Nothing But the Truth *** (1941, Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard, Edward Arnold) – Classic Movie Review 10,697

The 1941 comedy film Nothing But the Truth starts with a good premise about a man who bets $10,000 he will tell nothing but the truth for a whole day. The ideally paired Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard’s third outing together is a cast-iron laugh-raiser. 

Director Elliott Nugent’s 1941 comedy Nothing But the Truth starts with a good premise (from James Montgomery’s play and Frederic S Isham’s novel) about a man, Steve Bennett (Bob Hope), who bets $10,000 that he will tell nothing but the truth for a whole day.

The ideally paired Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard’s third outing together (after The Cat and the Canary and The Ghost Breakers) is a cast-iron laugh-raiser, thanks to the crackling wisecrack humour, the pleasing stars, the sterling support of veterans and director Nugent’s expertly timed comic touch.

The good screenplay is by Ken Englund and Don Hartman.

The 1916 play was previously filmed in 1920 as a silent and again in 1929 as Nothing But the Truth (with Richard Dix).

Also in the cast are Edward Arnold as stockbroker T T Ralston, Leif Erickson, Glen Anders, Helen Vinson, Willie Best, Glenn Anders, Grant Mitchell, Catherine Doucet, Rose Hobart, Clarence Kolb, Leon Belasco, Mary Forbes, Helene Millard, William Wright, Oscar Smith, William Benge, Rod Cameron and Dick Chandler.

The Bob Hope Thanks for the Memories collection featuring six Hope films made in the 1930s and 1940s was released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment on 8 June 2010, [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]. Three of the films, Thanks for the Memory (1938), The Cat and the Canary (1939), and Nothing but the Truth were making their DVD debuts. Also included are The Ghost Breakers, Road to Morocco and The Paleface.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,697

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