The Spy with a Cold Nose explained

The Spy with a Cold Nose
Director:Daniel Petrie
Producer:Joseph E. Levine
Leonard Lightstone
Music:Riz Ortolani
Cinematography:Kenneth Higgins
Editing:Jack Slade
Studio:Associated London Films
Distributor:Paramount British Pictures (UK)
AVCO Embassy Pictures (US)
Runtime:93 minutes
Country:United Kingdom
Language:English

The Spy with a Cold Nose is a 1966 British comedy film directed by Daniel Petrie and starring Laurence Harvey, Daliah Lavi, Lionel Jeffries, Denholm Elliott, and Colin Blakely.[1] It was written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.

Plot

A dog has a covert listening device implanted before being presented as a gift to the Russian leader. Spies recruit a veterinarian, to retrieve the transmitter before the Russians find it.

Cast

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Broad, thoroughly British farce, developed along totally predictable lines but partly saved by a script which at least has the virtue of keeping things on the move, and by a zany and superbly timed performance from Lionel Jeffries. There is good support from Colin Blakely as the dog-loving Russian Premier and from Eric Portman as the British Ambassador who holds private meetings in a sound-proof glass bowl. The dogs have thankfully little to say for themselves."[2]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "Ace sitcom writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson here offer their contribution to the spy boom that was dominating popular cinema in the 1960s. Their sub-Bondian farce stars Laurence Harvey and fine comedy actor Lionel Jeffries in a story of Cold War espionage which features a bulldog with a listening bug grafted to its insides for spying on the Russians. The script was held up as a model of its type but the genius of the words lost a little something in translation, but much mirth remains."[3]

Film critic Leslie Halliwell said: "Rather painful, overacted and overwritten farce full of obvious jokes masquarading as satire."[4]

Accolades

The film was nominated for the 1967 Golden Globe Awards in the Best English-Language Foreign Film category, and Lionel Jeffries in the Best Performance in a Comedy or Musical category.[5]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Spy with a Cold Nose . 6 February 2024 . British Film Institute Collections Search.
  2. 1 January 1967 . The Spy with a Cold Nose . . 34 . 396 . 79 . ProQuest.
  3. Book: Radio Times Guide to Films . . 2017 . 9780992936440 . 18th . London . 870.
  4. Book: Halliwell, Leslie . Halliwell's Film Guide . Paladin . 1989 . 0586088946 . 7th . London . 953.
  5. Web site: The Spy With A Cold Nose . 6 February 2024 . BAFTA.