audiemurph 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.

pronker pronker 9 stars, not 10, because I realize that it is a personal favorite, and I am thus biased. But here's a stab at dispassion, anyway: 1932 had some raw genre films, that later would become more polished as methods and directors and writers practiced their craft. For instance, 'Forty-Second Street,' for musicals, had some clunkiness of acting and script, yet the movie is raw and real and I liked that film greatly, too. So 'Half-Naked Truth,' with its not very likable leads just trying to survive in Depression America, has a few disconnected plot points, such as what happens to the lion? But. Tracy and Velez suit each other, schemers both, jealousy a large part of their relationship. Also, they've both cheated, Tracy with a carny blonde in the beginning and Velez with Morgan in the middle. Do you know couples like this? I do. Not very stable, are they, and we outsiders wonder what makes them stick together. After their reunion at film's end, Tracy says, "I've got something for you," to Velez as she shimmies on stage, and her gaze travels from his eyes to about two feet lower, and she gestures to the orchestra to hurry up and end her number. So, that is what they have for each other, and if Tracy is an acquired taste for viewers and Lupe, Velez and I have acquired it. Add to this the nice location shooting in NYC and the absurd nudist colony subplot, and you have a pre-code delight.

Spikeopath 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

dougdoepke 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.