The Fat Spy

"Off the Florida coast, teenagers (sic) come to a nearly deserted island, rumored to have 'The Fountain of Youth.' This island's owner is none too happy about that, and dispatches his daughter, Junior, to get rid of them. The island's only resident, Irving (Jack E. Leonard), is Junior's sweetie. He is sent to spy on the kids to find out what they know. Irving's twin brother and his girlfriend Camille (Phyllis Diller), are also headed for the island, with their own nefarious plans," according to the DVD sleeve description.

Baby-fattened Jayne Mansfield (as Junior) is introduced hiding her belly behind a bust of George Washington. But, the titular "Fat Spy" refers to "Bronx High School of Science" and "Fink University" stand-up comic Jack E. Leonard (as twins Irving and Herman). With a bald head, Mr. Leonard smooches Ms. Diller, while a toupee allows gets him some necking time with Ms. Mansfield. Her father is rotund Brian Donlevy (as George Wellington), who mutters something about "LSD 26"and speaks on a phallic telephone.

Hopefully, Mr. Donlevy had more blackouts than flashbacks regarding this appearance. Leonard and Diller were likely able to laugh it off. Also appearing, in a candy-striped swimsuit, pop star Johnny Tillotson (as Dodo Bronk) re-plays the "Mermaid" subplot from "Beach Blanket Bingo" (1965). None of the aforementioned cast members are seen at their best, but four stars must be awarded Jordan Christopher and the Wild Ones (Chuck Alden, Tom Trick, Ed Wright and Tom Graves) for the bathing suits and tight tunes.

"People Sure Act Funny" (an apt opener), "Nanette" and "Wild Way of Living" (the version nearer the end of the film) are highlights.

**** The Fat Spy (5/11/66) Joseph Cates ~ Jack E. Leonard, Phyllis Diller, Jordan Christopher, Jayne Mansfield

Let's not beat around the bush. This movie is terrible. Jack E. Leonard is just not funny. He's fat in a rather unpleasant-looking way, he tries too hard, and he's given nothing funny to do in playing TWO PARTS.

HOWEVER, for fans of the genuinely wrong-headed and insane, this movie has some appealing facets. The music is pretty doggone cool. The film begins very suddenly with two guys singing an acoustic rock number on a dock. Recorded live, they're just singing "People Sure Act Funny When They Get A Little Money", and it goes on for about 5 minutes and you don't know if it is part of the movie or what. It suddenly ends and shifts to a cool, cartoon mid-60s style of credits with a bouncy title tune.

Later the band, The Wild Ones, treat us to their song "The Turtle". It's the "slowest dance you'll ever do," replete with leering camera shots of the chicks in their skimpy suits writhing along. The song really rocks in an intense way. The lead girl character gets a song of her own, which would serve as a brilliant parody of Lesley Gore, if the filmmakers were smart enough. It is unbelievably catchy, but the basic theme is "I'm so glad I never get my way and you are a man, because you put me down the nicest way you can." On second thought, that's the actual chorus!

So these and a few other musical moments bring the movie to a level of disbelieving watchability. Fast forward through all the "comedy".

I am watching it as write and am amazed at how they actually got people to perform for this. I really don't think it is as bad as some of the other viewers have commented. True enough that it is basically a rip-off but if you paid under 10$ for this movie like I did then you should think of it as a bargain. kept waiting to see if Phyllis Diller was gonna do anything exciting with her riding crop. I have seen all of the Beach Blanket movies and find that this is actually a good comparison. Makes Frankie and Annette look really good. I will have to watch it again to see if I have missed anything. Sure I will find something interesting the next viewing. Take care and have fun watching.....

I would like to know the story behind "Fat Spy". After all, when you watch it, you keep saying to yourself that this must be a joke! That's because it's a horrible and incomprehensible mess--even worse, in many places, than films like "Plan 9 From Outer Space" or "Robot Monster"! That's because the movie is so disjoint--as if someone just tossed many disparate pieces of junk and strung them all together. In fact, just describing the plot is practically impossible, as the film is THAT much of a mess.

The film consists of three usually separate films. One is a teen film--sort of like a SUPER-cheap surfer film. None of the folks performing in it appeared to be real actors--just a bunch of young adults cavorting on some island off the coast of Florida. They say that they are looking for some hidden treasure but this rarely seems to be the case. Another consists of music videos by some group I'd never heard of...and I assume the same would be true for you and I can DEFINITELY understand why they never became more famous! The final is made up of professional(??) but mostly D-list stars performing some skits--most of which aren't funny in the least (but I did like the Jackie Leonard song that he sings to Phyllis Diller). The scenes really look like outtakes--bad ones at that. You KNOW a film is doomed when it is anchored by Diller, Leonard and Jayne Mansfield. Oddly, however, Brian Donlevy (a legitimate actor!!) appears in a few of these scenes. All three are woven, ineptly, together with some plot involving the fountain of youth...kind of. And, to make matters worse, the film has no ending....just some sort of hurried comments on the screen trying (in vain) to wrap everything together!

Is the film worth seeing? Well, since it's in the public domain, it costs nothing--so at least that's a plus. Otherwise, unless you are a bad film addict, stay away...RUN from this film. But, for folks who like to see people embarrass themselves, it is an interesting curio.

As a longtime resident of SW Florida, I had to watch this film after finding out it was filmed entirely in the city of Cape Coral, and showed parts of Cape Coral Gardens (known to local residents as The Rose Gardens - an abandoned water park that was a popular hangout for teens back in the late 70's/early 80's). The story is pretty incoherent, and as a previous reviewer put it, was basically a sales pitch for the city of Cape Coral. It looks like the majority of it was shot at the Cape Coral Yacht Club (the beach scenes anyway), with the remainder being Cape Coral Gardens (obvious sale pitch for the park at about 1 hour in), and the corner of Del Prado Boulevard and Cape Coral Parkway. Pretty low budget... The performances, as well as the music... just plain bizarre (though it was the '60's).

I rated this a "4" simply for the archival footage of the city I've known for 30 years. Of particular interest to local residents is a shot of the Iwo Jima statue - located originally at the entrance to Cape Coral Gardens, left abandoned when the park closed and long neglected for years... is the very same statue that now resides by Eco Park along Veteran's Memorial Parkway westbound from the Midpoint Bridge (one of the entrances to Cape Coral from the city of Fort Myers). And unbelievably...this film is available on DVD!