The Last of the Secret Agents? (1966)

5/10

jimtinder21 May 2000

Paramount must have been trying to recapture the success they had with Martin and Lewis by releasing this Allen and Rossi effort a decade after the Martin/Lewis breakup. Marty Allen is a funny guy; anyone who remembers his 70s appearances on "Hollywood Squares" and "The Merv Griffin Show" can attest to that. But the Allen humor does not translate well to film; either that, or the script is just mediocre at best.

There are genuinely funny moments in the film, the best being Harvey Korman's appearance as a German officer. But there are some plain silly moments as well, such as costume changes on board a train every time it goes through a tunnel.

Nancy Sinatra fans will be disappointed in that she doesn't have much to do here...however, she looks as great as ever.

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4/10

"The Last of the Secret Agents?" is one of those lost low budget spy films of yesteryear. Given the chance to see it, please do so.

florencegillette25 March 2015

This is one of the old "B" type films which have been too easily forgotten. I remember this film from my childhood, and had to search for years to find it again. Don't run away because of my rating. This is one of those quirky little 'lost gems' which just didn't rate a sequel. Admittedly, I was more impressed with this film as a child - back before the more modern Star Wars like gadgets of today, but it can still be a fun flick for those of us who like to root for the "underdog" films. Allen and Rossi are a couple of the fun comedians of days gone past. It's unfortunate that they didn't make more movies. Marty Allen is a screwball - to say the least. He goes through the film looking as though he had stuck his finger in a light socket. There is another added bonus to this film. Nancy Sinatra as the girl interest - who is out to land Steve (Rossi). The song of the same name was made for this film - and, unfortunately, has had a far better following. These off-the-wall films are too precious to take no notice. I would like to see this one make it to our TV screens again.

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5/10

Uneven spy comedy - the Marx Brothers meet Abbott & Costello

gridoon202414 July 2010

Warning: Spoilers

"The Last Of The Secret Agents?" is a hard film to review, because parts of it seem to come from the Marx Brothers' surrealistic brand of comedy (sometimes even breaking the fourth wall), while other parts are closer to the more lowbrow tradition of Abbott and Costello. The best part is probably the clever opening sequence, followed by Nancy Sinatra's terrific title song (by the way, Nancy also has a small role in the film, sporting a luscious body and an adorable French accent). Another bit that comes close to weird brilliance (or brilliant weirdness) is what happens inside the train when it starts passing through the tunnels. But there are also certain sequences that divert the film from its main targets and go on needlessly long (like the one at the go-go club, notable for its extended, suggested but invisible to the viewer female toplessness). It's a hit-and-miss comedy where the hits are about equal to the misses, but it's also a valuable artifact of its time period. ** out of 4.

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Zucker style gags make this one worth a look

Squonk22 June 1999

In 'The Last of the Secret Agents,' Marty Allen and Steve Rossi end up being recruited by a very secret organization to help stop the evil force known as THEM. The evil genius behind THEM has managed to find the missing arms of the Venus Di Milo, so now he wants the rest of the statue. There are some sequences here that are very funny. The scene in which Allen and Rossi discuss marriage was my favorite. Most of the best gags in the film are in the style that would later be perfected in movies like 'Airplane' and 'The Naked Gun: from the files of Police Squad.' There are, however, plenty of sequences where the gags just plain bomb. Marty Allen seems to have gone to the Joe Besser school of comedy (shave his head and he'd almost look just like Besser). His buggy eyes and constant whining are probably not everybody's taste, but he does have some very funny moments. Nancy Sinatra sings the title tune, but her role in the film is pretty much a glorified cameo.

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3/10

"He thinks 'James Bond' is some kind of suit..."

moonspinner557 July 2007

Art thieves in France are in for trouble when a couple of clumsy American tourists-turned-spies (Steve Rossi and Marty Allen) are assigned to expose their operation. Loud, poorly-written slapstick comedy might appeal to Three Stooges or Martin & Lewis fans. It isn't a bad-looking film, but it's shrill instead of funny. Director Norman Abbott (who also co-wrote the script and produced!) seems to really believe Marty Allen is the next Jerry Lewis or Lou Costello (he isn't) and there's far too much of him. Linking this to later spoofs like "The Naked Gun" is really doing this movie a favor. It has some snap, but it's a bit long and bumbling. Good supporting cast features Nancy Sinatra, who also sings the title cut penned by Lee Hazlewood (which is more clever than anything else in the picture). *1/2 from ****

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4/10

Where's Mel Brooks when you need him?

Mark-1296 July 2014

As a kid, I really enjoyed this movie. But that was the 70s. While still having positive feelings for it, that is from memory. I don't blame Allen and Rossi. Their humor did not translate to the big screen and were let down by a script written by someone who had no understanding of the spy genre, nor how to spoof it. It seems to me you have to have a plot that makes sense within the context of the story and then introduce humorous characters and twists that have no business being there. After an entertaining opening sequence, which goes on a bit longer than it should, the first half hour is fun, introducing Allen and Rossi and setting up the story. What follows after is slow, unfunny and nonsensical. More staid 50s than the hip 60s. Too bad Mel Brooks wasn't brought in to save it.

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2/10

Waste of time!

RodrigAndrisan5 January 2020

The first 2 minutes are very good. As soon as the actual action starts, the movie is no longer attractive, on the contrary, due to the "fun" gags, it gets annoying, boring, you want it to end sooner. The actors are bad and the comic situations are not comical at all, the comic level is zero. Norman Abbott, "comedy specialist", writer and co-author of the script, was not at all inspired, except, I repeat, for the first 2 minutes. Nancy Sinatra is sweet but that doesn't help. 2 stars, only for those first 2 minutes.

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6/10

Hard to Spy these days....

amosduncan_200028 February 2007

My family took us to the drive-in to see this when I was around six years old. Needless to say, I was not quite as tough on it as the junior John Simons around here. In fact, we all thought it was a masterpiece. Well, we didn't say that; but we thought it was funny. My Dad probably even knew the connection to "Your Show Of Shows."

Now it is impossible to see, though I guess it turns up on T.V. now and then. It sounds like the historic significance as a precursor to the now played out "Airplane" school of comedy might make it fun. Martin and Rossi continued to play Vegas for many years after the film. Harvey Korman must have just been getting started.

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5/10

parody of the spy films

ksf-211 October 2021

With a question mark at the end. Made during the years of spy films, like james bond. Marty allen and steve rossi are johnson and donovan, looking for work in paree. Co-stars nancy sinatra...who sings the opening theme, which sounds JUST like These Boots! Brit john williams (Sabrina) recruits them to help stop a gang of art thieves operating in europe and asia. Small, early part for harvey korman. Its a silly caper... a parody, with lots of pratfalls, word play. Inventions, gadgets, weapons. Silliness. Very corny. Topless dancers and waitresses. Which are tastefully hidden from view. Directed by norman abbott (bud abbott's nephew !) story by mel tolkin. Tolkin was right there at the beginning of television, in the 1940s. He even wrote for sid caesar on the Show of Shows. This one is mostly interesting because nancy sinatra has a role, and sings the song. The story itself is pretty lame.

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6/10

Not bad at all.

Y_I_Oughta10 October 2021

I wasn't expecting much but was better than I thought it would be. Marty Allen was always likeable and funny and there are some gags that have you scratching your head because they're outta left field but that's what makes this film goofy and fun. Harvey Korman, in his little scene, almost steals the show. John Williams has a fun comedic turn as well. Overall it just captures the spy obsessed politically incorrect fun that was the swingin' sixties.

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1/10

one of the worst films of the 60s

planktonrules19 June 2005

This is a dreadful mess of a movie. It is intended as a spy spoof (that already usually means the picture will be BAD) and abounds with more misfires than Barney Fife at the shooting range! The movie took the basic comedy team formula of a straight man and an idiot but failed to produce anything worth watching. To start with, Steve Rossi has almost no screen presence--none. A piece of salami would be more interesting than his character. Yet, he is infinitely more likable than Marty Allen's character who is a total cretin. Yes, as the dopey sidekick Allen is supposed to be dopey, but instead he seems almost sub-humanly stupid and unlikable. Compared to him, Jerry Lewis or Lou Costello's sidekicks seemed like Nobel prize winners! To top off this unfunny duo, you have a script that is so unfunny I would have preferred to watch a Matt Helm flick! NOW THAT'S BAD!!

Watch this ONLY if you are a glutton for punishment!

UPDATE--I must rescind part of my original review, as I just finished watching another spy spoof from the 1960s (THE NASTY RABBIT) and it made THE LAST OF THE SECRET AGENTS? look like "Masterpiece Theater"!! So if you're looking for the worst spy film of the 60s, THE NASTY RABBIT is definitely a contender!

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9/10

"THEM sure know how to hurt a guy!"

Yonilikka-2216 July 2017

Warning: Spoilers

Spy spoofs were ten a penny in the 1960's. Norman Abbott's 'Last Of The Secret Agents?' ( 1966 ) is one of the better ones. It was intended to showcase the then-popular comedy double act Allen & Rossi ( Marty Allen and Steve Rossi ). With his mobile face and shock of untidy black hair ( and "Hello Dere!" as a catchphrase ), Marty is firmly in the Lou Costello mold of comic sidekicks, while Rossi is a Dean Martin tribute act. 'Last' is a decent film, and this is mainly due to its associate producer and writer, the talented Mel Tolkin. Marty and Steve are a pair of down on their luck furniture removal men based in France. A mysterious organisation known only as THEM ( also the name of an organisation to be found in the 'Captain America' and 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' Marvel comics of that period ) has them under surveillance. It specialises in stealing valuable art treasures and wants to use Marty and Steve as unwitting couriers. 'J.Fredrick Duval', head of G.G.I. ( Good Guys Institute ) recruits the boys to find out what THEM's latest scheme is and, if possible, wreck it. Marty is given a gadget-packed umbrella which contains a gun and a radio, and even converts into a hot-air balloon. As it turns out, their Blofeld-like leader 'Zoltan Schumach' ( Theo Marcuse ) is out to steal the Venus De Milo...

The gags come thick and fast ( the passengers' changing clothes each time a train enters a tunnel was copied a year later by the 'Matt Helm' movie 'The Ambushers' ), some work and some don't, but overall this is an extremely likable motion picture, packed with 1960's colour, gorgeous girls and good humour. As well as Bond, the 'Batman' television spoof is spoofed, along with war movies ( Harvey Korman's cameo is hilarious! ) and cigarette commercials. Nancy Sinatra plays Rossi's love interest 'Micheline' and gets to sing the title theme. If Allen and Rossi did not, as was hoped, become the 1960's answer to Lewis and Martin, well, at least, they had a good try.

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6/10

espionage spoof

SnoopyStyle9 October 2021

Marty Johnson (Marty Allen) and Steve (Steve Rossi) are Americans in Paris. They are recruited by J. Fredrick Duval of the Good Guys Institute in a battle against THEM who are stealing the world's art. The guys had been unwitting accomplices in the crimes. Micheline (Nancy Sinatra) likes Steve despite her father Papa Leo (Lou Jacobi).

Allen and Rossi were apparently a comedy team during the 60's. I don't know anything about them. They look like a bargain brand Martin and Lewis. One of them is funny looking while the other is the supposed pretty one. Neither are as good as the legendary Martin and Lewis. This is an espionage spoof movie. It has many of the 007 tropes. It's not as funny as Austin Powers but it is working the same grounds. The most important name in this may be Mel Tolkin, the writer. He wrote for Sid Caesar, Bob Hope, and others. It's hitting all the big spoof concepts. I actually laugh at some of the jokes. The Nazi part confused me for a second but it does have Harvey Korman. This is not the best but one can see the outlines of better spoofs in the future.

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2/10

Wantabe Agents

jcholguin13 November 2003

This film took parts of Man From U.N.C.L.E, Get Smart and Abbott & Costello but it fails badly. Steve Rossi and Marty Allen team together as secret agents that join "GGI" to battle the evilness of "THEM." A counter to the "CONTROL" and "KAOS" of Get Smart. Marty Allen does everything possible to be funny, from big eyes to falling down but it rarely works. Rossi is the straight man, ladies man and the singer but also fails to make this film believable. But then Get Smart was not believable but then Maxwell Smart made this a very enjoyable TV Series. Maybe that is the answer, as a TV Series, this may have worked well as a 30 minute show but fails because it is too long as a movie. One of the commentaries mentioned Martin & Lewis and maybe this is true but I never watched that team so my comparison is with Abbott & Costello. It was typical of a thin, straight man vs the fat, tubby man is very much Abbott & Costello. Even the intelligence or lack of remind me of the classic comedy team of old. If you have nothing to do, then by all means watch this film.

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Underrated spy spoof

VinylBoy23 May 1999

I really enjoyed this movie. Don't listen to the critics. The few reviews I've seen bash this film. I watched it before seeing any reviews and thought it was great. It's like a cross between Abbot & Costello and a Mel Brooks film with a little Marx Brothers thrown in there. The intro to the film was genius. You couldn't see anyone's face.

The first half hour is awesome, then it slows down a bit. Still, there's tons of slapstick nonsense comedy running through the film. Plus, there's a scene in a restaurant that I don't even want to talk about because I loved it too much. It's worth a look.

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1/10

Mel Tolkin, How Could You?

Bilko-321 May 2000

I saw this on AMC last night, introduced by Nancy Sinatra, whose years of experience have not yet rendered her able to read believably from a cue card.

It actually looked like it might be interesting, since it was written by Mel Tolkin, head writer for "Your Show of Shows" and "Caesar's Hour" (two of the most intelligently written comedy shows of the fifties) and who was later head writer for "All in the Family."

This movie stinks. Brilliant comic actors like Lou Jacobi, Sig Rumann and John Williams are wasted. The plot limps along like a snail with gout. Allen and Rossi, who I remember liking very much on the Ed Sullivan show, do the best they can with underwritten characters. The aforementioned Nancy Sinatra attempts an accent (I believe French, but it's hard to tell.) Her dress gets ripped off, which is the high point of the movie.

I stuck with it until the end because I began to have a morbid fascination with the film: Can It Get Even Unfunnier As It Goes On? The answer is yes, and an hour and a half of my life is irretrievably gone.

You could watch this movie three or four times, and be rolling on the floor... if someone set you on fire and you were trying to extinguish it. Which would actually be preferable to concentrating on this film.

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3/10

Ridiculous

BandSAboutMovies15 April 2020

Warning: Spoilers

Marty Allen and Steve Rossi - who used the catchphrase "Hello Dere!" - were a comedy from 1957 until 1968 that appeared on over 700 television shows including 44 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show.

This film is their spy spoof, featuring Nancy Sinatra acting and singing "The Last of the Secret Agents," which is also in the Billy Murray movie The Man Who Knew Too Little.

Paramount Pictures knew all about comedy teams. In the 1940s, they made big money off of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby and Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in the 1950s. There was the hope that Allen and Rossi could do the same here, but it didn't happen. That said, they did make Allen and Rossi Meet Dracula and Frankenstein.

In this movie, they play tourists who are recruited by the Good Guys Institute to battle Zoltan Schubach and THEM, who are stealing art treasures.

It was directed by Norman Abbott, who worked a lot with Jack Benny and was a director for the Get Smart! TV show, amongst many other programs.

Lou Jacobi shows up (he's Murray, the man who gets lost inside his TV in Amazon Women on the Moon), as does Thordis Brandt (The Witchmaker), Harvey Korman and the one-time wife of Russ Meyer, Edy Williams.

It's petty dated, but an interesting watch.

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8/10

Just Love It

mariaanders23 June 2019

It is something special about movies of the 60s, and specially those James Bond spoofs. This is one of the more enjoyable. Yes, it is a comedy and it has some real highlights. To bad that there was no sequel. One of the highlights is of course Lee Hazlewood´s wonderful theme, perfectly sung by Nancy Sinatra. and with the perfect "Bond-touch", She also had a far to small part in the film. But another real hightlight is Steve Rossi´s performance of "You Are". But who were the two girls singing it with him ? I can´t find them in the cast list. Any one who knows who they are. Did they do any other work ? I was just intrigued about this stunning song. Actually, I had never seen this film before or even heard of it, except that I have heard Nancy Sinatra´s song, but did not realized that it was made for this movie. It really deserves a DVD release

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Underrated and not bad at all.

BobLib30 September 1999

This little spy spoof has been universally put down by the critics. One wonders if any of them actually saw it or just read the credits. This ahead-of-its-time little picture is very much the precurser of the Zucker/Brooks school of many years later, with many inspired, singularly off-beat gags.

Marty Allen and Steve Rossi have been described as everything from a couple of borscht-belters who got lucky, to the ultimate '60's Vegas lounge act, to the poor man's Martin and Lewis. I don't know much about that, but I do know that they're very funny here, Rossi sometimes more so than Allen, whose whiney delivery ("Hello, dere[sic]!") tends to grate sometimes. The late John Williams ("Some of the great popular songs were actually written by the great masters" for you retromercial fans!) was one of those actors who could shine in a broom closet, and he doesn't disappoint here. Neither does Theo Mercuese, who could play some of the slimiest villains of all time (Remember "The Night of the Bottomless Pit" on the original "Wild, Wild West?" A tru e classic.). He plays one with a light touch here, and does so delightfully.

A hidden alternate comedy treasure. If you can't find the video, look for it on American Movie Classics, where it's run fairly frequently.

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It helps if you are over forty...

Slyhuckster28 January 2003

Just wanted to know if anyone else noticed William Petersen in an uncredited role. He appears in the restaurant/club about thirty or forty minutes in, with blonde hair or streaks. He looks good; appears to be a bouncer. I didn't mind the movie a bit, needs a few more good gags.

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