Fri 5 Nov 2010
Archived Movie Review: NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH (1941).
Posted by Steve under Films: Comedy/Musicals , Reviews[10] Comments
NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH. Paramount Pictures, 1941. Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard, Edward Arnold, Leif Erickson, Helen Vinson, Willie Best. Director: Elliott Nugent.
A funny movie needs a funny premise, I’d have to say and I hope you agree, but is a funny premise enough to make a funny movie?
Bob Hope, playing Steve Bennett, a new partner in an investment firm, is inveigled into making a $10,000 wager that he can tell the truth, and nothing but the truth, for the next 24 hours. The rest of the movie, given this rather belabored but still promising beginning, is unfortunately about as predictable as (in general) the rest of movies come.
The three men who are betting against Bob are not above low and mean-minded activities to protect their wager, as you might expect. On the other hand, the money Bob is putting up is not really his to bet, but that of Gwen Saunders (Paulette Goddard), or really the charity she is desperately trying to raise $40,000 for — and you can see how desperate she is, giving the money to someone like Bob Hope with a request to “double it for her overnight.”
As if this were not enough, a showgirl trying to raise money for her Broadway-bound play is also involved. And of course Bob and Paulette Goddard fall in love, even though she already has a strapping young boy friend, one of the idle rich, and one of the guys who made the bet with Bob.
But need I tell you more? I’ve already called the plot predictable, and from here on, you’re on your own. What kind of idiot situations could you think of? Most of them (I’ll wager) will be in here.
Is the movie funny? Bob Hope made me laugh, but between you and me, nobody else did, with the possible exception of Willie Best, who plays Bob’s personal valet in what’s really a rather demeaning role. (You could say that at least it was a role, which all too few blacks had in movies made in 1941, but it is highly unlikely that roles such as this did anything to improve the lives of blacks in this country.)
Paulette Goddard, however, is bright and spritely and sparkling in this movie, and if somebody can tell me why her career went downhill after this, and not onward and upward, I’d surely appreciate learning about it.
[UPDATE] 11-05-10. This movie was recently released on DVD in a box set called Bob Hope’s “Thanks for the Memories Collection,” and I’ve just put it into my Amazon shopping cart.
Arguing with myself on the merits of an old film I saw (and taped) on TV this many years ago is probably futile, but I have a feeling that if I watched again, I might enjoy it a lot more than I did this first time around. Comedy and humor are funny things (and you can quote me on that).
As for Paulette Goddard, I didn’t have the luxury of the Internet to help me out when I first wrote this review. Even so, while pointing out that she was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for So Proudly We Hail! in 1943, IMDB only says that “her star faded in the late 1940s […] and she was dropped by Paramount in 1949,” when she was still only 39.
November 6th, 2010 at 6:43 am
Goddard was one of the sheerest delights of the movies, and it was an inspiration to re-team her with Hope in this otherwise uninspired effort. After Paramount, she still had Edgar Ulmer’s BABES IN BAGDAD to come….
November 6th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
The premise of this film sounds not unlike LIAR, LIAR, where cynical lawyer Jim Carrey falls victim to a curse which prevents him lying for 24 hours. There are only supposed to be 7 plots, and there are obviously even fewer in Hollywood.
Paulette Goddard was a knockout. Very beautiful, winning personality and a pretty good actress. From what I’ve read, she was also quite a nice person. Her career did fizzle out pretty early, but she had the last laugh by being worth millions on her death. Living well is the best revenge. THE CAT AND THE CANARY and THE GHOST BREAKERS are two of my favourite films, and it is baffling that it is still so difficult to find decent DVD copies.
November 6th, 2010 at 5:45 pm
Dan and Bradstreet
You comments about Paulette Goddard only reinforce my wish to see this movie again. If I thought she was the highlight of this movie 17 years ago, I’m convinced that I still would today.
I have not seen LIAR LIAR. I’m sure it must have been released when I had solid doubts that there would ever be a Jim Carrey movie that I would ever care to see.
There is a Doris Day movie, late 1940s, with a plot line along the same lines, and I don’t remember the name of that one either. I’m sure it was on TCM not so long ago.
Bradstreet, it sounds like you need a multi-region player. The Bob Hope box set I mentioned my concluding remarks is available here but not the UK. Here’s a complete list of all six movies, at a price that comes out around $4 each:
Thanks for the Memory / The Cat and the Canary / The Ghost Breakers / Nothing but the Truth / The Road to Morocco / The Paleface
Some are better than others, of course, but I’ve decided not to live without them any longer.
— Steve
November 6th, 2010 at 7:01 pm
Steve.
I have a multi-region player. The question is to how good the print is. There is an absolutely awful DVD available in the UK of CAT AND THE CANARY, which looks as though someone simply pointed a camera at a television set playing the movie. If the picture and sound quality in THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES is good, then it looks as if this box set could be winging its way towards me in the near future.
November 6th, 2010 at 8:23 pm
I think multi-region players are much more common in the UK than here in the US, so I’m not surprised that you have one. (I was more surprised when I thought you were implying that you didn’t.)
Here are a couple of reviews of the box set. They seem to pretty much agree.
The full-screen, 1.33:1 video transfers for the Bob Hope: Thanks for the Memories Collection are for the most part, quite good. Only The Ghost Breakers seemed to be in less-than-optimal shape, exhibiting grainy, scratched original source materials that clashed with the cleaner, sharper transfers of the other titles. The rest of the films here looked very nice, with The Paleface’s Technicolor® in register, and the remaining black and white films well balanced with their gray scales and contrast. No compression issues for any of the titles (the six short films are well spread-out over three discs).
The print of The Cat and the Canary is pristine; absolutely beautiful (I would give this film 5 stars). Unfortunately, the other movies in the collection did not get the same restoration treatment. The Ghost Breakers looks awful – full of ‘sparkles’ and other film artifacts – it has definitely not been restored.. The others vary in quality. I bought this collection for Canary (which has been a favorite for years). But you should be aware of the variation in quality of the different films here.
November 7th, 2010 at 6:01 am
Thanks Steve. The variable quality of the other titles gives me pause for thought, but a “pristine” CAT AND THE CANARY? Ooooh, that is tempting…
I suspect that if someone is mainly interested in movies and US TV, then a multi-region is less necessary in the USA. The US DVD release of THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES has an enormous number of extras as well as a beautiful copy of the film. The UK release has no extras. It only usually works the other way round if you’re interested in British TV. American friends tell me that it can take a long time for even new TV releases from here to cross the pond. I wouldn’t be without a mult-region player, and have become a little bit of a multi-region bore amongst my friends: ” Whaaaat? You haven’t got one? But they’re vital…..(Blah,blah)”
November 8th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH is the least of the three Hope/Goddard films, worth seeing, but not either of them at the top of their form.
Goddard is an old favorite who in her relatively brief career worked with everyone from Chaplin to de Mille — she was even one of the top picks for Scarlet O’Hara.
As for the multi regional players they are a Godsend, and fortunately reasonably priced. Owning one opens up a wide variety of films that wouldn’t otherwise be available.
November 8th, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Good to see you back, David.
I’ve finally figured out what Doris Day movie it was that I was thinking of in Comment #3, but I was a little bit off on the plot line. Nonetheless, it’s a variation on the theme that comes close to the idea:
Playing on TCM on November 12th:
8:00 PM Tea For Two (1950)
An heiress has to say no to every question for 24 hours if she wants to star on Broadway. Cast: Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Gene Nelson. Dir: David Butler. C-98 mins, TV-PG, CC
November 9th, 2010 at 3:40 am
Re the idea behind this one, NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH is the third remake of the story, the others in 1921 and 1929 (with Richard Dix).
Goddard’s career faded about the same time Charlie Chaplin got into trouble; I always wondered if there was a little guilt by association there, but then quite a few actresses failed to make that transition into the fifties, not only Goddard, but Ann Sheridan, Veronica Lake, and Jean Arthur (who only did a couple of films).
Strangely, Susan Hayward, who had been around longer than Goddard (and appeared with her in at least two films), suddenly went from near obscurity to super stardom at around the same time so it wasn’t age discrimination. And keep in mind if not for television this era would have seen the last of Lucille Ball too.
December 15th, 2011 at 7:44 am
The 1929 version is sooooo much better