Gregory La Cava's comedy 1932 THE HALF NAKED TRUTH (16mm) with Lupe Velez

This will be the other half of the Gregory La Cava double bill (following "My Man Godfrey" at 7:30pm). In the rarely screened THE HALF NAKED TRUTH, a trio of carnival troupers with eyes for the big time storm Broadway on a whirl of midway ballyhoo in director Gregory La Cava’s racy satire of the modern publicity biz and the suckers who fall for it. Lee Tracy’s press agent transforms Lupe Velez’ hootchy dancer into “the Princess Exotica” and lands her name in lights with Eugene Pallette’s long-suffering assistant grumbling all the way. Velez was named "The Mexican Spitfire" for good reason and she definitely lights up the screen in more ways than one!

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Unfortunately this title was not available in 35mm so it may not be quite as sharp and vivid as "My Man Godfrey," but it is seldom screened so nonetheless worth seeing--especially for the comedic performance of 30's sex symbol Lupe Velez.

Sadly, due to a longtime urban myth by gossip writer Kenneth Anger, it had been long rumored that Lupe in the mid 1940's had tragically died by suicide face down with her head in a toilet after she discovered she was pregnant by a Hollywood actor lover who had no interest in marrying her and she feared the scandal would spell the end of her Hollywood career, but a recent discovery dispels that rumor and is explained with actual death scene photos in the Huffington Post below weblink.

RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. Screenwriter: G. La Cava, Corey Ford. Cinematographer: Bert Glennon. Editor: Charles L. Kimball. Cast: Lupe Velez, Lee Tracy, Eugene Pallette, Frank Morgan, Shirley Chambers. 16mm, b/w, 77 min.

Read more interesting details about Hispanic actress Lupe Velez at the below weblink...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupe_V%C3%A9lez

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-schroeder/mexican-spitfire-mystery-_b_3332978.html

Admission: $10 for both "My Man Godfrey" and "The Half Naked Truth"--online ticket weblink below...

http://emarket.cinema.ucla.edu/ShoppingCenter/Details.aspx?ref=348