What's Up, Tiger Lily?

Poised to reclaim its cult status is Woody Allen's "first" film; actually, a 1964 James Bondian Japanese espionage adventure, Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no Kagi (International Secret Police: Key of Keys) that Allen, Louise Lasser, and other collaborators redubbed. In Allen's fractured flicker, "amiable zany" Phil Moscowitz is shanghaied by the ruler of "a nonexistent but real sounding country" that is on a waiting list to get on the map. "Something between Spain and Greece," he hopes, "it's really much warmer there." But gangster Shepherd Wong has stolen his fabled egg salad recipe, and it is written that "he who makes the best egg salad shall rule over heaven and earth." The incongruity between the action onscreen and the dialogue is much better sustained here than in the recent Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, with early references to vibrators and cattle prods marking the emergence of a hipper style of comedy. Sporting a solid transfer, this disc contains both the original theatrical version and the curious, much-less-funny alternate TV version comprised of recording session outtakes. Highly recommended. (K. Lee Benson)