The Naked Truth (1957) - film review

Nigel Dennis is the proprietor of the magazine The Naked Truth in which he exposes the sordid private lives of well-known celebrities.  Before he prints these damaging exposés he offers his victims a chance to save their reputations: if they pay him a large sum of money, the article will be withdrawn.  Tight-fisted television host Sonny MacGregor has no intention of handing over a bean to Dennis and decides to murder him.  Instead, he almost kills another of Dennis’s victims, the disreputable Lord Henry Mayley.  The latter narrowly escapes death a second time when the eccentric writer Flora Ransom, mistaking him for Dennis, tries to drown him, with the assistance of her daughter.   Realising that they have a common interest, Mayley, MacGregor, Ransom and a model named Melissa Right join forces and plan to kill their troublesome blackmailer.  Unfortunately, Nigel Dennis appears to have a charmed life...

With its well-honed satirical swipe at press intrusion and the cult of celebrity, this classic British comedy has somehow managed to remain topical since the day it was first released, and never more so than today.  A superlative cast comprising the cream of British comedy and an unflaggingly funny screenplay from Michael Pertwee makes this one of the most enjoyable and memorable of 1950s British film comedies.  It was directed by Mario Zampi, who not only co-founded the production company Two Cities Films but also helmed many a classic comedy, including Laughter in Paradise (1951) and Too Many Crooks (1959).

Although Terry-Thomas gets top-billing and is superb, as ever, as the loveable upper-crust cad, it is Peter Sellers who steals the film as the obnoxious quick-change artiste Sonny MacGregor.  At the time, Sellers was best known for his work on the BBC radio series The Goon Show, and this was one of the films that set him on the road to international stardom as a film actor.  This kind of unhinged black comedy is where Peter Sellers is at his best, perfectly cast as the bungling anti-hero who is both sinister and excruciatingly funny.

Peggy Mount and Joan Sims also deserve a mention: with their inordinate flair for comedy, these two marvellous performers provide the biggest laughs and could almost have carried the film by themselves.  Add the impeccable Dennis Price and stunning Shirley Eaton to the mix and how could The Naked Truth fail to be anything less than a fun-filled classic?  They don’t make them like they used to.

© filmsdefrance.com 2009

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