Nothing but the Truth is a 1941 American comedy drama film starring Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard. This was their third movie in three years where they teamed-up and once again, they show the chemistry that they had together. Add screen legend Edward Arnold to the mix and you have the makings for another big-time classic comedy!
Steve Bennett (Bob Hope, My Favorite Blonde) is a stockbroker in Miami, Florida who has just accepted a position working for a man named T.T. Ralston (Edward Arnold, The Devil and Daniel Webster). He is taken by surprise when he is persuaded by Ralston’s niece Gwen Saunders (Paulette Goddard, The Cat and the Canary), to invest a sum of $10,000 that she needs to have doubled to $20,000 in 24 hours. While Bennett contemplates how he can double the money, he discovers that Ralston is lying and selling bad stocks to his clients for profits, which he disagrees with. Ralston argues that no one can tell the truth all the time, while Bennett claims that he can get by telling the truth as much as lying. Ralston and his partner Dick Donnelly (Glenn Anders, Tarzan’s Peril), along with Gwen’s boyfriend and Ralston’s client Tom van Dusen “Van” (Leif Erickson, Invaders from Mars) make a bet Steve that must tell the truth for 24 hours straight. The bet is for Bennett’s $10,000 that he thinks he can easily double in this wager. But the bet becomes most precarious for Bennett as the three men do everything possible to get Bennett to tell a lie, even asking the most difficult of questions, but he manages to hold them off. The situation gets more difficult for Bennett as he must stay on a boat for a weekend cruise with Ralston and company. They harass him to no end, and Gwen also shows up on the boat, to Bennett’s shock. She now wants the money back as it is charity money that she is holding on to and could get into serious trouble taking money meant for charity. Bennett’s unwilful telling of the truth gets himself into trouble with Gwen, her friends and family, with $10,000 on the line.
Nothing but the Truth is your typical Bob Hope programmer with his one-liners, sarcastic wit and the crazy situations he finds himself him. The film is entertaining with a great cast that performs well as expected and solid direction from Elliott Nugent.
Kino Lorber releases Nothing but the Truth on Blu-ray. Given a 2K scan on a dual-layered BD-50 disc, the black and white 1080p image looks outstanding, appearing smooth and polished without any signs of print damages. Black levels look rich with strong details to all the scenery. The grey scale is balanced. No DNR appears to have been applied, as film grain is present throughout that gives the picture an organic film-like appearance.
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 soundtrack is also perfectly fine with no issues to the audio as the dialog, musical scores and other action sounds are crisp and clear during the presentation. Optional English subtitles are offered for this release.
Nothing but the Truth features an audio commentary by Simon Abrams and theatrical trailers for The Cat and the Canary, The Ghost Breakers and Nothing but the Truth.
Another solid release by Kino Lorber for a Bob Hope fans wanting the best quality for his films. Excellent audio and video quality to go with a commentary track and some fun trailers make this release recommended!
Nothing but the Truth
Director- Elliott Nugent
Cast- Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard, Edward Arnold
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Kino Lorber
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date- 3/30/21