What's Up, Tiger Lily?

Cast

Woody Allen
as Himself/Dub Voice/Projectionist, Narrator/Host/Voices

Mickey Rose

Tatsuya Mihashi
as Phil Moscowitz

Mie Hama
as Teri Yaki

Akiko Wakabayashi
as Shepherd Wong

Tadao Nakamaru
as Shepherd Wong

Susumu Kurobe
as Wing Fat

Julie Bennett

Frank Buxton

China Lee
as Herself

Kumi Mizuno
as Phil's Date

Louise Lasser
as Dub Voice

Eisei Amamoto
as Bartender with Peter Lorre accent

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Critic Reviews for What's Up, Tiger Lily?

Audience Reviews for What's Up, Tiger Lily?

• Aug 07, 2012

  On a technical level, this is a terrible excuse for a movie. People simply over dubbed somebody elses work. Geeze, I've done that. On the other hand, it's pretty funny. By that logic, a 5/10.
  

  Dillon L Super Reviewer
• Jul 22, 2012

  "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" made me laugh more times than any other film in recent memory, so for that simple fact alone, it merits commendation. Of course, as one would rightfully imagine, it's not perfect. There are plenty of areas where it lags, and for a debut, Allen's concept is pretty lazy, but most of the time, it's amusing and chock full of comedic ingenuity and hilarious quotes. This is an easygoing, clever comedy that isn't wholly original, but it's enjoyable and demands more credit than it has been given. "Shepherd Wong, you'd never guess I have no pants on!"
  Stephen E Super Reviewer
• Mar 20, 2011

  Woody Allen's directorial debut was an interesting experiment at the time: redubbing International Secret Police: A Barrel of Gunpowder and ISP: Key of Keys (two pre-existing Japanese James Bond-esque films) with comedic English dialogue (a definite early precursor to Mystery Science Theater 3000). The film on screen, of course, is utterly ridiculous, and Allen conjures up some good lines such as, "It's a great film! It's got rape and looting," and "I have nude pictures that I will send to every grade school in Tokyo. Unless you're confident with your body, you're in for trouble", and there's even some clever participatory lines such as "Applaud so the gun will magically have more bullets," but the novelty wears off pretty quickly. In the end, it's hard to escape the fact that, even with the new dialogue, an audience still has to sit through the movie on screen. There are some awkward and bizarre musical interludes from The Lovin' Spoonful (which happened without Allen's consent, and propelled him to insist on musical control over his films) and their inclusion, both sonically and visually, is completely nonsensical. It appears as if he and his collaborators had a few good ideas here and there, but sporadic ideas does not a movie make.
  Jonathan H Super Reviewer
• May 21, 2010

  After writing and appearing in the film, "What's New Pussycat?", Woody Allen was approached by producers to write an english language dub of the japanese spy thriller "International Secret Police: Key of Keys". He agreed to do it, but only if he could re-work the storyline, which now centers around a group of spies pursuing the "world's best egg salad". Yes, I know it sounds wacky, but those expecting Allen's usual satirical wit will undoubtedly be disappointed, as it's a far cry from his films from the 70s. Still, I got quite a few chuckles from it, and there were certain scenes that out and out cracked me up. I also enjoyed the incongruous appearance of The Lovin' Spoonful, even if they were added later without Woody's consent. It's definitely a unique film experience, and probably the first of it's kind.
  Devon B Super Reviewer

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