The Whole Truth

1958 "The Year's Slickest, Quickest Whodunit"
6.2| 1h24m| NR| en
Details

On the French Riviera, movie producer Max Poulton is on location shooting a film starring his lover, Gina Bertini. But when the rueful Max ends his fling with Gina to return to his loyal wife, Carol, the jilted actress threatens to reveal details of their affair to Carol. Later, at a party at Max's villa, investigator Carliss arrives with news that Gina has been killed and that Max is a murderer suspect.

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime. Watch Now

Trailers & Clips

Reviews

Onlinewsma Absolutely Brilliant!
Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.
Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
JohnHowardReid Directed by JOHN GUILLERMIN. Screenplay by Jonathan Latimer. From the play by Philip Mackie. Assistant director: Ronald Spencer. Director of photography: Wilkie Cooper. Art director: Tony Masters. Film editor: Gerry Hambling. Production manager: Jack Hicks. Camera operator: Hughie Wilson. Set continuity: Yvonne Richards. Sound recordists: F. Ryan, Bob Jones, John Aldred. Sound editor: Teddy Darvas. Make-up: Roy Ashton. Hairdresser: Bill Griffiths. Wardrobe supervisor: Bridget Sellers. Music composed by Mischa Spoliansky; conducted by Lambert Williamson; played by Johnny Dankworth and His Orchestra. Produced by Jack Clayton. A Romulus Film. A Columbia Picture.A Romulus Production. London trade show: June 1958. No New York opening. U.S. release through Columbia: September 1958. U.K. release through Columbia: 3 August 1958. Australian release: 7 May 1959. 86 minutes.SYNOPSIS: An American film producer is accused of murdering his star. Setting: the French Riviera.COMMENT: Crisp thriller screen-played by Jonathan Latimer (who worked with director John Farrow on such classics as The Big Clock, Beyond Glory, Night Has a Thousand Eyes, Alias Nick Beal, Plunder of the Sun, etc., and also authored interesting mystery novels on his own account, featuring private detective Bill Crane) with an interesting movie-making background on the French Riviera. Splendid performances by the principals and taut, inventive direction by John Guillerman keep the viewer almost constantly on the edge of his or her seat. Production credits are first-rate.
RanchoTuVu A film producer accused of murdering the leading lady of his latest project must acquit himself and save his marriage. Stewart Granger was more than apt at the part of the producer and his relationship with Donna Reed (who plays the part of his wife) is full of fairly intelligent dialogue. George Sanders' character as the actual killer of the leading lady, who had totally humiliated him with her numerous affairs, makes convincing sense as the plot unfolds of an older man confronted with a marriage that's only evidence of matrimony was the worthless piece of paper the marriage certificate was written on. The ending is a bit of a stretch, but there are a lot of nice interior shots of the jet set enjoying a swanky party on the French Riviera where the story takes place.
howardmorley I rated this film 5/10 as it was no more than par for the course.The minute George Sanders appeared, I knew he was going to play another suave sophisticated villain as he has played in so many other films.Donna Reed must have been disappointed with her rather anodyne part and Stewart Granger does his best with the dialogue in the mediocre screenplay.As far as I was concerned, the star of the film was the 1958 white Jaguar XK3 sports car.A few location shots around the south of France were seen but the rest was obviously shot in a film studio.The most farcical shot was a so called "car chase" that seemed to be wholly and claustrophobically shot on the film set where the cars seemed to be going round in circles around the artificial buildings!
principessacavallino "The Whole Truth" breaks a number of murder mystery conventions, making it pleasantly unpredictable. It's almost Hitchcockian (in the lighthearted vein of "Rear Window"), with a good measure of humor, suspense, and romance. While the film may lack megastars, its cast's performances are faultless. George Sanders is at his oily best in the film as Mr. Carliss, while Stewart Granger is a worthy leading man. Its brisk pace is complimented by a fantastic, upbeat jazz score, more typical of '60s spy films. Its aesthetic sense --cinematography, set direction-- isn't particularly fabulous, and it fails to capture the beauty of its French Riviera setting, but that fortunately doesn't detract from the delightfully suspenseful story.Ultimately it's a fun bit of suspenseful entertainment --not iconic but definitely worth watching.