Your Past Is Showing (1957)
"The Naked Truth" (original title)

A very British comedy about a blackmailer and his victims.

Director:

Mario Zampi

Writer:

Michael Pertwee

Stars:

Terry-Thomas, Peter Sellers, Peggy Mount

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Terry-Thomas	...	Lord Henry Mayley
Peter Sellers	...	Sonny MacGregor
Peggy Mount	...	Flora Ransom
Shirley Eaton	...	Melissa Right
Dennis Price	...	Nigel Dennis
Georgina Cookson	...	Lady Lucy Mayley
Joan Sims	...	Ethel Ransom
Miles Malleson	...	Rev. Cedric Bastable
Kenneth Griffith	...	Porter
Moultrie Kelsall	...	Mactavish
Bill Edwards	...	Bill Murphy
Wally Patch	...	Fred - paunchy old man
Henry Hewitt	...	Gunsmith
John Stuart	...	Police Inspector
David Lodge	...	Constable Johnson

Storyline

Nigel Dennis publishes a scandal magazine. But for each story he writes, he first approaches the person whose scandalous behavior is described (or rather implied, to avoid any libel suit) and says he will suppress the story in return for money. Several of his victims first decide individually to kill him instead of paying, but fail in amusing ways. Then they find that to protect their various secrets they must now join forces for a rather different purpose...

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Plot Keywords:

attempted suicide | farce | attempted murder | revenge | satire | 

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Taglines:

Terrific... Shocking... Scandalous...

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 December 1957 (France)

Also Known As:

Your Past Is Showing

Filming Locations:

Walton Studios, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mario Zampi Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

[first lines]
Minister: In reply to the honourable member's question, I can only say... Uhh...
[collapses]

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Crazy Credits

Ends with "The End... OR IS IT?"

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Connections

Featured in The Unknown Peter Sellers (2000)

User Reviews

Terry Thomas and Peter Sellers at their absolute Best

This is a wonderfully English tale of Blackmail, Attempted Murder and various other dirty deeds, Terry Thomas, playing the kind of upper-class Scoundrel that he does so well absolutely classic . And the crooked game-show host superbly underplayed by a pre Hollywood Peter Sellers who is definitely at his peak , The scenes with Kenneth Griffith as his camp disapproving dresser are sheer class (this is the first of the five or six films they made together). The scene where Sellers slides effortlessly into the Irish character demonstrates perfectly his genius.

Dennis Price is wonderfully cast as the smarmy blackmailer who bites off more than he can chew when he attempts to expose the main characters dodgey pasts.

The only flaw for me is Peggy Mount, she just doesn't seem comfortable with the character and never really settles in. But this is a small moan about what is a delightfully entertaining film.