Honesty - The Best Policy on AllMovie

Howard Hawks' final effort as a screenwriter before becoming a full-time director was the trifling comedy Honesty -- The Best Policy. The hero, an author of comic stories who yearns to write mysteries, brings his latest work to a publisher. Said publisher agrees to buy the story if it is approved by a "jury" of office stenographers. The author relates his tale to his enthralled female audience, at which point the story proper begins. Because the plot is established as a figment of the hero's imagination, the characters are allowed to behave in an outrageous, lampoonish manner -- though contemporary reviews indicate that the yarn was strong enough to stand on its own two feet as a "straight" action thriller. Unfortunately, Honesty -- The Best Policy apparently no longer exists.