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.

JohnHowardReid I would definitely rate the Broadway debut scene, so masterfully enacted by Frank Morgan (of all people!) and Lupe Velez – and also briefly featuring Max Steiner in the second of his only two on-camera appearances – as one of filmdom's Top One Hundred movie scenes. The rest of the movie – filmed at a frenetic pace by Gregory La Cava – is also top-notch viewing with Lee Tracy in fine form as Lupe's Clayton's friend (the friend you have when you're not having a friend). Production values are admirably extensive and once super-popular but now sadly under-rated director, Gregory La Cava, can be seen at the absolute zenith of his form. How can a director, once so super-popular with both critics and moviegoers in his day, be now so undeservedly forgotten? Available on an excellent Warner Archive DVD.

csteidler Lee Tracy and Lupe Velez are outstanding as press agent and circus dancer in this wild comedy of ambitious impostors. Tracy is a supremely fast talker….but Velez is probably right when she exclaims repeatedly that he's "Nothing but a four flusher!" A fun supporting cast includes Frank Morgan as big shot Broadway producer Merle Farrell, complete with long cigarette holder that he can't quite handle…and the great Eugene Palette as a circus escape artist who tags along with Tracy to the big city as a sort of assistant schemer.The plot may be somewhat uneven but this picture certainly has its moments. One sensational highlight is Lupe's song-and-dance on Broadway, in which she starts out stumblingly but changes her tune and wins over everyone, including the initially-shocked highbrow producer Morgan.Eugene Palette's scene staging a publicity stunt in a nudist colony is also hilarious. He shushes a companion complaining about the dress code: "You're lucky it ain't winter."Energetic performances and some spicy dialog produce plenty of laughs; Tracy and Velez pull off the rapid-fire love-hate bit superbly. If it's a bit inconsistent, this picture is nevertheless full of goofy surprises that keep us watching. Very entertaining.

goblinhairedguy This wonderfully ribald pre-code comedy is slightly schizophrenic in style. The first half is a breakneck-paced, rollicking sequence of frantic melees and stinging one-liners, not unlike Lee Tracy's other triumphs of the time, The Front Page and Blessed Event. Once the cast settles in on Broadway, the pace slows and the humour is more characteristic of director LaCava -- absurd situational comedy set up with deliberate pace and milked for effect. Although quite funny in its own right, this section seems to drag in comparison with the opening reels -- it may have worked better in a packed cinema than on the tube. In any case, this is a must-see for fans of pre-code antics -- there's no way it could have been made three years later. Tracy is terrific in his patented role as a fast-talking con artist, and Lupe Velez is a more lurid version of her Mexican Spitfire -- her minimal costumes rival those of a Busby Berkeley chorus girl. Frank Morgan is perfect as a libidinous Ziegfeld type, Franklin Pangborn is everyone's favourite fastidious concierge, and Eugene Pallette is victim to a hilarious running gag about his gender which alone is worth the price of admission -- he also has a unique method for tutoring fledgling Ophelias. There's an intriguing look at the 30s' conception of nudism, to boot.