Summary
Under the opulent chandeliers of Gilded-Age Manhattan, Robert Bennett—velvet-blazered flâneur and professional trifler—barters his last shred of credibility for a lark: thirty-thousand dollars if he can survive seven rotations of the sun without a single fib. The wager detonates at a soirée where champagne flutes clink like guillotine blades and the wives of his three comrades corner him for scalding gossip; his unvarnished replies ignite marital wildfires that leap from drawing room to mahogany-paneled bedroom. The incensed husbands—now a vengeful triumvirate—stalk him through rooftop garden soirées, Fifth Avenue barouche rides, and fog-draped speakeasies, determined to muzzle him before the week’s final chime. Their crescendo of sabotage peaks with a forged insanity certificate that lands Bennett in a labyrinthine asylum whose corridors smell of carbolic and despair. There he is rescued by Dolly, a pickpocket-turned-debutante who believes him to be the elusive society cracksman whose exploits she romanticizes; her lightning fingers jimmy locks and hearts alike. But the genuine cat-burglar surfaces, a shadow in a bowler hat eager to pin his glittering crimes on the truth-bound socialite. Clock hands race, calico curtains flutter, and the city’s electric glow heralds the wager’s expiration just as detectives close in. With seconds to spare, Bennett’s unbroken candor exonerates him, the impostor is unmasked, and the thirty grand—plus Gwendolyn Gerald, the heiress whose skepticism has melted into ardor—tumbles into his arms like coins from a slot machine.
Synopsis
Robert Bennett, an idle socialite, wagers $30,000 with his three friends that he can tell nothing but the truth for a period of one week. His troubles begin at a party where his friends' wives question Robert about their husbands' outside activities. Forced to tell the truth, Robert's veracity results in domestic disharmony. Consequently, his vengeful trio of friends pursue Robert for the next five days, intent upon silencing him until the week is over. They finally resort to committing Robert to an insane asylum where he escapes with the aid of Dolly, who is in love with him because she believes that Robert is a society thief. When the real burglar arrives, he tries to frame Robert for his crimes, but Robert is cleared as the week ends and claims both his wager and his sweetheart, Gwendolyn Gerald.
Review Excerpt
"
Truth, in 1920, wore a top-hat and spats, yet carried the sting of a wasp inside a velvet glove.
Nothing But the Truth, newly restored and streaming in a 2K transfer that makes every intertitle glint like a freshly minted nickel, arrives as both carnival mirror and scalpel. Director David Kirkland, working from a boulevard farce by James Montgomery, understands that silence amplifies hypocrisy; the absence of spoken dialogue forces each grin, gulp, and side-eye to register with seismic clarity...."
