What's Up, Tiger Lily?

1966
PG
1h 20m

IMDb RATING

5.8/10

10K

YOUR RATING

Woody Allen and China Lee in What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)

Play trailer2:24

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19 Photos

Parody Adventure Comedy Crime Thriller

Woody Allen re-dubs the Japanese spy film Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi (1965), turning it into a comedy about an agent pursuing the world's greatest egg salad recipe.Woody Allen re-dubs the Japanese spy film Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi (1965), turning it into a comedy about an agent pursuing the world's greatest egg salad recipe.Woody Allen re-dubs the Japanese spy film Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi (1965), turning it into a comedy about an agent pursuing the world's greatest egg salad recipe.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.8/10

10K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Top cast23

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Woody Allen

Woody Allen…

The Lovin' Spoonful

The Lovin' Spoonful

Frank Buxton

Vocal Assist
(voice)

Louise Lasser

Suki Yaki
(voice)

Julie Bennett

Vocal Assist
(voice)

Len Maxwell

Vocal Assist
(voice)

Mickey Rose

Vocal Assist
(voice)

Bryna Wilson

Vocal Assist
(voice)

Tatsuya Mihashi

Phil Moscowitz
(archive footage)

Mie Hama

Teri Yaki
(archive footage)

Akiko Wakabayashi

Suki Yaki
(archive footage)
(as Kiko Wakabayashi)

Hideyo Amamoto

Cobra Man
(archive footage)
(uncredited)

Steve Boone

Steve Boone - The Lovin' Spoonful
(uncredited)

Joe Butler

Joe Butler - The Lovin' Spoonful
(uncredited)

Susumu Kurobe

Wing Fat
(archive footage)
(uncredited)

China Lee

Stripper During End Credits
(uncredited)

Kumi Mizuno

Phil's Date
(archive footage)
(uncredited)

Tadao Nakamaru

Shepherd Wong
(archive footage)
(uncredited)

User reviews78

Featured review

7/10

I'll have my mustache eat your beard.

What’s up Tiger Lily: 7 out of 10: Long before Airplane or Mystery Science Theater 3000 or even my own mix-up of an uncut bootleg of Chōjin densetsu Urotsukidōji and Led Zeppelin II (Blows Pink Floyd and the Wizard of OZ out of the water.) there was What’s Up Tiger Lily.

A very young Woody Allen acquired the rights of a Japanese James Bond knockoff called Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi (Literal English title International Secret Police: Key of Keys) and dubbed in his own dialogue.

The film starts with some non-dubbed footage involving bondage, a shootout, and a circular saw. Then Woody appears with an interviewer what he has done with the film. The film then restarts Woody’s dubbing in place and with the exception of two short interruptions by Woody (both very funny) It is the Japanese import with a new script and story.

The dub itself is quite funny and well done. One can definitely see the roots of some of Woody Allen’s comic themes in this work. The overall story of the world’s greatest egg salad recipe is quite well done and the voice work is applicable and fits the on screen characters well.

What’s Up Tiger Lily benefits from good source material to work with. Longtime fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 know that even the best riffing can suffer from deadly boring source material. (Red Zone Cuba for example). What’s Up Tiger Lily’s source material is colorful, action packed, and has a very attractive cast. In fact I would love to see the original source material.

On the down side, since the film is dubbed, when the movie has no dialogue the experience can drag. Unlike an Airplane or a Mystery Science Theater 3000 riffing session, What’s Up Tiger Lily isn’t a 10 jokes a minute affair. Even more detrimental the Lovin Spoonful show up periodically to present an unrelated music video. This both dates the effort horribly and kills the flow of the humor.

What’s Up Tiger Lily is a must see for fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and of Woody Allen’s early comedy. (And fans of the Lovin Spoonful I guess).

One should pay respect to ones elders and it is a very fun time.

Videos1

Trailer 2:24

What's Up, Tiger Lily?

Photos19

+ 11

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The addition of The Lovin' Spoonful was a studio imposition to bump up the running time. Woody Allen was so incensed by this that he threatened to sue the studio, although he later recanted when the film became a hit.

Goofs
A glass filter is clearly seen being pulled away from the lens as Phil wakes up in the Sheik's palace.

Quotes
Teri Yaki: [talking about Shepherd Wong] I'd call him a sadistic, hippophilic necrophile, but that would be beating a dead horse.

Crazy credits
There are no ending credits. Instead, the film concludes with Woody Allen nonchalantly lounging on a couch and eating an apple, while China Lee (who does not appear elsewhere in the film) performs a striptease. A slow-moving series of titles appear to the right of the screen reading: "The characters and events depicted in this photoplay are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental. And if you have been reading this instead of looking at the girl, then see your psychiatrist, or go to a good eye doctor." An eye chart scrolls by as Lee continues her routine, but as she prepares to remove her panties, Allen stops her and tells the audience, "I promised I'd put her in the film... somewhere". The scene freezes on this moment as a "The End" title card appears.

Alternate versions
UK versions are cut by 8 secs under the Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act 1937 to remove a shot of a snake attacking a chicken in a cage.