What's Up, Tiger Lily?

A woman steps into the room wearing a towel. She and her lover gaze longingly at each other. "Name three presidents!" she says.

In the wake of his early successes as a writer, Allen obtained the rights to an extra-cheesy Japanese spy thriller, threw out the entire soundtrack, then wrote and dubbed in a new script. Mix in a "what has this got to do with anything?" soundtrack by the folk-rock 60s group The Lovin' Spoonful and a few new scenes, and the result is the infamous WHAT'S UP, TIGER LILY? And it is one of the most bizarre movies you're likely to see this lifetime, a film which has attained cult-movie status of the highest order.

The movie is uneven--but that is actually part of its charm. Where else can you see big-haired 60s mamas get down like psycho killers to the innocuous music of The Lovin' Spoonful? Or tacky special effects, inept hop-and-chop fighting, and ridiculously bad cinematography reworked into the story of a bunch of spies on the track of a recipe for the world's best egg salad? And some of the lines are a hoot and a half. My own favorite: "Bring plenty of dynamite. It's a big mother!" Hardcore Allen fans, who often approach him as if he were God, will probably be embarrassed by this movie. Allen himself is pretty embarrassed: he's been trying to live it down for years. But if you have a taste for the bizarre--not to mention some good, I mean REALLY good egg salad--TIGER LILY is the movie for you. Recommended to egg salad junkies, bad hop-and-chop movie watchers, and cult-film enthusiasts everywhere.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

It's not "Manhattan", it's not "Sleeper" and it's not "Small Time Crooks" but it's funny, it's wacky in that 60's way and it's not the bad stinker of a movie people here think it is. Watch it with a some friends or some beer (or both) and just enjoy it. Sour grapes because Woody did what a lot of film nerds want to do? And the whole "Saracen pigs! Saxon dogs! Roman cow!" when Phil Moskowitz karate chops villains is a precursor to Austin Powers' "judo chop". This movie is a one off, and a pretty good one off as well.

"Loooooooooooove has found meeeeeeeeeeeeee, and I have found the waaaaaaaaaaay!"

i have seen this movie several times. it is funny. it is amazing to watch the actor's gestures and facial expressions and realize that the story they are acting is not the one you are hearing. the original story must have been a little silly as well. a lot different from most other Woody Allen films, but still very funny. this movie has that wonderful sixties feeling to it. mystery science theater and the who's line is it any way guys must have gleaned some inspiration from this film. something of a James bond spoof. the guy who repeatedly bursts into song still makes me laugh just thinking about it. this is the kind of movie that will make you want to repeat the dialog in real life just to be a silly person.

What's Up, Tiger Lily? was Woody Allen's directorial debut. Kind of.

Bear with me on this one, the film is basically the Toho movie Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kayaku no taru (Key of Keys) from 1964 with a comedy dub over it. And by comedy dub I mean totally over the top silly stuff, yet somehow someway it works.

I don't like Woody Allen, I find his movies boring and pretentious but this was an unexpected surprise and nothing like I've seen from him before (Probably because it's not technically one of his movies).

It takes a lot to get me laughing out loud especially in hysterics but What's Up, Tiger Lily? managed it several times. Sure a lot of it is really silly and makes you wonder quite what in the blue hell you're watching but when it's funny it's very very funny.

I found myself unleashing with a hearty belly laugh multiple times throughout the film and I honestly can't remember the last time a film managed that. Sure the really funny moments aren't exactly frequent but when they arrive you know about it.

If you like low brow humor, like really really low brow humor you might get a kick out of this.

The Good:

Some real belly laughs

A very novel idea

The Bad:

Stupid musical interludes

Some stuff just too silly to be funny

The "Hand" scene

What's Up Tiger Lily? is one of the absolute funniest movies I've ever seen, although I think I'm the only 14-year-old on the planet whose ever even heard of it. It's highly original, side-splittingly funny, and has a great soundtrack (from The Lovin' Spoonful, a band I'm sure I've never heard of but probably would've if I were older), although the only drawback is that the two five-minute dance scenes, while somewhat funny at first, drag on and on to the point of having to fast forward. And have the remote handy; you'll have to stop some of the scenes right in the middle because you'll be laughing too hard to hear them. A movie I'd highly recommend, especially to anyone who's ever seen MST3K.