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

kidboots "The Half Naked Truth" was just the boost Lupe needed to show everyone the sizzling comedian who had been hidden underneath a swag of melodramatic roles. Known more for her over publicized romance with Gary Cooper than for her thespian abilities, by 1932 the affair was definitely over. Earlier that year Lupe had wowed Broadway with her role as Conchita, a feisty Mexican charmer, in "Hot Cha!" and her popularity was able to keep the show going for a modest 119 performances. But "The Half Naked Truth" gave her a tailor made role as "Princess Exotica" a publicity hungry actress. Creating a sizzling partnership with Lee Tracy, to me the ultimate pre-code actor, together they reached a peak of witticisms, humour and extravagance. The movie also offered Lupe a chance to take advantage of her self mocking humor and caricature, which she did in a most wonderful way.Fast talking press agent Jimmy Bates (Lee Tracy) is tearing his hair out in frustration - at not being able to get out of this flea bitten carnival!!! Among his bright ideas is a ploy to get La Belle Sultana (Lupe Velez) to confess the name of her father to a crowd of worried hicks who have nervously gathered around the side show. This gag is one of the funniest in the movie. There is no long lost father but all the men sure look guilty, each one convinced they are the culprit!! It backfires and the three of them (Eugene Palette is the token buddy) are run out of town but by the time they hit Broadway, La Belle Sultana is now the Princess Exotica with Jimmy doing his best to pass her off as a Turkish harem girl and get her into the Merle Farrell (read Earl Carroll) Follies.There is also a hilarious bit with a completely stressed chihuahua - you'd be stressed too if you saw Lupe's antics, picking the dog up as if it was a handbag and throwing it around. Fortunately or unfortunately the little dog disappeared soon after this!!! Another publicity gimmick was displaying Exotica's pet lion to the disbelieving reporters (Lupe seemed more scared than anyone as she hid behind a lounge while the lion wandered around the apartment)!!! The "tamale" becomes the hit of the show with her jazzy, sexy hoochie dance to "Hey, Mr. Carpenter" - she has the male members of the audience eating out of the palm of her hand. But, as usual, she gets to big for her boots and feels she is now above these silly antics while exasperated Jimmy proclaims "I can put any dumb-bell in your place" - the dumb-bell happens to be the maid who is yearning to be a secretary when she learns how to spell!!! Suddenly Exotica is old news and must take a back seat to the new "Eve" but with Lupe not now the centre of attention the film loses a bit of it's zip, even though Tracy is peppy as ever. Lupe, for me, is the highlight.The film ends with Lupe back dancing at the carnival and Tracy promising to give her "what for" when the dance is over. Under Gregory La Cava's direction Lupe smoothly burlesqued her real public self, a lampoon that would stand her in good stead for her "Mexican Spitfire" series.

st-shot 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.

mrb1980 This funny little pre-Code film benefits greatly from the dynamite teaming of Lee Tracy and Lupe Velez. Tracy plays Bates, a carnival barker/con man whose carnival is run out of town for fleecing local residents. He comes up with the bright idea of billing his girlfriend Teresita (Velez) as "Princess Exotica" from Turkey, and heads for Broadway. In New York, Bates fast-talks his way into a contract with the perpetually confused Merle Ferrell (Frank Morgan), then admits that Teresita is not a Turkish princess after all. Teresita electrifies the audience with a rendition of "Hey, Mr. Carpenter", then begins to grow apart from Bates, who is busy blackmailing Ferrell into hiring him for a publicist position. Finally, Bates believes that he has lost Teresita, so he quits his job with Ferrell, returns to the carnival, where Teresita is singing and dancing. The wedding march song ensues, signaling an upcoming Bates/Teresita marriage and the end of the film.This movie is just hilarious, with great singing and dancing from Velez, very funny performances from Tracy and Morgan, and punchy direction by La Cava. The "Hey, Mr. Carpenter" number is terrific, the dialogue surprisingly fresh, and the gags quite good. The scene in which a frantic Morgan finds blackmail photos of himself and Velez all over his office is howlingly funny. The great Max Steiner has a small role as a befuddled orchestra conductor. My only complaint is with the strange subplot about a nudist colony, which seems out of place.Watching this film makes me wonder what might have been. Tracy destroyed his career with an infamous drunken 1934 incident, and sadly Velez committed suicide in 1944. Both should have been major movie stars, but are remembered as footnote Hollywood actors—especially Tracy, who has been all but forgotten. It's a shame, because both Tracy and Velez shine brightly in this excellent, happy film.