'What's Up, Tiger Lily?' is the first film directed by Woody Allen. He also wrote and appeared in the 1966 comedy, which utilized clips from Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi (literal English title: International Secret Police: Key of Keys, 1965, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058253/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxsbT01MDB8dHQ9b258ZmI9dXxwbj0wfHE9SW50ZXJuYXRpb25hbCBTZWNyZXQgUG9saWNlfGh0bWw9MXxubT1vbg__;fc=1;ft=21;fm=1), a Japanese spy film. Instead of translating the film, he added completely orginal dialog that had nothing to do with the Japanese film. By putting in new scenes and rearranging the order of existing scenes, he completely changed the tone of the film from a lackluster James Bond clone into a totally original comedy about a secret egg salad recipe. This style of fake dubbing a foreign movie is similar to that found in Spike TV's MXC or Steve Oedekerk's movie Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, where the dialogue has been completely changed for comedic effect. Some have also suggested the film as a possible inspiration for television's Mystery Science Theater 3000, wherein old "B-movies" are accompanied by a humorous running commentary throughout.

Louise Lasser served as one of the voice actors for the "new" soundtrack.

Post-production, The Lovin' Spoonful, a band, was spliced into the movie against Woody Allen's wishes. This helped convince Allen that he should secure creative control for all his future projects.http://www.screenwritersutopia.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=2725

Characters

Within Woody Allen's altered version, the main characters include:
*Phil Moscowitz - (played in Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi by Tatsuya Mihashi) A self-described "lovable rogue."
*Suki Yaki - (played in Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi by Akiko Wakabayashi) A beautiful woman who seduces Phil and later works alongside him as a spy. She has a sister, Teri Yaki (played in Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi by Mie Hama), who helps as well.
*Shepherd Wong - (played in Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi by Tadao Nakamaru) An evil gang leader who has the world's greatest egg salad recipe.
*Wing Fat - (played in Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi by Susumu Kurobe) An evil gangster who teams up with Phil to steal the recipe from Shepherd Wong, but intends to keep it for himself.

Plot

The plot is very hard to describe since a lot of it does not make sense and is basically an excuse to string along gags such as puns, jokes based on Asian stereotypes, and the general confusion and stupidity of the characters. The plot's basic outline includes Phil's being hired by the Grand Exalted High Majah of Raspur, "a nonexistent, but real-sounding country", to find the secret egg salad recipe that was stolen from him. This movie has a silly ending, with Playboy Playmate China Lee, who was not a character in the movie, doing a striptease while Woody Allen explains that he owed her a favor, so he put her in the movie at the end. China Lee strip dance

Quotes

*"Just get the recipe, ass."
*"He's got a chicken on his back!"
*"I'm a real piece!"

External links

*''What's Up, Tiger Lily?'' at a fansite
*Review
Category:1966 films
Category:Comedy films
Category:Films directed by Woody Allen