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

1 Video

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

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)

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.

Connections
Edited from Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kayaku no taru (1964)

User reviews77

Review

Featured review

10/10

Different version

I have noticed several posts here about how people had seen this movie years ago and thought it was hysterical, but then have recently seen it on TV and wondered why they thought so back then. The answer is that you are probably watching a different version.

Although I am sure someone more in tune with the background of this movie can explain it in more precise and detailed terms, the version being shown on networks like TCM has been re-written, re-dubbed and is a lot less funny than the original. I have a copy from a 1982 video tape and that original version is great. I saw the TCM broadcast version and couldn't believe how badly the jokes were changed and how unfunny this film now is, most likely in the name of political correctness. I can certainly understand anyone being dissatisfied with the film as it is now. However, if you can, find an old video of this classic and watch it the way it was meant to be seen.