A Masterpiece!

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

It may be anachronistic to look at Woody Allen's directorial debut. 'What's up, Tiger Lily is a clever conceit: buy a Japanese action film, then reduce it with other dialog, and in English. Such an idea may have appeared novel a half-century ago, and Allen has moved on although his humor has in some ways remained jejune. However in 1965, a year before Tiger Lily, Allen wrote and had a role in a farce 'What's New Pussy Cat?' that has retained its freshness and drollery yea these 51 years. In comparison, Tiger Lily seems old; flat, shop warn. It is a curiosity piece in the Allen list of films. The New York humor shines through; the seemingly nonchalance of Allen as he keeps his distance in commenting on the film. Tiger Lily brought him to prominence as a film maker, and that in itself is worth noting. For the curious zap through the film, it has lost any freshness it once hand. It's a haunted house, a curiosity, a museum relic,

On Woody Allen's first outing as director, instead of making a real film, he spliced two Japanese films and had voice actors re-dub the dialogue so it tells a much different storyline from the source material. However, during the intro where Woody is interviewed, he makes it clear that what happens with the action and what happens with the spoken plot are supposed to be two completely different things, they end up being very similar. Most of what happens mirrors, although more comically(supposedly), what seems to happen in the action.This isn't even an original idea(it had been done before with silent films). Only a few parts are actually funny and even those aren't that great. I've seen some other Allen films and they were superior in every way to this nonsensical garbage. The jokes are painful. I think a bunch of frat boys could have come up with funnier dialogue that was completely opposite of what was happening in the action.In fact, I'd rather watch the actual two Japanese spy films with their original dialogue(even if it wasn't dubbed and was in subtitles) than re-watch What's Up, Tiger Lily.The two best aspects of this "film" are the 80 minute runtime and the striptease by the very "healthy" China Lee at the end of the film. If you are a Woody Allen fan, then I suppose you "must" see this, however, if you are not, totally avoid this film. Watch Mystery Science Theater instead, if you must see something that's similar.

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.