Top Secret! (1984)

Parody of WWII spy movies in which an American rock and roll singer becomes involved in a Resistance plot to rescue a scientist imprisoned in East Germany.

Directors:

Jim Abrahams, David Zucker

Writers:

Jim Abrahams, David Zucker

Stars:

Val Kilmer, Lucy Gutteridge, Peter Cushing

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Val Kilmer	...	Nick Rivers
Lucy Gutteridge	...	Hillary Flammond
Peter Cushing	...	Bookstore Proprietor
Jeremy Kemp	...	General Streck
Christopher Villiers	...	Nigel
Warren Clarke	...	Colonel von Horst
Michael Gough	...	Dr. Paul Flammond
Harry Ditson	...	Du Quois
Jim Carter	...	Déjà Vu
Eddie Tagoe	...	Chocolate Mousse
Nancy Abrahams	...	Pregnant Woman
Omar Sharif	...	Agent Cedric
Tristram Jellinek	...	Major Crumpler
Billy J. Mitchell	...	Martin
Major Wiley	...	Porter

Storyline

This time Zucker and Abrahams are spoofing, most notably, Elvis films and WWII spy movies. Val Kilmer stars as Nick Rivers, a handsome American 50s-style rock and roll singer. While performing in East Germany, he falls in love with a beautiful heroine and becomes involved with the French Resistance.

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Plot Keywords:

reverse footage | cow | spoof | rock star | espionage | 

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Taglines:

From the makers of the original "Airplane!" (not the Wright brothers)

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Genres:

Comedy | Music

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English German Yiddish

Release Date:

8 June 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Top Secret

Filming Locations:

Osterley Park House, Isleworth, Middlesex, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,406,205, 24 June 1984, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$20,500,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kingsmere Properties

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene where Hillary and Nick go into the Swedish bookstore was staged, shot and then run backwards to make the dialog sound "unique." If you record the scene and play it backwards, you will find all of the dialogue to be exactly what is shown in the subtitles except for the title of the book Hillary asks for. The title she actually asks for is "Europe On 5 Quaaludes A Day."

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Goofs

In the "Pizza Haus" dance, when Nick (Val) runs up the wall and back flips, the cable of his trapeze rig is visible.

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Quotes

Blindman: Here, smell this flower. It never fails to amuse at parties.

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Crazy Credits

The end credits include all manner of silliness, including jokes, gags, and a music video.

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Connections

Featured in Cinemassacre's Top 20 Movie Scenes Where People Jump Through Fucking Windows (2013)

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Soundtracks

EAST GERMAN NATIONAL ANTHEM
Parody based on "THE SHOREWOOD WISCONSIN HIGH SCHOOL HYMN"
By Sandy S. Smith

User Reviews

It doesn't get much sillier than this - and they even say so in song!

An American rock and roll idol goes behind the iron curtain (while there was one!) for a culture fest but instead becomes involved in the resistance movement.

Forget about the film itself, the very idea of an Elvis Presley movie being mixed with a French resistance film and produced by the Airplane! crew is enough for laugh number one. Not only is this a bizarre world but seems to be playing games with time and history, the communist East Germany being portrayed as a kind of war time Nazi set-up!

Kilmer does well with an impossible role to the point where you wonder if he didn't miss his vocation. He can sing and dance better than many real singers and he proved in The Doors that he is really a major musical force. Strangely it is rumoured that he didn't realise this was a satire!

The stupidity of many Elvis movies and those Saturday morning children's reels (scientist and beautiful daughter) are taken to the cleaners and you have fantastic sight gags. The "falling guard" gag is one of the best sight gags in the history of movies - I challenge anyone not to laugh at it.

I enjoy a stupid movie every now and then and admit I enjoyed this one. Clearly the authors know little about German history or European culture and the little they do know seems cribbed from watching bad B movies on the subject, but what the hell. This is too stupid for anyone to get seriously uptight about. "How silly can you get?" sings Kilmer at one point in the film: Maybe a little, but not that much!