BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Lightdeossk Captivating movie !

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Justina The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Antonius Block The main trouble with this movie is that none of its characters are all that likable. Lee Tracy as the carnival barker turned into a publicity man has a voice and brashness that quickly get annoying. The talent he's promoting, a young 'exotic' singer played by Lupe Velez, wears the requisite skimpy pre-Code outfits, but her musical and dance performances fall flat. Frank Morgan plays a Broadway show owner whose romances lack any semblance of reality or passion. There is simply no charm in this script, and Velez is the only actor cast who has the capability of breathing some into it, but she's almost entirely bottled up, which is a shame. There are some cute moments, such as when Tracy gets a compromising photo of Morgan and Lupez kissing, and blows up all sorts of copies to torment Morgan in his office. However, there are many other moments which are lame and anything but erotic, such as the whole nudist colony thing. The film seems to have been in search of something spicy, but you can't get that by giving it an ill-fitting and salacious title, including the most boring nudists possible, or by putting people together who have zero chemistry. Velez is the main reason to watch it, but you could also do much better.

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.

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.

Ron Oliver A carnival barker crashes onto Broadway, hoping to keep THE HALF NAKED TRUTH secret that both he and his ‘Turkish princess' are as phony as a three dollar bill...RKO Studios produced this highly amusing, but rarely seen, comedy with flair, exuberance, and first-rate performances. Broadway is given a few lighthearted kicks in the shin by its cinematic cousin and a good time is had by all.In the kind of role he could almost play in his sleep, Lee Tracy plays an over-the-top promoter who engages in wild escapades to get his ladies noticed by the press & public. He is conniving, untruthful & underhanded; he is also wonderfully funny. Tracy was the master at playing the anti-hero, the unromantic lover, the average-looking guy with the extra moxie it takes to get on top. Had his career not come crashing down around him due to a drunken indiscretion while filming in Mexico for MGM, he would probably today be remembered as one of Hollywood's top stars. As it is, he's lucky to be remembered at all.Lupe Velez is a terrific foil for Tracy. The Tamale, as he calls her, is pungent, peppery & red hot. As a temperamental hootchy-kootchy dancer who makes it from a carny midway to the Great White Way, she is perfectly cast in what remains one of her best roles. It is sad, however, watching this lively lady, to remember that she would die despondent & alone in 1944, a suicide at 36.Three top film comics help enliven the proceedings: gravely-voiced Eugene Pallette, who as Tracy's sidekick must impersonate eunuchs & nudists to further the scam; unctuous Franklin Pangborn as an officious hotel clerk; and blustery Frank Morgan as an imperious theatrical impresario who finds himself the target of Tracy's wild schemes.Movie mavens will recognize celebrated movie composer Max Steiner appearing unbilled as the orchestra leader during Lupe's Broadway rendition of ‘Hey, Mr. Carpenter.'