A minor but enjoyable lost b & w gem...
 Sep 7th, 2008
Advantages:
A good ensemble piece with many well known character actors
Disadvantages:
Loses the plot slightly towards the end
Recommendable:
Yes
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About me:
I've worked for the NHS for over 30 years. I have grown up twins (one of each) but I became a widow...
Member since:20.11.2005
Reviews:43
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Review rated by 26 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
The late 1940's until the early 60's was a golden era for British comedy. You know the sort I'm talking about,. the ones that now often get shown on Sunday afternoons on (usually) the commercial channels and seem to feature a cast of well known British character actors of that period. I'm primarily thinking here not just of the superior Ealing comedies and the ones by the Bouting brothers but also the ones that are more obscure. The Naked Truth falls into this latter category. Made in the year I was born (1957), it features Dennis Price as a caddish, blackmailing, scandal magazine (the 'Naked Truth' of the title) editor, earning loadsamoney by blackmailing hundreds of prominent and/or well placed people, of which Terry-Thomas, Peter Sellers, Shirley Eaton and Peggy Mount are but four. He has damaging information on all four that for Sellers, Mounts and Thomas's characters could end their careers, them being well-known public figures. In Eaton's character's case, it could kill her upcoming marriage to a Texan oil millionaire.
In their own individual ways, Sellers, Mount and Thomas all decide to kill the blackmailer to keep him quiet and of course, this being a 50's British comedy, they don't quite succeed, all failing in spectacular manner (bomb, poison, etc). Bungle after bungle ensure that they all keep failing and they all eventually realise that they should cooperate to dispose of him. At this point, Price is arrested by the police and our collection of bungling would-be killers decide that rather than have him testify in court, he should be sprung from jail and shipped out of the country. So with the help of the other well-placed blackmail victims, he is sprung from jail and gotten out of the country. It is very much a film of it's time in that we only really know what one of the blackmaillee "crimes" are and that is Sellers character as Wee Sonny McGregor, a highly popular and much-loved faux-Scottish TV personality who is also a slum landlord on the quiet, unknown to his fans. It's heavily hinted but not said outright, that Thomas's character (a well know peer) has been found engaging in homosexual activities, though this being the era when it was still illegal, this is not stated explicitly. Mount is also implied to have engaged in prostitution at a younger age, though the mind boggles at the thought of this. Other delights are looking out for other well-known British character actors playing minor or cameo roles (Joan Simms, David Lodge, Kennth Griffiths, Miles Malleson, etc)
It's a good film without being exceptional. The storyline is basically very good until it loses it's way a little towards the end, But Peter Sellers gets to play multiple roles, something he always did well and Terry-Thomas gets to play his usual gap-toothed posho. Shirley Eaton looks atttractive but doesn't really do too much. The real star out of the four is Peggy Mount as a romatic novelist forced to do things she would normally have never even considered. Watch out for the superb scene in a rough pub when she is trying to buy some "Mickey Finns". Dennis Price as always, come across as suavely menacing and is well cast as the villain. The transfer to DVD it has been very well handled. The picture is sharp and bright, with few film artifacts getting through and the though the sound is mono, it is clear and audible. There are no extras on here, other than the original cinema trailer
So overall, a good ensemble effort, but without being exceptional. If those Brit films from this era were in a football league type thing, the Ealing comedies would be Premiership, films like I'm Alright Jack and School For Scoundrels would at the top of Div 1 and The Naked Truth would be top of Div 2. Worth a punt if you find a cheap copy and I almost forgot, watch out for the suprise twist at the end...
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![The Naked Truth [DVD] [1957]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78544661.jpg)
13.06.2009 18:04
Nicely reviewed. ^_^
11.05.2009 09:01
I'm not usually a fan of this genre, but this sounds quite good.
29.01.2009 00:12
not one for me but nice review. Em x