When I was in high school (early 70s), this was a cult favorite. But of course, when it would occasionally show up on late-night TV, it would be severely chopped. Nevertheless, there were some jokes that always made me laugh:
1) Detective grabs his head in pain and says, "Oh, my leg!" 2) Crazy Peter Lorre-voiced guy "marries" his chicken to a cobra. Passerby covers face with hankie and says, "I always cry at weddings." 3) Scene in tower where the director and his wife make their mandatory walk-on appearance.
When it showed up uncut on cable recently, I looked forward to renewing my acquaintance with a big laugh-fest, but was disappointed. The jokes I remembered were there...but not much else to bust a gut about. There are long stretches where nothing much funny happens, because Woody's hands were tied by the footage he was given. Another drawback of the process is that Woody can't program in any sight gags, which are such an important part of his later films. So we're left with some weak verbal humor and lots of dead spots (frequently involving John Sebastian and friends).
We have to remind ourselves that at the time this was released, Woody was primarily known as a stand-up comedian (3 successful LPs), and as a writer for TV and print. He was not a filmmaker yet. He merely tried to bring his brand of stand-up to the Japanese spy movie he was given. For the time, I suppose this would have been a little racy and the humor was different than what you'd find on TV. But it hasn't worn well over the 40 years since its release. I'd rather watch Jay Ward's FRACTURED FLICKERS show, which was a definitive masterpiece of old movie parody.
To me, the weirdest thing of all is to see Woody speak during the closing credits but hear someone else's voice. That says a lot about how well the producers thought America knew Woody.
Although I enjoyed Woody's early films in high school and college, if I had to choose an era of his career to focus on, I'd start with Zelig (1983) and go through Radio Days (1987). I don't think "What's Up Tiger Lily" would even make my top 20 list.
1) Detective grabs his head in pain and says, "Oh, my leg!" 2) Crazy Peter Lorre-voiced guy "marries" his chicken to a cobra. Passerby covers face with hankie and says, "I always cry at weddings." 3) Scene in tower where the director and his wife make their mandatory walk-on appearance.
When it showed up uncut on cable recently, I looked forward to renewing my acquaintance with a big laugh-fest, but was disappointed. The jokes I remembered were there...but not much else to bust a gut about. There are long stretches where nothing much funny happens, because Woody's hands were tied by the footage he was given. Another drawback of the process is that Woody can't program in any sight gags, which are such an important part of his later films. So we're left with some weak verbal humor and lots of dead spots (frequently involving John Sebastian and friends).
We have to remind ourselves that at the time this was released, Woody was primarily known as a stand-up comedian (3 successful LPs), and as a writer for TV and print. He was not a filmmaker yet. He merely tried to bring his brand of stand-up to the Japanese spy movie he was given. For the time, I suppose this would have been a little racy and the humor was different than what you'd find on TV. But it hasn't worn well over the 40 years since its release. I'd rather watch Jay Ward's FRACTURED FLICKERS show, which was a definitive masterpiece of old movie parody.
To me, the weirdest thing of all is to see Woody speak during the closing credits but hear someone else's voice. That says a lot about how well the producers thought America knew Woody.
Although I enjoyed Woody's early films in high school and college, if I had to choose an era of his career to focus on, I'd start with Zelig (1983) and go through Radio Days (1987). I don't think "What's Up Tiger Lily" would even make my top 20 list.