Les Plus Dingues des Agents Secrets

In 'The Last of the Secret Agents,' Marty Allen and Steve Rossi end up being recruited by a very secret organization to help stop the evil force known as THEM. The evil genius behind THEM has managed to find the missing arms of the Venus Di Milo, so now he wants the rest of the statue. There are some sequences here that are very funny. The scene in which Allen and Rossi discuss marriage was my favorite. Most of the best gags in the film are in the style that would later be perfected in movies like 'Airplane' and 'The Naked Gun: from the files of Police Squad.' There are, however, plenty of sequences where the gags just plain bomb. Marty Allen seems to have gone to the Joe Besser school of comedy (shave his head and he'd almost look just like Besser). His buggy eyes and constant whining are probably not everybody's taste, but he does have some very funny moments. Nancy Sinatra sings the title tune, but her role in the film is pretty much a glorified cameo.

Art thieves in France are in for trouble when a couple of clumsy American tourists-turned-spies (Steve Rossi and Marty Allen) are assigned to expose their operation. Loud, poorly-written slapstick comedy might appeal to Three Stooges or Martin & Lewis fans. It isn't a bad-looking film, but it's shrill instead of funny. Director Norman Abbott (who also co-wrote the script and produced!) seems to really believe Marty Allen is the next Jerry Lewis or Lou Costello (he isn't) and there's far too much of him. Linking this to later spoofs like "The Naked Gun" is really doing this movie a favor. It has some snap, but it's a bit long and bumbling. Good supporting cast features Nancy Sinatra, who also sings the title cut penned by Lee Hazlewood (which is more clever than anything else in the picture). *1/2 from ****

This is one of the old "B" type films which have been too easily forgotten. I remember this film from my childhood, and had to search for years to find it again. Don't run away because of my rating. This is one of those quirky little 'lost gems' which just didn't rate a sequel. Admittedly, I was more impressed with this film as a child - back before the more modern Star Wars like gadgets of today, but it can still be a fun flick for those of us who like to root for the "underdog" films. Allen and Rossi are a couple of the fun comedians of days gone past. It's unfortunate that they didn't make more movies. Marty Allen is a screwball - to say the least. He goes through the film looking as though he had stuck his finger in a light socket. There is another added bonus to this film. Nancy Sinatra as the girl interest - who is out to land Steve (Rossi). The song of the same name was made for this film - and, unfortunately, has had a far better following. These off-the-wall films are too precious to take no notice. I would like to see this one make it to our TV screens again.

Paramount must have been trying to recapture the success they had with Martin and Lewis by releasing this Allen and Rossi effort a decade after the Martin/Lewis breakup. Marty Allen is a funny guy; anyone who remembers his 70s appearances on "Hollywood Squares" and "The Merv Griffin Show" can attest to that. But the Allen humor does not translate well to film; either that, or the script is just mediocre at best.

There are genuinely funny moments in the film, the best being Harvey Korman's appearance as a German officer. But there are some plain silly moments as well, such as costume changes on board a train every time it goes through a tunnel.

Nancy Sinatra fans will be disappointed in that she doesn't have much to do here...however, she looks as great as ever.

As a kid, I really enjoyed this movie. But that was the 70s. While still having positive feelings for it, that is from memory. I don't blame Allen and Rossi. Their humor did not translate to the big screen and were let down by a script written by someone who had no understanding of the spy genre, nor how to spoof it. It seems to me you have to have a plot that makes sense within the context of the story and then introduce humorous characters and twists that have no business being there. After an entertaining opening sequence, which goes on a bit longer than it should, the first half hour is fun, introducing Allen and Rossi and setting up the story. What follows after is slow, unfunny and nonsensical. More staid 50s than the hip 60s. Too bad Mel Brooks wasn't brought in to save it.