| The Intelligence Men | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Robert Asher |
| Written by | Dick Hills and Sid Green Peter Blackmore |
| Produced by | Hugh Stewart |
| Starring | Eric Morecambe Ernie Wise William Franklyn April Olrich |
| Cinematography | Jack Asher |
| Edited by | Gerry Hambling |
| Music by | Philip Green |
| Distributed by | Rank Organisation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Intelligence Men is a 1965 comedy film starring the British comic duo Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise. In the US, it was retitled Spylarks.[1] It is subtitled "M.I.5 plus 2 equals 0".
The film was successful enough to enable Morecambe and Wise to make two further films, That Riviera Touch and The Magnificent Two.
Plot
Eric (Eric Morecambe), in his London coffee bar, is happily serving black coffee to a sinister-looking man (Tutte Lemkow) when the man tries to persuade him to remember a tune. Unfortunately, Eric is tone-deaf. Ernie Sage (Ernie Wise) enters the coffee bar and Eric tries to get him to identify the tune, without much success. Eventually, Sage realises that this could be something to do with a forthcoming visit by a Russian trade delegation and an assassination attempt by an organisation known as "SCHLECHT" (a parody of SPECTRE from the James Bond films; the word is German for "bad" or "evil", although there is little evidence of German involvement to sabotage this mission).
He reports this to his superiors in Military Intelligence (although he is little more than an office-boy), and they reluctantly agree that only Eric, having heard the tune, will be able to lead them to the centre of the plot. Eric is persuaded to pose as a British agent – the recently deceased Major Cavendish – who had managed to infiltrate SCHLECHT. After a few set-piece comedy interludes, the tune is identified and the plot switches to a performance of Swan Lake at the projected venue for the assassination, where the star Russian ballerina Madame Petrovna (April Olrich) is in grave danger.
This section provides some of the funniest moments of the film: for example, Eric, masquerading as a Russian, adopts a broad Scottish highland accent; and during the ballet performance itself, Eric and Ernie, dressed in Egyptian costumes, get mixed up in the "Dance of the Little Swans". Finally, however, the villain is unmasked and all ends happily.
Cast
- Eric Morecambe - Eric
- Ernie Wise - Ernie Sage
- William Franklyn - Colonel Grant
- April Olrich - Madame Petrovna
- Gloria Paul - Gina Carlotti
- Richard Vernon - Sir Edward Seabrook
- David Lodge - Stage Manager
- Jacqueline Jones - Karin
- Terence Alexander - Reed
- Francis Matthews - Thomas
- Warren Mitchell - Prozoroff
- Peter Bull - Philippe
- Tutte Lemkow - Seedy SCHLECHT Agent
- Brian Oulton - Laundry Basket Man
- Michael Peake - Sinister Stranger
Production
It was the last of several collaborations between Hugh Stewart and Bob Asher. Stewart says this was because he fired Asher's brother Jack, the cameraman, who Stewart thought was too slow.[2]
Reception
Critic Leslie Halliwell awarded the film no stars, describing it as an "inept and rather embarrassing big-screen debut for two excellent television comedians".[3]
The film was one of the 12 most popular movies at the British box office in 1965.[4] Stewart says the film was not a success in America, but it made a profit, and led to two more Morecombe and Wise movies.[2]
Notes
- ↑ "SPYLARKS Eric Morecambe Ernie Wise MI5 UK SPY COMEDY Vintage US Movie Flyer | eBay". Archived from the original on 2 September 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
- 1 2 "Hugh Stewart". British Entertainment History Project. 22 November 1989.
- ↑ Halliwell, Leslie (1997). Halliwell's Film and Video Guide. HarperCollins. p. 379. ISBN 0-00-638779-9.
- ↑ "Most Popular Film Star." Times [London, England] 31 Dec. 1965: 13. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 11 July 2012.