What's Up Tiger Lily?/Fun Facts

• This movie is Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi (1965) (aka "Key of Keys") with new dialogue by Woody Allen dubbed in.

• The two Japanese spy girls in the movie -- Akiko Wakabayashi and Mie Hama -- also appear together in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice (1967).

• Woody Allen and a group of friends only did 60 minutes of dialogue for the movie. An additional 19 minutes was recorded using an actor mimicking Allen, plus footage of The Lovin' Spoonful. These additions were made without Allen's consultation.

• Woody Allen's directorial debut (of sorts).

• The original Japanese film's plot is about a search for a secret microfilm, not a recipe for egg salad.

• The addition of The Lovin' Spoonful was a studio imposition to bump up the running time. Woody Allen was so incensed by this that he threatened to sue the studio, although he later recanted when the film became a hit.

• American International Pictures bought the 1965 Japanese film "Key of Keys" for $66,000. However, the studio quickly realized that it was far too confusing for Western audiences. AIP president Henry G. Saperstein came up with the idea of turning the original inscrutable thriller into a comedy by dubbing it with different dialogue. As Woody Allen had just scored an unexpected hit with his screenplay for What's New Pussycat (1965), Saperstein hired him.

• The world premiere of this movie was at the Campus Theatre in East Lansing, MI.

• After the movie was taken out of Woody Allen's hands, Allen noted that his own voice had been dubbed over in the closing credits.
• In 1969, American International Pictures reissued this film on a double bill with Three in the Attic (1968).