User reviews

This wonderfully ribald pre-code comedy is slightly schizophrenic in style. The first half is a breakneck-paced, rollicking sequence of frantic melees and stinging one-liners, not unlike Lee Tracy's other triumphs of the time, The Front Page and Blessed Event. Once the cast settles in on Broadway, the pace slows and the humour is more characteristic of director LaCava -- absurd situational comedy set up with deliberate pace and milked for effect. Although quite funny in its own right, this section seems to drag in comparison with the opening reels -- it may have worked better in a packed cinema than on the tube.

In any case, this is a must-see for fans of pre-code antics -- there's no way it could have been made three years later. Tracy is terrific in his patented role as a fast-talking con artist, and Lupe Velez is a more lurid version of her Mexican Spitfire -- her minimal costumes rival those of a Busby Berkeley chorus girl. Frank Morgan is perfect as a libidinous Ziegfeld type, Franklin Pangborn is everyone's favourite fastidious concierge, and Eugene Pallette is victim to a hilarious running gag about his gender which alone is worth the price of admission -- he also has a unique method for tutoring fledgling Ophelias. There's an intriguing look at the 30s' conception of nudism, to boot.

Obviously I don't hate the actor Lee Tracy but I do find his movie persona the most annoying and unlikeable character Hollywood has ever spat out. By virtue of excellent writing his obnoxiousness is made to work perfectly in this surprisingly entertaining picture.

It was because the detestable Tracy was in this which deterred me from watching this for years but I'm so glad I did. It just goes to show what a difference a good writer and director ( in this case the same guy, Gregory LaCava) can make. It's no great classic but it's perfectly paced with just the right balance between fun and drama. I actually laughed out loud at one point - and that's a rarity for a miserable old sod like me. As much as Tracy is tolerable in this he's still unlikeable so unlike say Cagney, who could have carried this off so much better, he's not a loveable rogue, just a rogue.

Tracy isn't actually top billed in this, that plaudit goes to Lupe Vélez. If she's looking down on us now I think she'd be both bemused and absolutely delighted to know that ninety years after making this that men would still find her performance so crazily sexy. She really wasn't a very good actress but wow, dressed in the naughtiest outfits of 1932 like a member of The Pussycat Dolls, she really is a sight to behold!

The Half-Naked Truth is like a machine gun on steroids, a super-fast paced movie and a stage for Hollywood's greatest carnival barker, Lee Tracy. Tracy spends the entire 75 minutes racing at break-neck speed through miles of monologue - because his character never talks with, only at, those around him - and it's wonderfully exhausting to keep up with him.

Eugene Palette plays one of the funnier roles I have ever seen him in. He's supposed to be Tracy's assistant, but he's not above pulling his own shenanigans on the side, particularly with respect to giving "private" acting lessons to a rather reluctant hotel maid.

At least a couple of the other reviewers here, unfortunately, have got the running gag about Pallete's sexuality wrong: as per Tracy's publicity idea, Palette, complete with turban, is fresh out of a Turkish princess's harem. The idea is NOT that he is a woman, but that he is a EUNUCH. And the movie revisits this inside joke a few times, always to the understandable indignation of Mr. Palette himself!

The plot itself really stretches credibility, but it doesn't matter. It's a fun and quick ride, so just enjoy.

Fast-talking promoter Tracy moves carny dancer Velez from lowly tent act to high-class Broadway using nothing more than wiles and wits.

Too bad we can't hook up Tracy and Velez to a generator, because between them they could whip up enough sheer energy to light a city block plus a few darkened bedrooms. Tracy is in overdrive the entire time, while Velez appears stuck in a permanent hip swivel. Her shimmying version of O Mister Carpenter is a charming show-stopper and, in my book, the movie's highlight.

Tracy, of course, specialized in these machine-gun roles. Here he's totally convincing, but not very likable, as the high-powered con man never at a loss for words or an under- handed scheme. As an actor, his average looks and lack of leading-man charisma add up to an odd commodity for glamour-obsessed Hollywood. Still, he's such a whirlwind of activity, you hardly notice. As for Velez, if she's an example of Mexican womanhood, then I say let's open the borders.

Add such colorful supporting players as Palette, Pangborn, and Morgan, plus lots of pre- Code innuendo, all whipped into a crowd pleasing mix by ace director LaCava, and you've got an amusing dish, even 80 years later. And, oh yes, as to the movie's big mystery—is the rotund Palette actually a harem-guarding eunuch in disguise? Just check out that deep froggy voice for a pre-Code answer.

The Half Naked Truth is directed by Gregory La Cava who also co-writes the screenplay with Corey Ford from a story by Ben Markson and H.N. Swanson. It stars Lupe Velez, Lee Tracy, Eugene Palette and Frank Morgan. Music is by Max Steiner and cinematography by Bert Glennon.

A carnival barker and a spunky belly dancer take on the might of Broadway...

Based on the book The Anatomy of Ballyhoo: Phantom Fame (David Freedman & Harry Reichenbach), The Half Naked Truth is a smart and near caustic observation on the product of celebrity status. While not in the same league as the best of Preston Sturges, it's a film of many pleasures if you have a bent for rapid fire dialogue and scattergun pacing. What unfolds during the story is basically that an energetic Lee Tracy as Bates pulls stunts galore to bluff the whole of Broadway. The ruse is that Velez's belly dancer is actually a foreign princess and Bates engineers openings to stardom because of it. But of course problems are around the corner.

Sharp performances back up the sharp script and some of the stunts pulled by Bates are very funny. It's something of an acquired taste, as comedy - especially the screwball variety - invariably always is, but this is a good pre-code comedy that has more beneath the surface than is first apparent. 7/10

Lee Tracy is a name few would remember today. However, for just a few years in the 1930s, he was a hot commodity--playing in some top films for top studios like RKO, Fox, Warner Brothers and MGM. So what happened to him? Well, he had two huge problems--he was typecast as the same sort of fast- talking sharpie (often a reporter or confidence man) AND he was an idiot. I really hate to be so blunt, but his off-camera behaviors severely alienated him and the studios apparently tired of working with him and apologizing for his actions.

In "The Half Naked Truth", Tracy plays a very typical sort of role--the fast-talking showman who lies, tells half-truths and promotes his girlfriend, Lupe Valez, from a cheesy carnival sideshow act to the toast of Broadway. However ridiculous this was (as Valez' character had no discernible talent and the charisma of a case of the clap), the film is entertaining on a basic level. Don't think too much and you can enjoy it. So why did I give it only a 6? Well, it broke absolutely no new ground and Tracy's role is almost exactly like 1472343 others I've seen him do. In other words, it's fun but lacked originality to make it worthy of a higher score.

The fast-talking Lee Tracy fits the role perfectly of Jimmy Bates in "The Half-Naked Truth." This is a strange film, with some humor. Bates is a character who promotes Teresita (played by Lupe Velez) from a carnival act to the big time on Broadway. It's all done with very little truth. The only thing that is true is that his client has some talent. As Bates says, success is all in the publicity, and what he won't do for publicity! It's a nice satire, but on the duped as well as on the dupers, and of the press that was always looking for the sensational and unusual to report as "news."

Hollywood staple player Eugene Pallette is Achilles, Bates' right hand man. Frank Morgan plays Merle Farrell, a big-time Broadway producer. If he's supposed to be a takeoff or copy of Florenz Ziegfeld, it's a lousy one. Here, Morgan plays more of a buffoon than a real talent and show promoter.

The comedy is hit and miss in this film. The funniest scene is when they get rooms in the Ritz hotel. Bates registers for the three of them with separate rooms and a suite for Teresita. When he registers for Pallette, the clerk looks at the registration, and though the word is never spoken, it's clear that Bates has signed him in as a eunuch. He says to the hotel clerk, Mr. Wellburton, "Oh, uh, you know, uh, they have them in all Turkish harems." Wellburton says, "Oh, yes, of course," and Bates says, "He's very sensitive about it." This comes back a couple times later in the film with Achilles fussing over what Bates registered him as. Wellburton is played by another established and familiar supporting actor, Franklin Pangborn.

And, in a whirlwind of newspaper reports and scene flashes, we see the meteoric rise of Bates as a promoter with some outlandish tidbits. A newspaper article reports, "Citizens of Pleasant Falls were startled yesterday at the report that a Nudist Colony had taken up its abode in a wooded dell on the outskirts of town." Then an action segment shows Pallette and some other guys in what look live caveman costumes in the woods. It's a hoot and over-the-top crazy.

Although this is just a so-so comedy and film, it is one of the better ones of the young and attractive Mexican actress, Lupe Velez. She was 24 when she made this film. Like some other young actors, Velez had some rocky affairs and took to heavy drinking and drugs. At age 36, she would commit suicide with a drug overdose.

Some reviewers see much more comedy in this film than I did. But, for anyone familiar with Lee Tracy, his fast-paced non-stop prattling soon becomes rattling on the nerves. Only fans who can long bear with that sort of delivery, and those of Tracy and Velez are likely to enjoy this film. Here are the best lines of this film.

Teresita, "Oh, you're crazy." Jimmy Bates, "All pioneers are crazy, till they die - then they get a monument." Achilles, "Who wants a monument?"

Jimmy Bates, "Listen, baby, you don't wanna be a hootch dancer all your life, do ya?"

Jimmy Bates, "If I don't have you in Merle Farrell's Folies before the end of the week, I'll eat that dog in Times Square without mustard."

Merle Farrell, "I'm working so hard, I don't know what I'm doing."

Jimmy Bates, going over mail with his secretary, "What else is there?" Miss Flowers, "A letter from the Seluvian secretary of state." Bates, "What does he want?" Miss Flowers, "Would you be interested in handling the next presidential campaign?" Bates, "No. Who wants to leave a sucker town like this."

Miss Flowers," Imagine anyone daring to question your veracity." Jimmy Bates, "Such language."

The main trouble with this movie is that none of its characters are all that likable. Lee Tracy as the carnival barker turned into a publicity man has a voice and brashness that quickly get annoying. The talent he's promoting, a young 'exotic' singer played by Lupe Velez, wears the requisite skimpy pre-Code outfits, but her musical and dance performances fall flat. Frank Morgan plays a Broadway show owner whose romances lack any semblance of reality or passion. There is simply no charm in this script, and Velez is the only actor cast who has the capability of breathing some into it, but she's almost entirely bottled up, which is a shame. There are some cute moments, such as when Tracy gets a compromising photo of Morgan and Lupez kissing, and blows up all sorts of copies to torment Morgan in his office. However, there are many other moments which are lame and anything but erotic, such as the whole nudist colony thing. The film seems to have been in search of something spicy, but you can't get that by giving it an ill-fitting and salacious title, including the most boring nudists possible, or by putting people together who have zero chemistry. Velez is the main reason to watch it, but you could also do much better.

Among the more popular things in the 30's, which are all but gone now, were newspapers, ballroom dancing, speakeasies, stage productions, and carnivals. "The Half-Naked Truth" featured three carnival workers who broke away to do something bigger. The leader of the group was Jimmy Bates (Lee Tracy). He was a fast-talking, loud, truth-bending showman who fancied himself a marketing guru. He took his girlfriend Teresita (Lupe Velez) and his friend Achilles (Eugene Pallette) with him to New York City to see if he could get Teresita on Broadway.

Jimmy was an abrasive character. He treated Teresita with contempt and he had little regard for decency or even the law. He would try any gimmick, legal or not, if it could drum up a buzz and coax money out of people's pockets. His gimmicks were far-fetched and in all likelihood wouldn't work at all in real life, but for the sake of the movie everything he did worked, even if only temporarily. He was a less charming, less bearable, less truthful version of James Cagney in "Hard to Handle."

The only real bright spot in this movie was Lupe Velez. She was such a breath of fresh air. Lupe was a Mexican actress with a noticeable accent and a spicy personality. Her face, voice, and personality was a welcome break from the Stepford women of that era. With the exception of blond versus brunette and a few standouts, they were all virtually the same. Lupe was undoubtedly different and at least a modicum of diversity.

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A carnival barker crashes onto Broadway, hoping to keep THE HALF NAKED TRUTH secret that both he and his ‘Turkish princess' are as phony as a three dollar bill...

RKO Studios produced this highly amusing, but rarely seen, comedy with flair, exuberance, and first-rate performances. Broadway is given a few lighthearted kicks in the shin by its cinematic cousin and a good time is had by all.

In the kind of role he could almost play in his sleep, Lee Tracy plays an over-the-top promoter who engages in wild escapades to get his ladies noticed by the press & public. He is conniving, untruthful & underhanded; he is also wonderfully funny. Tracy was the master at playing the anti-hero, the unromantic lover, the average-looking guy with the extra moxie it takes to get on top. Had his career not come crashing down around him due to a drunken indiscretion while filming in Mexico for MGM, he would probably today be remembered as one of Hollywood's top stars. As it is, he's lucky to be remembered at all.

Lupe Velez is a terrific foil for Tracy. The Tamale, as he calls her, is pungent, peppery & red hot. As a temperamental hootchy-kootchy dancer who makes it from a carny midway to the Great White Way, she is perfectly cast in what remains one of her best roles. It is sad, however, watching this lively lady, to remember that she would die despondent & alone in 1944, a suicide at 36.

Three top film comics help enliven the proceedings: gravely-voiced Eugene Pallette, who as Tracy's sidekick must impersonate eunuchs & nudists to further the scam; unctuous Franklin Pangborn as an officious hotel clerk; and blustery Frank Morgan as an imperious theatrical impresario who finds himself the target of Tracy's wild schemes.

Movie mavens will recognize celebrated movie composer Max Steiner appearing unbilled as the orchestra leader during Lupe's Broadway rendition of ‘Hey, Mr. Carpenter.'

Frank Morgan (The Wizard !), Frank Pangborn (all those W.C. Fields movies), and big, bellowing Gene Pallette in one film. It'll take all of them and more to stand up to Teresita (Lupe Velez)! The carnival gets busted by the sheriff, and they all am-scray before the sheriff can haul them away. When they move into a high class joint, Pangborn is the hotel manager. Teresita puts on a show for the Follies producer (Frank Morgan), and suddenly she's back on top again. Kind of a strange turn, where the mexican girl goes on the stage as a turkish princess, then they concoct a story where suddenly she's a jazz dancer, and the audience doesn't mind being tricked. Lee Tracy is "Jimmy", Teresita's manager, who builds her up, but then he gets the boot! Will he get his revenge? It's a fun show biz adventure. The plot is just absurd, but it moves pretty quickly. Directed by Greg LaCava, who had directed some biggies... Stage Door, My Man Godfrey. Died young at 59 of a heart attack.

This sour ball comedy features the abrasive pairing of two early sound Hollywood figures Lupe Velez and Lee Tracy. It's one scuffed up film.

Bates (Tracy) is a carnival barker pimping the hips of the fiery Teresita (Velez) when she bolts with him for the big time of Broadway along with Achilles (Eugene Palette). Bates in rapid time barges in on a Jed Harris type producer (Frank Morgan) and convinces him to put Teresita in a show who then dazzles. The pair split, they get back together and return to road.

One can understand La Cava's urgency to complete this project having to deal with the mercurial talents of his leads by directing it like one of his silent shorts. Tracy looks and acts like he needs to catch a train and La Cava seems to just give him the green light until he tires. Velez had yet to put spit in fire and her dancing and timing barley flicker. Palette merely croaks.

The Half Naked Truth is a sloppily slapped together piece of brass and crass void of pace and humor. The single redeeming factor of Naked is that I found great enjoyment in two large crowd scenes involving cast members stolen around 42nd Street and Grand Central. They explode with a celebrated naturalness, the film just recites in bad time.

Jimmy Bates (Lee Tracy) is the fast-talking barker in a struggling carnival. His latest scheme is a supposed reveal of dancing girl Teresita's newly discovered father from the local community. The scandal ensures attention but both Jimmy and Teresita get run out of town. In New York City, Jimmy works to make Teresita a star with lies and more lies.

This is a pre-Code comedy. It's one of those comedies where word speed equals humor. It gets a bit chaotic and I do get lost a bit. In the end, the energy is undeniable. There is comedy to be had but one may require more than one viewing.

Gregory La Cava made some dandy movies (My Man Godfrey, Stage Door) but this isn't one of them. The film wants to be an early and sparkling exemplar of the madcap comedy genre. Alas, it is nothing of the kind. Asked to carry the weight of this film on his shoulders, Lee Tracy merely whines his way through it (although the whining is done at his usual warp speed) and is badly mismatched with Lupe Velez who comes across more as a shrew with a bad English language vocal coach than the Mexican Spitfire she eventually grew into in later roles. Frank Morgan does the best he can with the flat dialogue written for him, but even he can't bring the film to life. The plot lurches from situation to situation but none of the situations is especially funny and none of them connects with another to create a coherent narrative line. The Half Naked Truth is 77 minutes long, but it's a long 77 minutes.

Previous comments encouraged me to check this out when it showed up on TCM, but it was a severe disappointment. Lupe Valdez is great, but doesn't get enough screen time. Frank Morgan and Eugene Palette play familiar but promising characters, but the script leaves them stranded.

The movie revolves around the ego of Lee Tracy's character, who is at best a self-centered, physically and verbally abusive jerk. The reactions of "the public" are poorly thought-out and unbelievable, making the "shenanigans" seem like contrivances of a bad writer. And it strains credulity that the Lupe Velez character could fall for him.

The "stinging one-liners" mentioned in another review must be dependent on the observer, since I didn't even notice that an attempt was being made.

I was first attracted to "The Half Naked Truth" by the reputation of Lupe Velez. I had encountered her name linked in a romantic but ultimately tragic way to Gary Cooper. They were both reputed to be promiscuous and she at least to be violently jealous. He was mentioned in connection also in her suicide in that he tried to help her but as a married man who had long moved on but remained friends. Further reading suggested she had a very tough childhood the child of a prostitute who would turn tricks herself. So I checked out the movie out of curiosity about her.

As mentioned by other reviewers , Lee Tracy is a driving force in this picture, as the hyper-active scheming cunning press agent, and his pace and presence swept me along in the fun. Yes, his character is a scoundrel. Yet he is an entertaining one that gives a twisted kind of value for his con. That value is delivered by the sexy and always entertaining Velez, she is the payoff that makes most forget that there is a con. However, Jimmy Bates is not just using her he's making her the toast of Broadway.

This story, an early screwball comedy, presents us with two true to life screwballs who create a kind of chemistry that makes a molecule out of elements. When they are together fighting or scheming or making love, sparks are in the air. This is because Velez really is a Mexican spitfire and she gives as good as she gets. Just as Bates is ready to propose to her he discovers her making time with the big-time producer. She also plays a fine fake Princess when he asks it of her. They practically drive each other through the scenes with their energy bouncing off each other and this makes the half naked truth quite a romp.

The supporting cast provide strong support. Eugene Palette takes the sidekick role even further in that he has his own operation going on with chamber maid Shirley Chambers, and he ultimately moves the story along both in the beginning and the end. This is an underrated gem, a veritable diamond in the rough.

I have a high regard for Gregory La Cava...a strong case can be made for placing "My Man Godfrey" in the top 100 American films of the 20th century...which is why I've tried to watch this film several times over the years only to be stopped dead about fifteen minutes in by a raging headache brought on by Lee Tracy's constant, humorless yelling.

Delicious Hispanic comedienne Lupe Velez's iconic Mexican SPITFIRE series was seven years in the future when she made this movie in 1932, THE HALF NAKED TRUTH. A star since the late 1920's, Lupe was one of the most gorgeous women in Hollywood and had a great career despite the limited casting opportunities that came her way (unlike her contemporary Dolores Del Rio, she would never play anything but a Latina). I'm a big admirer of Lupe's and really looked forward to this film especially with one of the great comedy directors of the era, Gregory La Cava, at the helm and cohorts as talented as Lee Tracy, Eugene Palette, and Franklin Pangborn. The movie is all about hyping a modest talent (Velez's cooch dancer) into major stardom thanks to brash, shameless publicist Lee Tracy. I found this rather ironic because it's seems this movie itself is a classic example of hype, it gets raves in many corners in my opinion simply because the great La Cava is in charge, however the results are quite disappointing. Several of the situations are great but never live up to their potential, notably the early carnival segment.

Lupe is one of the stars of a flea-bitten small time carnival show that plays small towns to indifferent audiences, Tracy and Palette have behind the scenes jobs at the carnival. When the carnival's publicist quits because of the late paychecks, Tracy sees it as his opportunity to step into the job and become a big shot. Acting as the carnival barker, he announces Lupe is traumatized by this visit to their locale as she has just learned a local man is her father, the results of a 20-year-old indiscretion involving her mother, then a carnival girl like she is today. Tracy proclaims Lupe will reveal the name of the man who fathered her at tonight's performance, which perks up the previously disinterested locals who come a packin' into the show later that night. Alas, it all falls apart (regrettably as it would have been fun to see it pulled off) and in the resulting big brawl, Tracy hauls tail out of town with Eugene and Lupe as they steal a car and head for New York and the big time where Tracy successfully passes off Velez as an eccentric princess with a pet lion and desire for a show business career, a stunt which quickly lands her a slot in a major Broadway revue.

Despite her top billing Lupe's part is regrettably secondary not only to Tracy but also Eugene Palette in perhaps the largest role this great character actor ever played in a talkie. Tracy's con man will remind many of his similar part in the next year's BOMBSHELL (a vastly superior film) opposite Jean Harlow, unfortunately his character is even less likable here and when he maliciously sabotages Velez's stardom when she takes up with producer Frank Morgan he just seems mean. Palette, on the other hand, is hilarious at every moment and there's a funny quite racy running gag of something mysteriously written about him by Tracy on the hotel's guest book, perhaps so that he can share a room with La Velez, probably that he's a eunuch but possibly that he's gay or somehow less than a man. Tracy also gets a racy gem of a parting line in his last scene with Frank Morgan but this script honestly needed another rewrite, there aren't that many laughs although many scenes seem prime for them. A low point is the occasionally unimpressive production design, the ritzy New York hotel the gang is staying at is rather sparsely furnished and worse there's a shot of an airplane flying that is blatantly a toy; couldn't they have found some stock footage of a real plane? THE HALF NAKED TRUTH is a fairly decent time filler and enjoyable even if you've undoubtedly seen it all before. And that fact that the luscious Ms. Velez wears the skimpiest outfits she ever wrote in a movie will surely be enough of a reason to check this out.

Lee Tracy, too little known today, is one of the all-time great comic actors and a personal favorite of mine. He was the original Hildy Johnson in The Front Page on Broadway and although his major films are not numerous, each is a delight. Blessed Event with co-star Dick Powell and Bombshell with co-star Jean Harlow are gems long beloved by Thirties film buffs, but even they may not have seen The Half-Naked Truth, which is a pure jolt of the Lee Tracy magic. His physical and vocal presence are uniquely and unmistakably his: the lankily elastic body, the whirling-dervish energy, the sarcastic tone, the long fingers that always seem to be jabbing in someone's direction. There's not another screen actor I can think of who has quite the manic joie de vivre of the young Tracy. In The Half-Naked Truth, he plays a carnival barker and theatrical promoter who will go to any insane lengths to hog headlines (a very contemporary figure for us!). He's paired with Lupe "Mexican Spitfire" Velez, who proves to be an extremely apt partner for him; you believe in these two together, and that makes their final scene surprisingly emotional. (Tracy's magnetism definitely has its romantic aspect; watching Bombshell, an audience can be driven to heights of frustration waiting for Tracy and Harlow to realize that they are, in fact, perfect for one another.) The wonderful ending of The Half-Naked Truth also crystallizes the Tracy credo in a single line: "What good is life if you don't get some fun out of it?" You can have some of that fun by watching this film.

Fast moving and very funny comedy loosely based on famous press agent Harry Reichenbach. A film to watch whenever your spirits need uplifting. Lee Tracy is always fun and is one of those rare performers who can lift any material out of the mundane. Here he has material and supporting cast worthy of his talents. A delightfull period piece which shows very little if any tendency to date. See it if you can and enjoy!