For those of us who were growing up after World War II, there wasn't much about the Cold War that was funny. At least, not during the late 1940s and 1950s. But after Nikita Khrushchev's visit to the U.S. in September, 1959, things began to change. Still on guard and wary of the Soviets, America and Western Europe began to take the Cold War a little more lightly at times. So, films such as "Agent 8 ¾" began to appear. Others have noted the films based on Ian Fleming's James Bond character, and similar spoofs.
But, this was still a time of tension. People were fleeing Soviet controlled countries, and Berlin was one of the last places of escape. So, the Soviets began building the Berlin wall in August 1961. Even after the wall was up, there were occasional daring escapes. Hollywood turned out some excellent films that looked at the escape attempts and other espionage thrillers. "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" came out in 1965. It gave a realistic and excellent feel for the east-west tension in Germany at the time.
I recall an incident when I was in the Army and stationed in Germany, 1962-1964. A friend and I flew the mail plane from Frankfurt to Berlin for a long weekend visit to tour the city. We took an American military tour bus through Checkpoint Charlie into East Berlin. We made a stop at the Soviet War Memorial, and as we were leaving, a small group of East German boys approached us. GIs in those days always had gum or candy on hand, and we gave the boys both. As our bus was pulling out, our guide told us that the German Police would take the goodies from the boys. Sure enough, as we watched through the rear window, two cars pulled up and men in long black coats got out and corralled the kids. Hollywood couldn't have staged it any better.
Most of the espionage films during the1960s were combination action, mystery and thrillers. They were interesting and the better ones kept viewers on the edge of their seats. Some had humor. Some of the best were "The Prize" in 1963, "The Ipcress File" in 1965, "Arabesque" in 1966, "The Deadly Affair" in 1966, "Funeral in Berlin" in 1966, "Torn Curtain" in 1966, "Ice Station Zebra" in 1968, and "Topaz" in 1969. A number of spy spoofs also came out in that time, but none were very exceptional. Films other than espionage around the Cold War were quite good and funny. But the Cold War spy spoofs mostly were so-so. "Agent 8 3/4 "is about as good as they got, and it's little more than a light, somewhat entertaining movie. The plot is OK, but the script is weak. There are no great funny lines, and only a few laughs over panning one thing or another about the British or Soviet secret agencies. The actors are good but not exceptional.
