A Verdade Acima de Tudo

Bob Hope swears he will tell "Nothing but the Truth" in this 1941 comedy also starring Paulette Goddard, Edward Arnold, Helen Vinson, Leif Erickson, and Willie Best. This was Hope's and Goddard's third film together. They made a good team.

Hope plays a broker, Steve Bennett, who agrees to invest Goddard's money for a charity and double it. He's not sure how to do it until he gets into a discussion with his fellow brokers about lying versus telling the truth. Steve feels the same things can be accomplished by the truth rather than lying. He puts up his $10,000 to bet that he can tell the truth for 24 hours.

It's not going to be easy, and seeing Hope forced to tell the truth in social situations is pretty funny. When he is asked if a matronly woman looks 30, he answers in Spanish but eventually is forced to translate -- to paraphrase, no way can she look 30. When his fellow brokers find a sexy black nightgown in his apartment, Steve admits it's his from a college show.

Most of the film takes place on a yacht, where, thanks to truth-telling, there is a lot of misunderstanding, hiding, and sneaking around.

Hope is cute and funny, and Goddard is gorgeous and vivacious. Entertaining film, based on a play from the World War I era.