Your Past Is Showing

Released in America as 'Your Past Is Showing,' this amusing black comedy concerns a group of English celebrities and nobility who are being blackmailed by Nigel Dennis, an unscrupulous tabloid reporter. Four of these people, a Lord (Terry-Thomas,) a television host (Sellers,) an author (Mount,) and a model (Eaton) decide to fight back and kill their blackmailer. The catch is, none of them are aware anyone else is targeting Dennis. What follows is a series of humorous attempts to off Nigel Dennis.

Peter Sellers gets to dress up in various disguises and do impressions. Watching him is watching a true genius at work. But the movie is stolen by Peggy Mount, who plays the daffy author. She and her hilariously skittish daughter, played by Joan Sims, concoct a plan to poison Dennis, lock him in a trunk and dump him in the river. But things go wrong on several levels, and the way these two cope is hilarious.

As all the characters come together for the final act, things escalate and become even funnier. So if you enjoy British comedy, a fan of Peter Sellers, or just in the mood for a laugh, then don't hesitate to watch this film.

There's not a false move in this charming British comedy featuring Peter Sellers in multiple disguises, and Terry-Thomas in top form.

The script concerns a muckraker who's blackmailing several citizens by threatening to expose their dirty secrets in a new tabloid (which he assembles in a tacky houseboat on the Thames). Some of his victims decide to fight back, with humorous results, ending with a wacky scheme that ends with multiple twists.

The casting is perfect, including Peggy Mount, Kenneth Griffith, and a very young Joan Sims. And Michael Pertwee's script is ingenious and full of good lines. THE NAKED TRUTH (a/k/a YOUR PAST IS SHOWING) is a great example of the kind of film comedies that British studios were capable of turning out (seemingly effortlessly) in the 40s and 50s.

I'm a big Sellers fan and couldn't believe I'd never heard of this film (made shortly after SMALLEST SHOW ON EARTH). Track this one down and enjoy a fun evening with some real characters.

There are few films (these days) that make you laugh out loud and laugh hilariously. This film is one of them. "Pay my blackmail or I publish in a month" is the magazine publisher's standard line. The characters who react to this blackmail are varied, amusing and unique.We need this film to be available on video.

Stars Terry-Thomas, Peggy Mount, and Peter Sellers are all quite good in this black comedy about blackmail and murder. There's a good remake in this material. Joan Sims is funny as Ethel and Georgina Cookson is gracious as Lady Mayley. Dennis Price seems an odd and bland choice for the blackmailer. Miles Malleson plays another vague vicar. Despite many disguises for Peter Sellers, Peggy Mount (in a role that seems to have be written for Margaret Rutherford), Terry-Thomas, and Joan Sims steal the show. And there is a surprise ending in a zeppelin! A must for fans of British Comedy and the great British eccentrics on 1950s films.

Apparently released both as "The Naked Truth" and "Your Past Is Showing" (the name on the title card and title I remember in the U.S. run), this bustling little comedy about tabloid blackmailer is still jolly good fun going on 50 years later. Credit an amusing script and some fine casting that captures a gaggle of top-flight '50s British comedy talent in top form. Terry-Thomas and a young Peter Sellers (filmed here just before he gained fame with "The Mouse That Roared") are at the pinnacle of their Brit-comedy game and are ably abetted by the redoubtable Peggy Mount, luscious Shirley Eaton (a few years before her turn as the "golden girl" in "Goldfinger"), a caddish Dennis Price (as the oily blackmailer) and assorted classic British comedy stars, a number of whom seem to have had recurring bits in the "Carry On" series. The humor here is not as low and juicy as the "Carry On"s or as high and dry as the classic Ealing Studio Ealing comedies of the period - a pleasing mix. By contemporary standards, the film is a little slow - especially the set-up through the opening reels - but it all pays off very nicely with an avalanche of chuckles and a few great belly laughs. Keep a close eye on Sellers: although he plays a single character (a cheesy TV variety show emcee), he dons multiple disguises through the film, warming up for future roles in "Mouse" and "Dr. Strangelove" (where he played three parts in each) and those later "Pink Panther" comedies.