What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)

Why so much hype?

Nice effects though.

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

What's Up, Tiger Lily was Woody Allen's directorial debut in 1966, although there is some debate about that. By Woody ALlen's own admission the film was taken out of his hands to the point that even the dubbing during the closing credits isn't even the director's voice as intended. American International Pictures bought the 1965 Japanese film "Key of Keys" for $66,000, and What's Up, Tiger Lily is that film re-dubbed with dialogue written by Woody Allen. The good news is, Woody Allen illustrates that even in his first (sort of) film his penchant for brilliant openings. Woody Allen plays himself in What's Up, Tiger Lily, not a version of himself or a character like him which ensured that I would at least like an aspect of the film. In its entirety, however, I can only recommend WHat's Up, Tiger Lily to extreme Woody Allen fans who are completionists, otherwise the film is largely insufferable.

Woody Allen to me has always been an interesting director who is witty and insightful, showing themes that are relatable to anybody and having characters that are neurotic but very compelling in how real they are. He and his films are not for everybody, some people don't like the neurotic approach he takes to his characters and he has been criticised for being self-indulgent. Of all his films, What's Up, Tiger Lily has a number of good things but it for me is one of Allen's weakest films with a sense that he was yet to properly find his voice(it was in Annie Hall when he found it). And it is one of his most polarising. There are things to like about What's Up, Tiger Lily. It is made very well, not audacious but skillful. The acting is more than serviceable and the voices while purposefully cartoony are really entertaining to listen to, particularly the snake-obsessed henchman. The soundtrack is also very catchy in a groovy way but the best thing about What's Up, Tiger Lily is the dialogue and the use of mismatched words, much of it is just hilarious as well as very quotable and has Allen's witty, acerbic style all over it. Not all the humour works, the egg salad part is just silly and some of the ahead-of-the-time jokes may seem in bad taste now(some are not going to take lightly to a few of the sex jokes. The film had such a great idea but it came off in a way that felt over-cooked and under-cooked, basically a one-joke idea that did run out of steam too early. The film starts off brilliantly and the dialogue is all great, the story though is paper thin and much of the pacing is dull and in serious need of a tightening up. Not helped by The Lovin' Spoonful music interludes, the music is really good but the interludes are just bizarre(done in a way that feels completely out of kilter with everything else), are not really all that interesting and just slow the film down considerably. They were put in without Allen's consent apparently and it shows. John Sebastian adds very little here and just seems out of place and somewhat annoying. In terms of direction in What's Up, Tiger Lily, Senkichi Taniguchi's is fine while Allen's is competent but with a sense that he was understandably(considering it's a debut) yet to find or refine his style. All in all, not a very easy film to rate or talk about, it does have a lot of laughs and shows some effort but it could have done much more with the concept it had and Allen has done far better. 5/10 Bethany Cox

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)

What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966) ** (out of 4) AIP film was the first directing credit for Woody Allen but I'm not sure if a director's credit was needed here. Allen takes a Japanese film and then redubs it to try and make a funny film, which is a spoof of the James Bond type of entertainment. I really don't have too much to say because there's nothing to say other than that the film didn't make me laugh. I've seen a lot of dubbed films and on their own they can be very funny but this film here never made me laugh, which was rather interesting since it was redubbed for the purpose of comedy.