James Bond isn’t the only ’60s vintage secret agent back in business. Anchor Bay Entertainment has brought Phil Moskowitz off hiatus to once again secure the recipe for the world’s greatest egg salad.
Moskowitz is the libidinous hero of “What’s Up, Tiger Lily,” Woody Allen’s first film. Long out of print on video, this 1966 cult classic is one of the “early funny ones” of the type Allen so disparaged in “Stardust Memories.”
“Tiger Lily” has its roots in a 1964 spy epic produced in Japan under the title, “Kagi No Kag (Key of Keys).” As Allen explains in his brief appearance, he redubbed the soundtrack and imposed an alternate story so that while the actors are doing “all these James Bondian things” on screen, “what’s coming out of their mouths is something wholly other.”
According to “Tiger Lily’s” executive producer, Henry G. Saperstein, he first approached Lenny Bruce to rescue this Japanese import from imminent disaster. Saperstein, whose credits include the current theatrical release, “Mr. Magoo,” said he felt compelled to buy the film for domestic distribution to maintain good relations with Toho, the legendary studio that produced his then stock-in-trade, sci-fi monster movies.
But after the purchase, Saperstein said he thought to himself, “You dummy, what will you do with this? They’ll laugh you right out of theaters. But what do you do when you think someone might laugh at you? You beat them to the punch. I decided to do a spoof.”
Saperstein approached Bruce to supply a new soundtrack, but the legendary comic turned him down when told he could not use “four-letter words.” It was Bruce who recommended Allen.
“I went to New York to see (Allen’s act) and I said to myself, `This is the guy.’ I went backstage and he flipped over the idea. Little did I dream (the film) would turn into a classic.”
Saperstein said he vaguely recalled that the original film was about international police and missing microfilm. In Allen’s version, Phil Moskowitz is recruited by the ruler of “a nonexistent but real sounding country” to track down the fabled egg salad recipe. “It is written,” Moskowitz is told, “that he who possesses the best egg salad shall rule over heaven and earth. Don’t ask me why egg salad, I’ve got enough aggravation.”
Among those Allen recruited to supply voices were Louise Lasser, his second wife, and Mickey Rose, with whom he would collaborate on “Take the Money and Run” and “Bananas.” They worked out of a room at the Stanhope Hotel in New York. “We had pens and pencils,” Rose recalled in a phone interview. “We ran the projector for a scene, then stopped and tried to figure out something. Finally, we thought to get the script to see what the actors were actually saying.”
This edition is not the original film, but a version that was redubbed (not by Anchor Bay) and includes outtakes from the recording sessions.
“What’s Up, Tiger Lily?” retails for $14.99 or can be ordered directly by calling 800-786-8777. The original version of the film was released on the Vestron Video label and may still be available for rental.
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“What’s Up, Tiger Lily”
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