The Last of the Secret Agents?

The Last of the Secret Agents? is a 1966 American comedy film that spoofs the spy film genre, starring the then-popular comedy team of Allen & Rossi.

The Last of the Secret Agents?
Directed byNorman Abbott
Produced byMel Tolkin
Written byNorman Abbott
Mel Tolkin
StarringMarty Allen
Steve Rossi
Nancy Sinatra
Theo Marcuse
Music byPete King
CinematographyHarold E. Stine
Edited byOtho Lovering
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • May 25, 1966 (1966-05-25) (U.S.)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1,250,000 (est. US/ Canada rentals)[1]

Plot

Two Americans in Paris (Allen & Rossi) are reluctantly recruited by the Good Guys Institute (GGI) led by J. Frederick Duval (John Williams) to thwart the plans of the evil crime and espionage organisation THEM led by Zoltan Schubach (Theo Marcuse). THEM has plans to steal priceless international art treasures, most notably the Venus de Milo.

In addition to the then popular spy film genre, the film spoofs many other items of the day such as cigarette commercials.

Cast

Music

Nancy Sinatra had made several film appearances previously, and it was planned that she would sing a song written for her by Paramount's Famous Music division's Burt Bacharach and Hal David, but it was cut due to budget constraints.[2] During post-production in January 1966, Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" composed by Lee Hazlewood was a smash hit. Paramount ordered the producer to have Sinatra sing in the film with Hazlewood quickly composing a title song for her reminiscent of John Barry's Thunderball. The resulting song, "The Last of the Secret Agents", did not appear on the Pete King soundtrack album.

At the end of Nancy Sinatra's performance of the title song, she suffers a comic "wardrobe malfunction" leaving her only clad in bra, panties, stocking and heels.

Neal Hefti wrote the song You Are for Steve Rossi, which does appear on the soundtrack, as does the song "Don Jose, Ole" written by Tolkin and Abbott.

Sinatra's title song was reused as an end title song in Bill Murray's The Man Who Knew Too Little.

Production

Allen & Rossi were a popular comedy team in their nightclub and television appearances, notably on The Ed Sullivan Show. Paramount Pictures had highly successful comedy teams of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in the 1940s and Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in the 1950s and no doubt wished to recreate their success with the duo's screen debut in the film. (This proved not to be the case, and no sequels were produced for the film, although the duo did appear in the 1974 film Allen and Rossi Meet Dracula and Frankenstein.[3])

Mel Tolkin had written for Your Show of Shows and had many other comedy credits, whilst Norman Abbott, the nephew of Bud Abbott, had the experience of directing many successful American television comedy shows. Steve Rossi wanted to incorporate material from their comedy routine into the film but his ideas were refused.[4]

See also

References
  1. "Big Rental Pictures of 1966", Variety, 4 January 1967 p 8
  2. p.270 Lisanti, Tom, Paul, Louis, O'Neill, Eileen Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Films and Television 1962-1973 2002 McFarland
  3. Allen and Rossi Meet Dracula and Frankenstein, IMDb
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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