WHAT'S UP, TIGER LILY?
(1966)With Woody Allen, China Lee, The Lovin' Spoonful
And the voices of Woody Allen, Louise Lasser, Len Maxwell, Mickey Rose, Frank Buxton
Original Japanese of Key of Keys includes Tatsuya Mihashi, Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama, Tadao Nakamura, Susumu Kurobe
Reviewed by JB
Woody Allen's "directorial" debut is actually a Japanese spy thriller
KEY OF KEYS, edited and dubbed into a comedy. The film's new plot
is typical Allen nonsense - spies and bad guys battle over the
possession of the recipe for the world's greatest egg salad.
While there are many good "new" lines, the film is rarely as
funny as Allen and his friends think it is, and you have to live with a
little xenophobia (the Japanese cast, featuring many stars popular in
that country at the time, is dismissed as "A No Star Cast" in the
opening credits) and racism (every black characters sounds like a
jive-talker or Rochester).
Some of it is irresistible, such as when the
film's main spy introduces himself as "Phil Moscowitz, Lovable Rogue"
or when the head of a non-existing country explains that he is just
waiting for an opening on the map, and is hoping for a spot between
Spain and Greece. However, the movie never really hits the pace a
great comedy needs, and there are too many dead spots and cheap gags.
The inclusion of The Lovin' Spoonful, foisted upon Allen by the
studio, doesn't help at all, as their soundtrack music is uninspired
and their original songs are unmemorable. 
½ - JB
ADD ANOTHER QUOTE AND MAKE IT A GALLON
(In a Japanese film, the Japanese spy driving a car discovers his mysterious passenger is a beautiful Japanese woman)
"(whistles) An Oriental!"
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Copyright © 2010 John V. Brennan, John Larrabee