What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)

It might be about 2 months later than expected, but I'm finally getting the ball rolling on this Woody Allen project. I promise to see this through to the end, although I'm not entirely sure just how far into the future that end will be. Ideally, it would be a little over 40 weeks away, but, well, you see how long it’s taken me to write the initial entry. Hopefully, things go more smoothly once I knock this first one out. Without further ado:

What's Up, Tiger Lily? marks the directorial debut of Woody Allen. To call it an odd first film would be a bit of an understatement. Allen didn't actually cast any actors for the film, nor did he shoot any scenes. Instead, he mashed 2 different Japanese spy films (International Secret Police: A Barrel of Gunpowder and International Secret Police: Key of Keys) together, wrote and dubbed his own dialogue (with help from voice actors), and created a comedy. The result is a film that looks like a serious, albeit poor, James Bond rip-off, and sounds like an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

The movie's "plot" focuses on Japanese James Bond clone Phil Moscowitz (Tatsuya Mihashi) as he attempts to retrieve a secret recipe for egg salad. That's right, the entire movie is about a secret agent trying to obtain a recipe for egg salad. With a plotline like that, there really isn't much more you need to know - the movie is obviously a farce. The plot is completely superficial and exists solely in order for Allen (and his various co-writers) to make as many jokes as possible in the movie’s 80-minute running time. The audience is inundated with one-liner after one-liner, as Allen keeps a brisk pace. The majority of the jokes hit their marks and their wide-ranging nature is one of the main reasons the movie works. The many various kinds of jokes (sexual innuendo, visual gags, racial jokes, etc.), combined with the fast pace, keeps the audience on their toes and gives the film a madcap vibe it otherwise wouldn't have had. While the style of dubbing over an existing work has been copied countless times, the movie doesn't feel worn or clichéd. Even though there are instances when some jokes fall flat, the majority of them remain funny enough (there’s a character who is essentially playing Peter Lorre, and even has the audacity to remark how difficult that impression is on his voice) to hold the viewer's interest.

What doesn't work in the film are the 2 separate musical interludes by The Lovin' Spoonful. Both are within the first 30 minutes of the film, and both are completely out of place. Both times the band is supposed to be playing at a Japanese club within the story of the movie, yet it’s apparent these scenes were shot at a different club. The group of teens dancing at whatever mystery location The Lovin' Spoonful has decided to inhabit isn’t even Japanese! We get an exterior shot of the club in Japan, then we cut to the band playing in front of dancing American teens! It’s painfully obvious that some studio exec decided to use the movie to market the band. Product placement – with people! The first interlude is only moderately annoying because it takes place towards the beginning of the film, and the movie has yet to really get rolling along. The second one, however, was infuriating. The movie is moving along quite well, the quips are being thrown out left and right, then BAM!, more Spoonful, more American teens dancing, more product placement, same awful band. It was like the movie had been intercut with an episode of American Bandstand.

The question I kept asking myself is this: What was Allen trying to accomplish with this movie? The movie is certainly a spoof of the spy film genre, and there are a few nods towards the unoriginality and utter ridiculousness of those kinds of movies, but there's not much else. The movie doesn't seem to have any other intentions, other than being funny and moderately clever. That's not a fault, as the movie succeeds in this regard, but it isn't consistent with the majority of Allen's work. I'm pretty sure Annie Hall (11 years and 6 features later) is his first attempt at anything with much substance, so I can't say this is much of a surprise.

I'm anticipating this being one of the more minor entries in Woody Allen's filmography. There isn't much to delve into as far as analysis, and since all Allen did was dub over an existing movie, there's nothing in the way of film technique to discuss. The film is a light, enjoyable exercise in silliness. I can't say that I'm disappointed, but when I look back on the film the only necessary descriptor is, "it was pretty funny." The movie does succeed on its own merits, so it should probably be considered a minor success. I’ve seen a few worse Woody Allen movies so I suppose I should be thankful I didn’t get a stinker to begin this project. Until next time…