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What's Up, Tiger Lily?

  • 19661966
  • PGPG
  • 1h 20min
IMDb RATING
5.9/10
9.5K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Woody Allen and China Lee in What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)
Trailer for this Woody Allen comedy
Play trailer2:24
1 Video
24 Photos
AdventureComedyCrime

In Woody Allen's directorial debut, he took the Japanese action film Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi (1965) and re-dubbed it, changing the plot to make it revolve around a secret egg ... Read allIn Woody Allen's directorial debut, he took the Japanese action film Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi (1965) and re-dubbed it, changing the plot to make it revolve around a secret egg salad recipe.In Woody Allen's directorial debut, he took the Japanese action film Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi (1965) and re-dubbed it, changing the plot to make it revolve around a secret egg salad recipe.

IMDb RATING
5.9/10
9.5K
YOUR RATING
  • Directors
    • Woody Allen(aided & abetted by)
    • Senkichi Taniguchi(original Japanese version)
  • Writers
    • Woody Allen(special material by)
    • Frank Buxton(with writings by)
    • Louise Lasser(with writings by)
  • Stars
    • Woody Allen
    • The Lovin' Spoonful
    • Frank Buxton(voice)
Top credits
  • Directors
    • Woody Allen(aided & abetted by)
    • Senkichi Taniguchi(original Japanese version)
  • Writers
    • Woody Allen(special material by)
    • Frank Buxton(with writings by)
    • Louise Lasser(with writings by)
  • Stars
    • Woody Allen
    • The Lovin' Spoonful
    • Frank Buxton(voice)
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 78User reviews
    • 38Critic reviews
    • 63Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    What's Up, Tiger Lily?
    Trailer 2:24
    What's Up, Tiger Lily?

    Photos24

    China Lee in What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)
    Woody Allen and China Lee in What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)
    Woody Allen in What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)
    Woody Allen and China Lee in What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)
    Woody Allen, Steve Boone, Joe Butler, John Sebastian, and Zal Yanovsky in What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)
    Woody Allen and Akiko Wakabayashi in What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)
    Woody Allen and Akiko Wakabayashi in What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)
    Woody Allen and China Lee in What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)
    Woody Allen and Akiko Wakabayashi in What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)
    Mie Hama, Kumi Mizuno, and Akiko Wakabayashi in What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)
    China Lee in What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)
    Woody Allen and China Lee in What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Woody Allen
    Woody Allen
    • Woody Allenas Woody Allen…
    The Lovin' Spoonful
    • The Lovin' Spoonfulas The Lovin' Spoonful
    Frank Buxton
    Frank Buxton
    • Vocal Assistas Vocal Assist
    • (voice)
    Louise Lasser
    Louise Lasser
    • Suki Yakias Suki Yaki
    • (voice)
    Julie Bennett
    Julie Bennett
    • Vocal Assistas Vocal Assist
    • (voice)
    Len Maxwell
    • Vocal Assistas Vocal Assist
    • (voice)
    Mickey Rose
    • Vocal Assistas Vocal Assist
    • (voice)
    Bryna Wilson
    • Vocal Assistas Vocal Assist
    • (voice)
    Tatsuya Mihashi
    Tatsuya Mihashi
    • Phil Moscowitzas Phil Moscowitz
    • (archive footage)
    Mie Hama
    Mie Hama
    • Teri Yakias Teri Yaki
    • (archive footage)
    Akiko Wakabayashi
    Akiko Wakabayashi
    • Suki Yakias Suki Yaki
    • (archive footage)
    • (as Kiko Wakabayashi)
    Hideyo Amamoto
    Hideyo Amamoto
    • Cobra Manas Cobra Man
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    Steve Boone
    • Steve Boone - The Lovin' Spoonfulas Steve Boone - The Lovin' Spoonful
    • (uncredited)
    Joe Butler
    • Joe Butler - The Lovin' Spoonfulas Joe Butler - The Lovin' Spoonful
    • (uncredited)
    Susumu Kurobe
    Susumu Kurobe
    • Wing Fatas Wing Fat
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    China Lee
    China Lee
    • Dancer in Creditsas Dancer in Credits
    • (uncredited)
    Kumi Mizuno
    Kumi Mizuno
    • Phil's Dateas Phil's Date
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    Tadao Nakamaru
    • Shepherd Wongas Shepherd Wong
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    • Directors
      • Woody Allen(aided & abetted by)
      • Senkichi Taniguchi(original Japanese version)
    • Writers
      • Woody Allen(special material by)
      • Frank Buxton(with writings by)
      • Louise Lasser(with writings by)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

    Storyline

    Edit
    Writer/director Woody Allen explains that when he was asked to supervise the making of the definitive spy thriller, what he decided to do was acquire the rights to a B-grade Japanese spy caper (Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi (1965)) filmed with Japanese actors in Japanese, delete the existing soundtrack, and redub into English and reorder select scenes to create an entirely new movie, a comedy, having nothing to do with the original story-line. The result... International spy Phil Moscowitz, working out of the Asia bureau, is a self-professed lovable rogue with sex always on his mind. He inadvertently gets involved in a mission, the client the Grand Exalted High Majah of Raspur. The success of the mission will determine if Raspur, a non-existent country that nonetheless sounds real, will indeed become real. Moscowitz is to retrieve something stolen from the Majah by criminal Shepherd Wong: the best ever egg salad recipe. Phil is to be assisted by two of the Majah's own agents, sisters Teri and Suki Yaki, the latter a recent prison escapee. The mission becomes more difficult when they learn that Shepherd is an egg salad junkie who will do anything to keep the recipe. The mission gets even more complicated when they also learn that they are in competition to retrieve the recipe by Wing Fat, another criminal who plans to steal the recipe then sell it back to addicted Shepherd. The success or failure of the mission for Phil and the Yaki sisters may be dependent if they receive the extra help needed from the audience and the projectionist at the cinemas where the movie is playing. —Huggo
    spy spooffarcespy comedyspy parodyparody131 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Taglines
      • ...IT'S ALL ABOUT LIFE, LOVE...FUN
    • Genres
      • Adventure
      • Comedy
      • Crime
      • Thriller
    • Certificate
      • PG
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This was Woody Allen's directorial debut.
    • Goofs
      When the Port of Yokohama is shown, the captions call it "Yokahama".
    • 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
      In the closing credits, Woody Allen watches a striptease. The credits appear on the right side of the screen as the striptease goes on and at the end there is a statement: "And if you have been reading this instead of looking at the girl, then see your psychiatrist, or go to a good eye doctor." And then an eye chart 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.
    • Connections
      Edited from Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kayaku no taru (1964)

    User reviews78

    Review
    Top review
    6/10
    What's Up, Tiger Lily?: Oddly hilarious
    What's Up, Tiger Lily? was Woody Allen's directorial debut. Kind of.

    Bear with me on this one, the film is basically the Toho movie Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kayaku no taru (Key of Keys) from 1964 with a comedy dub over it. And by comedy dub I mean totally over the top silly stuff, yet somehow someway it works.

    I don't like Woody Allen, I find his movies boring and pretentious but this was an unexpected surprise and nothing like I've seen from him before (Probably because it's not technically one of his movies).

    It takes a lot to get me laughing out loud especially in hysterics but What's Up, Tiger Lily? managed it several times. Sure a lot of it is really silly and makes you wonder quite what in the blue hell you're watching but when it's funny it's very very funny.

    I found myself unleashing with a hearty belly laugh multiple times throughout the film and I honestly can't remember the last time a film managed that. Sure the really funny moments aren't exactly frequent but when they arrive you know about it.

    If you like low brow humor, like really really low brow humor you might get a kick out of this.

    The Good:

    Some real belly laughs

    A very novel idea

    The Bad:

    Stupid musical interludes

    Some stuff just too silly to be funny

    The "Hand" scene
    helpful•10
    1
    • Platypuschow
    • Jan 18, 2019

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 2, 1966 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Japan
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • Woody Allen's What's Up, Tiger Lily?
    • Filming locations
      • Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
    • Production companies
      • American International Pictures (AIP)
      • Toho Company
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 20min
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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