The Intelligence Men
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| The Intelligence Men | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover for The Intelligence Men |
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| Directed by | Robert Asher |
| Written by | Dick Hills and Sid Green |
| Starring | Eric Morecambe, Ernie Wise, William Franklyn |
| Music by | Philip Green |
| Cinematography | Jack Asher |
| Distributed by | Rank |
| Release date(s) | 1965 |
| Running time | 104 min. |
| Language | English |
| Followed by | That Riviera Touch |
The Intelligence Men is a 1965 comedy film starring British comic duo Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, already well-known as "Morecambe and Wise".
The film is subtitled "M.I.5 plus 2 equals 0". In the US, the film was known as The Spylarks.
The film was successful enough to enable Morecambe and Wise to make two further films - "That Riviera Touch" and "The Magnificent Two", although neither was as well-received.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Eric is happily serving espresso in his London coffee bar when a strange-looking man (Lemkow) tries to persuade him to remember a tune as a clue to some evil plot. Unfortunately, Eric is tone-deaf. Ernie Sage (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"[1] 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 killed 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, the projected venue for the assassination. This section provides some of the funniest moments of the film- for example Eric, masquerading as a Russian, adopts a broad Scottish highland accent; 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 is well. Eric returns happily to his coffee bar.
[edit] 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
[edit] Notes
- ^ this is German for "bad", or "evil", although there is little evidence of German involvement
