What's Up, Tiger Lily | | Cast : | Woody Allen | | Director : | Woody Allen, Senkichi Taniguchi | | Studio : | Image Entertainment | | Format : | Color, Widescreen | | Released Date : | November 02, 1966 | | DVD Released Date : | July 15, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | June 22, 2005 | | Summary | "hello...hello...MOTHER!" | Content
 | I've always been a Woody Allen fan, and his early genius is solidly established in this imaginative and clever endeavor. If you're reading this, you already know of the circumstances surrounding Woody's re-imagining of this dumb film. Fact is, it's beautifully photographed; stereotypes are so plentiful that they become non-existant after a short while. Sound effects are exquisite. And the laffs are happening all the time. It's too silly to explain, and silly is good. We need a whole lot of silly these days. And, yes, a great egg salad would be terrific! Thank you, Woody! |
| Rating | | | Date | April 30, 2005 | | Summary | An enduring gem. Very atypical Allen, but worth it anyway | Content
| `What's Up Tiger Lily' is a puzzle in Woody Allen's body of work. On the one hand, it is such a creampuff I expect it's primary value is as material for the question on daytime `Who Wants to be a Millionaire':
Which 1960's folk-rock band was featured as performers on Woody Allen's `What's Up Tiger Lily'?:
A. The Byrds
B. Buffalo Springfield
C. The Lovin Spoonful
D. The Mamas and the Papas
The answer, Meredith, is C. Final Answer.
An even more difficult question is who, exactly directed the movie, who wrote it, and who filmed it. Woody Allen's name is above the title on the front, yet he gets no credit as writer, although it is pretty obvious that he was the primary writer of the English dialogue you see on the screen. He also makes brief appearances in mock interviews where he is credited with the idea of the movie and with the dialogue.
There is virtually nothing in common in this film, released in 1966, with Allen's first full time actor / writer / director work, `Take the Money and Run', released in 1969 and produced by the usual Rollins and Joffre team. American International, the B-movie studio of Saul Arkoff whose stock in trade was cheap second-rate movies and imports, released this movie, of all things.
I must say that I rarely agree with blurbs on the front of DVD jackets, but I really think there is something to the statement `The film that began America's laugh affair with Woody Allen. Funny then, funnier now!'. Remarkably, aside from the very `60's act by the Lovin Spoonful, there is virtually nothing in the movie that dates it. Some of the parodies apply as effectively to the latest `Lethal Weapon' opus and, even more amazingly, to `Kill Bill' as it does to the cheap spy / martial arts Japanese movies of the 1960's.
The stated premise of the movie is that the American producers (Allen is credited as an Associate Producer) took the film of a cheap Japanese flick and put their own dialogue into the Japanese characters' mouths. The transplant works so well, I almost find it hard to believe this is what they really did. While I recognize some of the names of the dubbing actors (Louise Lasser, for example), I recognize nothing on the screen, and, no credit is given for the Japanese actors, writer, director, cinematographer, or gaffer. I guess this was all part of the deal with the Japanese producer that they got the raw film with no credits given.
I also happen to agree with the blurb from Leonard Maltin who says this is `...One long, very funny joke'. In a sense, for all the parodies done by both Allen and Mel Brooks, this is probably the one from Allen that is most similar to Mel Brooks' style, where the whole premise becomes part of the joke.
I must warn those to whom this is important that all the bad things you see about the filming of movies in the 1950's and 1960's is true of this flick. There is none of the great Gordon Willis cinematography, let alone any of Allen's high talent guest lensmen such as Sven Nykvist or Carlo De Palma.
Allen fans should not pass this up as they may with `Casino Royale' and `What's New Pussycat', where Allen is simply paying the rent by acting in these high cast comedies.
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| Rating | | | Date | December 30, 2004 | | Summary | Don't watch this if you like Woody for "interiors" | Content
| If you love Woody Allen because of "interiors", "fog and mist and darkness" (or whatever that was), and "What's new Pussycat" don't waste your time in this, because you wouldn't like it and it would probably cut into your reading of the latest book on "Asian Philosophy", or the "How to act more sophisticated than you really are" guide. Seriously, this is for someone who wants to see a unique, creative, and truly funny movie. The idea is to dub a cheap James Bond knockoff movie made in Japan, with English dialogue written by Woody Allen. You'll have to see it to truly understand the hilarity of it all, but if you're still hung up on the fact that "Fog and Mist and Darkness" wasn't the correct title for your favorite movie, then, as I said before, skip it and go wine tasting. |
| Rating | | | Date | November 30, 2004 | | Summary | Woody Allen Film for People Who Don't Like Woody Allen Films | Content
| "What's Up, Tiger Lily" has nothing in common with what most people think of as 'Woody Allen films.' In other words, it isn't about an older intellectual having his heart broken in a seriocomic New York adventure with Dixieland jazz playing on the soundtrack. Instead, this movie is closer to what Mystery Science Theater might have been like with the Marx Brothers as hosts.
At this point you are either running from this review in disgust or want to learn more. To make this film, Woody took an early 1960s Japanese spy film, re-edited and redubbed it, and turned it into a pun-filled, absurd comedy about a stolen egg salad recipe. To further add to the chaos, the rock band The Loving Spoonful were tossed into the mix (without Woody's approval). The result is an exceptionally silly film, perhaps best viewed when slightly distracted. Woody stretches the single joke pretty far, and ironically his joke-filled dubbing has more accurate lip-synching than most imported Japanese films of the era that were given a 'straight' treatment.
Is this essential comedy? Not at all. Is it worth at least one viewing? Of course. There aren't any real extras on the disc (aside from a slightly less risque soundtrack), and while purist might have liked to see the original Japanese film on the same DVD, what purist could possibly find any of this funny?
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