| 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.
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.
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]
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]