound. But in this first Paramount sound film, one can see him overacting and still having some silent traits that appear very hammy. He pauses and makes very deliberate moves, including projecting himself. So, it gives an appearance of mixed hamming it up, overacting and woodenness.

Most of the rest of the cast are okay, but all of the main male cast - the men in the stock brokerage office, seem a little wooden. Their early office scenes actually appear very stagy. That's understandable from the fact that this story is based on a novel and the stage play that was written from it and performed on Broadway in the mid-19 teens.

The story has a good plot that is a natural for humor. Dix's Robert Bennett must go 24 hours without telling the slightest lie or untruth in order to win a huge bet with three men from his firm. There are some strings attached to the money he puts up, and he risks everything for the love of his girl and a good cause. A very good Hollywood rendition of the story was made in 1941. It starred Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard. Other versions of the story were made in the languages of various European countries.

The best thing about this film is the comedy. Even with the rough quality and crude technical aspects, this movie remains watchable and notable just for the witty and funny script.

This 1929 Paramount movie was the first sound film made by all the members of the cast. All of the male actors continued on with substantial careers, although Louis John Bartels who plays Frank Connelly would die in 1932 of a stomach ailment at just age 36.

It was a different story for the actresses, however. This was their very first film for three of the actresses. And, it was the biggest roles for two who would have very short movie careers. Madeline Grey plays Mrs. E.M. Burke, but she would appear in only 10 more films -all but one in uncredited roles, ending her film career in 1945. Helen Kane who plays Mabel Jackson would appear in just half a dozen more films in bit parts, ending her film career in 1931. Only Wynne Gibson, who plays the other nightclub sister, Sabel Jackson, would go on to have a substantial film career. She had leads in several films and notable supporting roles in several more, ending her career in 1956 on television.

One of the female leads, Dorothy Hall, who plays the love interest of Dix's Robert Bennett, had her start in silent films and was on the rise when sound came out. She had the female leads in her first three films before this one. While she may have been a good actress for silent films, she couldn't make the jump to sound with her very squeaky voice. With her voice, she comes across here as something of a hair-brain, and one has to stretch credibility to think that Dix would fall for her. She appeared in just three more films after this, all minor roles that included one short. Her Hollywood career ended in 1931.

Until a scene about halfway when the police raid a night club, I had forgotten that the movie was made during Prohibition. And one curiosity that stood out was E.M. Burke driving his car from the right side. I don't know what kind of car it was, but it clearly was driven from the right side. Here are some favorite lines from this movie.

E.M. Burke, "Oh, you're a smart little fellow, aren't you?" Robert Bennett, "My mother thinks I am." Burke, "You wouldn't want to buy any of this stock yourself, would you?" Bennett, "Oh, I, I don't want to change my mother's opinion."

Frank Connelly, "By the way, when do you think of getting married?" Robert Bennett, "Constantly!"

Robert Bennett, "Hello, Mr. Van Dyke." Clarence Van Dyke, "How are you, Mr. Bennett? Thanks for that tip on V.K." Bennett, "Oh, not at all. Not at all. I was only too glad to take you in."

Clarence van Dyke, "When I was nine years old, I told my mother the truth about something that happened at school. What happened at home cured me."

For someone who rarely got a chance to do it during the sound era, Richard Dix gives a fine comic performance in the lead later performed by Bob Hope. Preston Foster is supposed to be in a bit part, but I couldn't spot him and Helen Kane is best taken in small doses. Ned Sparks is relatively restrained and Berton Churchill -- I've seen in about four times in the last month and am getting a bit weary of him -- is his usual emphatic, slimy self.

This film features excellent production values, a brisk pace, and natural performances in this first full year of talking pictures that is a rare jewel. It's also something even more valuable - a talking picture featuring the attitudes and all the excesses of the roaring 20's just months before the stock market crash. Technically, it would have been impossible to make such a film just a year before. A year later, a film such as this one - a comedy about lying stockbrokers - would have seemed ridiculous and likely angered the suffering depression era audiences, and thus it would not have been made in the first place.

Richard Dix stars as stock broker Robert Bennett working in a brokerage firm where the boss, E. M. Burke, postulates that lying is a necessary part of their business. He has to lie to sell stocks, he says, as long as he believes in the long run the stock is a good investment he believes it's OK. Dix says that one should always tell the truth. Since Bennett is given to some lying himself ,the other brokers in the office and the boss bet 10,000 dollars against Bennett's 10,000 dollars that Bennett cannot tell the absolute truth for 24 hours. What the boss and the other brokers don't know is that Burke's daughter and Bob's fiancée Gwen has visited Bob just minutes before and said that she has raised 10,000 dollars for charity and needs to double it in five days because if she does her father has said he will match it - this is the 10K that Bob is betting. Apparently a total of 40K is needed for what her charitable group is trying to accomplish. Realize in 1929 40K is roughly equivalent to half a million dollars in 2010. So, without knowing it, Mr. Burke has much more on the line than ten thousand dollars.

What follows is a briskly paced comedy as the brokers and the boss won't let Bennett out of their sight until 4PM the next day when the bet expires, waiting for him to tell that one bet-ending lie. Side plots include two gold-digging chorus girls who meet Burke and the brokers in a speak-easy that night and are determined to hold Burke to his promise to finance their idea for a show. They're not taking no for an answer. They seem to hold all the cards as they have managed to enter Burke's home and refuse to leave without the cash. Burke could refuse them and have them thrown out, but then he'd have to explain to his wife how he knew these two buxom chorines and what they were doing in their home. Meanwhile, as a guest in his future in-laws' home, Bob is faced with the torment of listening to the terrible singing of a female guest whose choice of haberdashery looks like a milk pail with a bow on it. Of course he's asked to give his opinion on both her hat and her singing.

I'd recommend this one to anybody who likes a good comedy. You don't even have to be a precode or early talkie fan to enjoy this one. A tolerance for a modest dose of Helen Kane (she plays one of the gold-digging chorus girls) is really all that's required. Honest, I'm telling the truth here.

In the 1927-29 period, American movie studios were making the only sound pictures in the world. Because of this, there were no guidelines on how to make such pictures--just a lot of trial and error. For example, in most early sound pictures, the accompanying sound was NOT inserted into the strip of film which soon became the standard. And, adding music to films literally meant having a band immediately off-camera doing the music live! Another standard practice that they had to work out was making films too talking. After years of making silent films, too often studios had folks talk and talk and talk-- with very little action. Why? Well it wasn't only making up for lost time but because microphones needed to be VERY close to actors...and many times they stood practically still because of this. As a result, most films made during this era are pretty terrible when you see them today...and most were remade a lot better only a few years later. This is DEFINITELY true of "Nothing But the Truth"--a decent idea for a film but one that is severely hindered by primitive sound movie techniques. Folks talk way too much, the action a bit stilted AND Helen Kane's routine grew VERY tiresome very quickly. She was the inspiration for Betty Boop...which is fine in an 8 minute cartoon...but imagine a woman talking just like this character throughout a live-action movie! Now this in not saying the film is all bad. Star Richard Dix is more natural on camera than the other actors in the film...and it is very easy to understand how he was a big star in the early 1930s.

As to the movie, as I said above, it is very dated and doesn't work very well today. The story, while a bit hard to believe, is enjoyable and the film still worth seeing provided you are able to see it in context and cut it some slack! After all, the idea of a man making a bet he could ONLY tell the truth for 24 hours and how difficult this could be might make for a good film. Here, despite many problems, it's still a cute idea.