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What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)

Woody Allen , Tatsuya Mihashi , Woody Allen , Senkichi Taniguchi  |  Unrated |  DVD
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)


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Product Details

  • Actors: Woody Allen, Tatsuya Mihashi, Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama, John Sebastian
  • Directors: Woody Allen, Senkichi Taniguchi
  • Writers: Bryan Wilson, Frank Buxton, Julie Bennett, Len Maxwell, Louise Lasser
  • Format: Color, Dolby, Widescreen, NTSC
  • Language: English
  • Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: Unrated
  • Studio: Image Entertainment
  • DVD Release Date: June 16, 2009
  • Run Time: 80 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B001URA5VG
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #131,011 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • Learn more about "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" on IMDb

Special Features

None.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

What better way for writer-star Woody Allen to cash in on the success of What's New Pussycat? than to write a quickie exploitation comedy that makes fun of quickie exploitation films? In some respects What's Up Tiger Lily? is a forerunner of Mystery Science Theater 3000, only instead of having actors sit back and make sarcastic comments about a cheapo movie, here they dub new dialog onto a ridiculous Japanese spy extravaganza. Allen's exquisite sense of the absurd is in fine form as espionage professionals pursue a top-secret recipe for egg salad. At one point during the planning of a break-in, a spy unfolds a map of their quarry's residence, explaining that the man "lives here." "He lives on that small piece of paper?" questions one of the henchmen. It's that silly. But it's often uproarious. Louise Lasser, Allen's former wife (and co-star of Bananas and future star of TV's Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) is among the voice actors. --Jim Emerson

Product Description

An evil mastermind with an addiction to egg salad! Sadistic, torture-hungry double crossers! Gorgeous girls hungry for lovin'! A weird marriage between a cobra and a chicken! Only one man is daring, clever and sexy enough to take on this kind of mission: superspy Phil Moscowitz! Woody Allen spoofs the spy thriller in one of his funniest films, a nonstop frenzy of skewed wit, hilarious parody and sidesplitting wackiness. With dialogue rewritten and redubbed for a Japanese James Bond-style movie, What's Up, Tiger Lily? turns the sex-and-danger world of filmdom's spy game upside down!

Customer Reviews

This is a very funny movie. Andrew B. Slifkin, Ph.D. (abs7@psu.edu)  |  11 reviewers made a similar statement
Sorry, but I wanted this to be even close to as funny as I remember it being. K. Swanson  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement
The film contains a little grain and I didn't notice any major dust, scratches or film warping. Dennis A. Amith (kndy)  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 39 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars AVOID THIS VERSION AT ALL COSTS July 20, 2001
Format:VHS Tape
Beware : this is an edited version of What's Up Tiger Lily. Some of the dialogue has been changed or erased, resulting in a far less funny movie than it originally was. I have no idea who is responsible for the butchering of this film - whether Woody authorized it or not - but it is not the movie I have seen 10+ times.
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39 of 42 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars ."...a salad so delicious you could PLOTZ!" May 22, 2002
Format:VHS Tape
Thus utters "Wing Fat", Japanese gangster and Wayne Newton lookalike, in Woody Allen's "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" in reference to a much-coveted secret egg salad recipe.
"What's Up, Tiger Lily?" has, in my opinion, always been looked upon as Mr. Allen's filmic poor relation. To the yuppified, nouvelle cuisine-eating self-appointed Allen "aficionados", "Tiger Lily" is a cinematic Nathan's hot dog. What a shame, because it is a very funny, unpretentious, inspired piece of nonsense. Mr. Allen took a 1960s Japanese James Bond [pretend] film, wiped out the dialogue track and, with the help of some very talented performers (including his then-wife Louise "Mary Hartman" Lasser), dubbed in some of the funniest dialogue ever heard on screen. I can't even guess what the plot of the original film was (it's actually pretty [darn] funny without the dialogue), but after Mr. Allen finished with it, the drama centers around the coveted egg salad recipe. The recipe has been stolen from Raspur, a "nonexistent yet real-sounding country", and rival bad guys Shepperd Wong and Wing Fat both want it for their own sinister purposes. Hero Phil Moscowitz (played by Matt Helm [pretend] Tatsuo Mihashi) plays double agent in this mishigas (in between his womanizing shenanigans, unsuccesfully trying to seduce Japanese dolls Miss Teri Yaki and her sister Suki). One must wonder which filmmaker copied who, because actresses Mie Hama and Akiko Wakabayashi, who played the Yaki sisters, both went on to star opposite Sean Connery in the James Bond opus "You Only Live Twice" a few years later! I won't go any further into the plot line of this film, thin as it is, nor will I spoil the fun by quoting the dialogue, but I will simply say that the film is very, very funny and not for the slow-witted. The dialogue is a rapid-fire combination of Borscht Belt humor, and also prefigures the hilarious, brainy quips uttered by the 2 robots on "Mystery Science Theater". There's the obligatory cartoon violence (kick, punch, chop, shoot) and a somewhat superfluous musical score by John Sebastian and The Lovin' Spoonful, and footage of the 1960s rock group is interspersed throughout the film. Undoubtedly this was added to the film to attract the "young, hip" audience. At least the clothes, hairdos and dance steps of the "young folk" are worth a few laughs! And, of course, there are brief filmed interviews with Woody Allen himself, deadpanning and double-talking his way through all of this, making it even funnier, and a striptease by voluptuous China Lee, a former Playboy Playmate, providing even more Asian eye candy for the horndog viewers. "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" is a very enjoyable 89 minutes, but be warned-an hour later, you'll be hungry for more laughs again!
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
In 1966, Woody Allen was given his chance to direct his first film (which he wrote and starred in as well). His job was to make a spy thriller and sure enough, he came up with something different. The film studio purchased the rights to the Japanese films "International Secret Police: A Barrel of Gunpowder" and "International Secret Police: Key of Keys" (Kagi no Kag) and Allen pretty much had the scenes from both films rearranged and edited to create one film, strip all the sound and redub it to make a comedy. The result is "What's Up, Tiger Lily?".

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"what's up, tiger lily?" is presented in the original aspect ratio of 2:35:1 and is enhanced for 16:9 TV's. Picture quality for this 1966 film is actually pretty good on DVD. I have read that many people prior to the DVD release, they watched really bad versions of the film and thus, Image Entertainment's release of the film was amazing. The film contains a little grain and I didn't notice any major dust, scratches or film warping.

As for the audio, audio is presented in Dolby Digital mono and is center channel driven. But for those with a modern home theater receiver, may feel it best to have audio set at audio on all channels (esp. for those with 5.1 or 7.2 or higher setups).

There are no subtitles included in this DVD release.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

It is generally known that Woody Allen is not a big fan of special features for his films on DVD and wants the focus to be on the film. But for "what's up, tiger lily?", you do get an audio selection for the dialogue used for the original theatrical version and an alternate version (which is literally a toned down dialogue).

For example, during a scene when Phil's date is kicked out of the car by Suki Yaki, in the original, his date screams "Hey! You got my vibrator!". In the alternate version she screams, "Hey! That's a rented car!" So, you can select the original or alternate version for audio and you can listen to audio comparisons for certain scenes from the film selecting the original version or alternate version.

Also, included is a Woody Allen Filmography shown onscreen as text.

JUDGMENT CALL:

"what's up, tiger lily?" is an interesting but yet a fun film. To tell you the truth, the story of the film is unimportant because the way the story is written and how pacing for the film is set, but what does matter is how crazy the jokes are for the English dub and how hilarious and out of left field the jokes can get and add a little perverted humor to the mix and see how it relates to the characters in the film. So, the whole entire film is not meant to be taken seriously but is supposed to be one long joke and Woody Allen succeeds.

In fact, the way the film is edited, the pacing of the scenes seem out of place and in one instance, the film is paused and you see hand silhouette trying to rid a hair onscreen during the film while it is paused and is supposedly the film operator and his girlfriend having fun (I wonder if any moviegoers actually believed this and went to complain to the theater). In fact, in one sequence, an interviewer who is confused by the story asks Woody Allen if he can summarize to the audience what has happened in the film thus far, Woody Allen answers "no".

I suppose if you are a Woody Allen fan, "what's up, tiger lily?" is a film that you want in your collection or for those curious of his first directorial debut. It's a funny film that has a plot through its dub but what you see onscreen feels disjointed because the scenes have come from two different film sources. But it was definitely an ambitious and experimental film for Woody Allen and I'm sure during that time, the film managed to succeed in making people laugh and to showcase sexy and beautiful Japanese women.

In fact, many of the talent in the film went on to bigger things. Woody Allen and his wife at the time, Louise Sasser (who did the female dub voices) would go on to work on more films together. As for the two main Japanese female characters, both Akiko Wakabayashi (who plays Suki Yaki) and Mie Hama (who plays Teri Yaki) became the two Japanese Bond girls in the 1967 film "You Only Live Twice". Meanwhile, the stripping girl at the end of the credits, China Lee (who was Playboy Playmate of 1964) also appeared in several films.

While redubbing of Japanese films has become commonplace these days for some Japanese animation releases in the US (to make things much more appealing to American audiences) through the use of jokes and perverted humor (ie. "Crayon Shin Chan" from FUNimation Entertainment), "what's up, tiger lilly?" is definitely a funny film from 1966. The humor still holds up nearly 45 years later and I was definitely entertained by it.

It's important to note that this DVD was released back in 2003 and was re-released in 2009. There are no differences between the two.

Overall, "what's up, tiger lily?" Is not a groundbreaking film by any means, but if you are a Woody Allen fan and want to start out with his first film or have been curious about watching this film, then this film and the DVD is definitely worth checking out!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Funny movie
Woody Allen at his best. I remember seeing it years ago and never forgot it. Very dry humor, but funny.
Published 2 days ago by OIHOHOH
3.0 out of 5 stars For Woody enthusiasts
Early Woody. Okay. 'Nuff said. I bought it for a friend who needs to own every W A film. He's very happy so there.
Published 3 months ago by annie marshall
1.0 out of 5 stars Absolute crap, like almost all Woody Allen movies I've seen.
What's Up, Tiger Lily? (Woody Allen, 1966)

I am one of those people who has never "gotten" the humor of Woody Allen, and the more of his movies I watch in a misguided... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Robert P. Beveridge
3.0 out of 5 stars What have they done to it?
In my early twenties I must have watched this movie with my friends at least thirty times - often enough that we could recite every word of it from memory years later. Read more
Published 9 months ago by eyeballwitness
4.0 out of 5 stars What's Up Tiger Lily
This is Woody Allen's "first" film. Actually, a Japanese spy film which he overdubbed with his dialogue...having nothing to do with the original concept of the film. Read more
Published on May 8, 2011 by Paula M. Peabody
5.0 out of 5 stars That really is Sergeant Carter
Appears this movie was banned because of protests by Japan until the post-war generation discovered it and laughed their britches off.
Published on January 21, 2011 by Not Real Name
3.0 out of 5 stars Hewmah in striking contrast to what was probably kind of toxic in its...
Too bad there's no special features option to turn on subtitles to find out what this movie was about. Something about Japan's Asian neighbors perhaps .... Read more
Published on October 5, 2010 by Cleo
4.0 out of 5 stars "Death and danger are my various breads and, and... various butters."...
After a 'rescue from a buzzsaw' scene, Woody Allen, co-writer/co-producer of the zany AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL release WHAT'S UP, TIGER LILY? (1966), is interviewed by Len Maxwell. Read more
Published on July 30, 2010 by Annie Van Auken
4.0 out of 5 stars "Death and danger are my various breads and, and... various butters."...
This paragraph is specific to the ANCHOR BAY/VIDEO TREASURES VHS edition of WHAT'S UP, TIGER LILY? (1966). Read more
Published on July 30, 2010 by Annie Van Auken
4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, silly 'first' film by Woody Allen
Many years before 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' popularized making fun of bad films to a whole new generation, Woody Allen - in his first 'directing' gig - had a field day... Read more
Published on June 16, 2010 by K. Gordon
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