What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)

Directors:

Woody Allen
Senkichi Taniguchi

Writers:

Woody Allen (writer)
Julie Bennett (writer)

Release Date:

2 November 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

WOODY ALLEN STRIKES BACK!

Plot:

In comic Woody Allen's film debut, he took the Japanese action film "International Secret Police: Key of Keys" and re-dubbed it, changing the plot to make it revolve around a secret egg salad recipe.

Plot Keywords:

Recipe | Eye Chart | Rescue | Strip Club | Farce

Cast

Tatsuya Mihashi	...	Phil Moscowitz (archive footage)
Akiko Wakabayashi	...	Suki Yaki (archive footage)
Mie Hama	...	Teri Yaki (archive footage)
John Sebastian	...	Himself (as The Lovin' Spoonful)
Tadao Nakamaru	...	Shepherd Wong (archive footage)
Susumu Kurobe	...	Wing Fat (archive footage)
Sachio Sakai	...	Hoodlum (archive footage) (as A No Star Cast)
Eisei Amamoto	...	Cobra Man (archive footage)
Tetsu Nakamura	...	Foreign Minister (archive footage) (as A No Star Cast)
Osman Yusuf	...	Gambler (archive footage) (as A No Star Cast)
Woody Allen	...	Himself / Dub Voice / Projectionist
Zal Yanovsky	...	Himself (as The Lovin' Spoonful)
Joe Butler	...	Himself (as The Lovin' Spoonful)
Steve Boone	...	Himself (as The Lovin' Spoonful)
Frank Buxton	...	Dub Voice (voice)

Also Known As:

Che fai, rubi? (Italy) [it]
El número uno (Spain) (TV title) [es]
Jak sie masz, koteczku? (Poland) [pl]
Lily la tigresa (Spain) (video title) [es]
Lily la tigresse (France) [fr]
O que Há, Tigresa? (Brazil) [pt]
Operation Tiger Lily (Sweden) [sv]
Què passa, Lliri Tigrat? (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Qué pasa, Tiger Lily? (Argentina) [es]
What's Up, Tiger Lily? (West Germany) [de]

Runtime:

80 min | Spain:76 min (DVD edition)

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

Japanese | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Spain:13 | Argentina:Atp | France:U | USA:PG | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan

Company:

Benedict Pictures Corp.

Trivia:

American International Pictures bought the 1965 Japanese film "Key of Keys" for $66,000. However, the studio quickly realized that it was far too confusing for Western audiences. AIP president Henry G. Saperstein came up with the idea of turning the original inscrutable thriller into a comedy by dubbing it with different dialogue. As Woody Allen had just scored an unexpected hit with his screenplay for What's New Pussycat (1965), Saperstein hired him.

Quotes:

Woody Allen: They wanted in Hollywood to make the definitive spy picture. And they came to me to supervise the project, you know, because I think that, if you know me at all, you know that death is my bread and danger my butter - oh, no, danger's my bread, and death is my butter. No, no, wait. Danger's my bread, death - no, death is - no, I'm sorry. Death is my - death and danger are my various breads and various butters.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Fantastic Fantasy Fright-o-Rama Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

What's up, tiger lily? Whoa-o-o-o-o-oh

Ever seen a Japanese man with a Jewish name? Now you will! Making his directorial debut, Woody Allen takes a Japanese spy movie and re-dubs it into being a search for the world's best egg salad recipe. You read that right. This is, after all, from the man who brought us "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex...". The dialogue mostly sounds like the sort of comments that we would expect to hear on "MST3K", with a few exceptions. As for the Lovin' Spoonful, you'll just have to see what you think of their appearance in the movie. But overall, "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" is really funny. An interesting follow-up to "What's New, Pussycat?".