Movie-A-Day #226: What's Up, Tiger Lily?

[KingLouieLouie]

I'm continuing with another one of my favorite cult-classic films... Hope this generates more of a response than 'Buckaroo Banzai" (which is definitely a movie you must check-out if you've never seen it):

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You know the standard routine (for those who have bothered reading any of my "movie-a-days")....thanks to Amazon.com
for the following review:

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
What better way for writer-star Woody Allen to cash in on the success of What's New Pussycat? than to write a quickie exploitation comedy that makes fun of quickie exploitation films? In some respects What's Up Tiger Lily? is a forerunner of Mystery Science Theater 3000, only instead of having actors sit back and make sarcastic comments about a cheapo movie, here they dub new dialog onto a ridiculous Japanese spy extravaganza. Allen's exquisite sense of the absurd is in fine form as espionage professionals pursue a top-secret recipe for egg salad. At one point during the planning of a break-in, a spy unfolds a map of their quarry's residence, explaining that the man "lives here." "He lives on that small piece of paper?" questions one of the henchmen. It's that silly. But it's often uproarious. Louise Lasser, Allen's former wife (and co-star of Bananas and future star of TV's Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) is among the voice actors. --Jim Emerson --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Description
An evil mastermind with an addiction to egg salad! Sadistic, torture- hungry double crossers! Gorgeous girls hungry for lovin'! A weird marriage between a cobra and a chicken! Only one man is daring, clever and sexy enough to take on this kind of mission: superspy Phil Moscowitz! Woody Allen spoofs the spy thriller in one of his funniest films, a nonstop frenzy of skewed wit, hilarious parody and sidesplitting wackiness. With dialogue rewritten and redubbed for a Japanese James Bond-style movie, What's Up, Tiger Lily? turns the sex-and-danger world of filmdom's spy game upside down!

Personal Reaction: I obviously do have a wide-range of tastes which some times goes to the ridiculously warped and twisted (which pretty much covers my sense of humor as well) and "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" definitely quenches my thirst for the wit and sublime....

I must reveal that I havent been particularly fond of Woody Allen's work for over the past couple decades, but he was at his best here... Just the mastery of the script that he composed and how the pure genius of matching-up the dialogue to the "cheesy" Japanese spy movie footage..which was hysterical... Also. the lines were delivered beyond perfection and the dubbing of a new audio track over screen footage was ahead of its time and spawned so many other copycats..that it is unreal.....

There would be no MST3K either if it wasnt for Allen's brilliance (which would have been a major pity since that is one of my all-time favorite shows)...

"What's Up, Tiger Lily?" will never grow old on me since most of the references remain fresh even nearly 40-years after-the-fact and forever should be endeared as one of the most trend-setting movies of all-time as well....

 

[Chaplin]

I wouldn't by any means call this brilliant, but it certainly is one of Woody's more funny movies. I've seen it several times and it still remains funny even as the jokes get more dated. The interludes with The Lovin' Spoonfuls can be a bit trying sometimes, though.