Sorry, this movie sucks

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

"What's Up, Tiger Lily" is not the film that put Woody Allen on the map - "What's New, Pussycat?" did that, the previous year - but it is the film that showed his wit is not only irreverent, but also unique: nobody had attempted before to do what he does here. And would you believe that he actually manages to tell a reasonably coherent spy story (about an egg salad recipe!) through his dubbed dialogue?! The original film does have fairly slick production values (apart from some shots where the sea looks like a painted backdrop) and two gorgeous, gorgeous Japanese women in its cast (they both starred in the Bond film "You Only Live Twice"!). Woody's version has some laugh-out-loud moments, but it does wear thin in the course of its 80 minutes; I agree with Pauline Kael's comment that it would have been better as a short. However, the film's best jokes ("Beware of the man with....with....with....with....") are so good that they can make you laugh even when you're remembering them later, though in my opinion the single funniest line belongs to Woody himself: "it's a great film, beautiful color, lots of raping and looting and killing!". **1/2 out of 4.

Woody Allen's cinematic portfolio is one robust with different ideas, consistent styles, humour and staples that make his work his own which, over the course of his career, he has employed to make a name for himself as one of America's most beloved and respected directors. Yet many probably wouldn't have imagined such a future blossoming from the "director" of dub-comedy What's Up, Tiger Lily?; a series of shtick gags and farcical slapstick derived from cheap puns and hordes upon masses of crude sex jokes, half-clothed women and cheesy spy b-movie acting.So just to be clear for those unaware, What's Up, Tiger Lily?, although credited with Allen as the director, at least can only attain this credit when it comes to assembling bits and pieces, and re-scripting two Japanese spy movies into one zany mix of comedy back dropped against a low budget action flick. The result is a mixed, but mostly enjoyable romp that feels stunted and cheap, but not at the expense of its humour. Sure enough there are moments when Allen's comedy doesn't quite pay off and feels overly contrived, but for every bum note, there are at least two solid gags that click surprisingly well given the circumstances. In fact, if you don't laugh out loud at lines such as "It's Wing-Fool, you fat! I mean… it's Wing-Fat, you fool!" then I suggest you look around for where you dropped your funny bone.The re-imagined plot line from Woody, which revolves around a secret recipe for the "world's best egg-salad" and two opposing factions fighting over it, or something, is perfunctory; if you're watching for the purpose of enjoying a good story, then you're in the wrong place and should see your psychiatrist—it's as simple as that. For what it's worth, Allen does a decent job of maintaining his version of the story particularly well considering that he skews the entire premise to revolve around an egg-salad recipe, even if the entire story never takes off on its own. Best of all however is that things are kept light and fun with several amusing cutaways with Allen that break up the monotony of all those sex jokes at times.Taken in retrospect, the movie as a whole is something of a bewildering pastiche of some of Allen's most famous quirks and wit that would dominate his work for years to come. Perhaps most foreshadowing of all however is that What's Up, Tiger Lily? with it's obtuse, somewhat bizarre take on cinema echoes the originality and distinctly off-beat nature that Woody would become renown for. From here on in Allen would, of course, take it upon himself to fully direct his own features rather than simply dub his own story onto cheap imports—but even here in his humble directorial beginnings, you can nevertheless spot something just a little bit special that shines throughout; something unique and artistic for its time.When it comes down to it however, this directorial debut, despite its crudeness and almost complete redundancy in terms of value to anyone not looking for a silly, no brainer eighty minutes of shtick, does well to entertain. Of course, it doesn't quite attain the heights of the director's later works, but this is hardly surprising given the premise and intent at hand and should be taken on its own. Inspiring countless TV shows, similar movies, internet memes and innumerable spoofs which echo the same kind of facetious irreverence displayed here, the cultural significance perhaps outweighs the significance of the film taken on its own merits, but that doesn't stop it from being any fun; in fact, quite the opposite—even a good four decades down the line, What's Up, Tiger Lily? has its fair share of downright hilarious spots.A review by Jamie Robert Ward (http://www.invocus.net)

We have gotten used to Woody Allen films of the present day, most of which are a little more cerebral than WUTL but when this first hit the screens I thought it was hilarious. Nobody had seen anything like it and it struck a chord with those with an appreciation of the absurd. And what could be more absurd that running around looking for the perfect egg salad recipe with surprise musical interludes from the Lovin' Spoonful? It's all pretty ridiculous but somehow it worked at the time and still does......at least for some of us.There are some great quotes from this film that rival those from Monty Python films/TV programs. And I'm a Monty Python fan.I probably could have done without the China Lee strip-tease and frankly the Lovin' Spoonful as well.....but who could not love the zany Phil Moscowitz, Wing Fool,you Fat, who loves Phil in his own way, and Sheppard Wong who does not have the body of a killer. And if the movie appears dated, it's only because we have Airplane, and the Austin Powers films in more recent times which have refined the approach to this type of craziness.Granted, WUTL is an acquired taste but it may be worth a watch to see the precursor to the MST3K type of humor......and don't forget the mayonnaise!!

Back during the Colorization Wars of the 1980s, Woody Allen was uncharacteristically public about defending the history and artistry of his craft against those who were eager to take old black & white classics and turn them into digitized coloring books. Chief among the foes of the cinematic art were Ted Turner, who had used his power as a media mogul to buy up control of a huge backlog of films by MGM, RKO, Warner Bros. and other studios as fodder for his cable TV channels. Whether as philistine or shrewd capitalist, Turner hoped to prolong the money-making life of old movies by making them look vaguely newer through color. Of this, Woody said, "To change someone's work without any regard to his wishes shows a total contempt for film, for the director and for the public." To which Ted replied "WHAT'S UP, TIGER LILY?" It was not a question.And unfortunately, Ted had a point.Once upon a time, WHAT'S UP, TIGER LILY? was a 1965 Japanese spy movie called KOKUSAI HIMITSU KEISATSU: KAGI NO KAGI (a.k.a., INTERNATIONAL SECRET POLICE: KEY OF KEYS). The low rent U.S. studio, American International Pictures, bought the rights to the film and, apparently realizing they had a hibachi-cooked turkey on its hands, they decided to try to salvage the project by turning it into a comedy. Fresh from his experience as writer and actor in WHAT'S NEW, PUSSYCAT, Woody was offered the opportunity to try directing -- well, re-directing -- by re-writing, re-editing and re-dubbing KEY OF KEYS into TIGER LILY? And the film's James Bond-style story about missing microfilm became a wise-cracking farce about the search for the perfect egg salad recipe.It may never be known if KEY OF KEYS was/is a good film, but it is apparent that for all of his efforts, Woody couldn't save it for American audiences. Rearranging the scenes and putting smart alec remarks and inane non sequiturs into the unsuspecting mouths of the actors must have been fun and maybe even an educational experience for the neophyte filmmaker. The result it like a 3-D MAD Magazine satire or a trial run for the type of comedy that would make its breakthrough with AIRPLANE! and THE NAKED GUN. But in the end, TIGER LILY isn't all that funny, or at least not consistently funny. For every good chuckle there are a dozen lead balloons and too much of the dialogue is used to explain the convoluted plot. If appearances are anything, the reconstruction of the film was a rush job and it all was done on the cheap.So the interesting thing about TIGER LILY is not its value as art or entertainment, but the ethics behind it. You can't blame Woody for taking on the project; it must have been a challenge and it was certainly an opportunity to move his career into a new direction. But, as the Ted Turner situation would make apparent, TIGER LILY is not the film that the makers of KEY OF KEYS had envisioned. That is not to say that in its original Japanese form, the film was a CITIZEN KANE or a MALTESE FALCON or even a MANHATTAN, but whatever it was, Allen greatly altered the way it would be experienced by most of the world. Of course, Woody never claimed that his version of the film was meant to replace or even compete with the original, but just the same he negated another director's work.If anything TIGER LILY is a lesson in both the plastic and the fragile nature of film as an art. Whether with mischief or malice, a little imagination can alter not just the tone of a film but its message and its vision. And as the BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN parodies that made their way to Youtube.com proved, you don't even have to be a professional to become a re-director.A further irony: AIP found Woody's cut of the film too short for theatrical release and they again reedited it to add some more footage and a few faux music videos by The Loving Spoonful. You can even tell in the final cameo that he makes at the end of the film that Woody's own voice has been redubbed by someone else. This angered Allen, who felt his work had been violated, and it motivated his drive to become a director who protects his work from unwanted tampering. But one wonders if Senkichi Taniguchi, the director of KEY OF KEYS ever saw WHAT'S UP, TIGER LILY? --and whether or not he ever forgave Woody for what he did to it.