Un micro dans le nez

Either Laurence Harvey was getting desperate, or he seriously wanted to change his image; in 1966, he accepted a part in a silly comedy, The Spy with a Cold Nose. Two rules of thumb for actors: never work with animals or children. And in this movie, Larry plays second fiddle to a dog. (Actually, he plays third fiddle to the dog and Lionel Jeffries.) But, if he just wanted to change his image and make himself more family friendly, it was a cute idea. Similar to That Darn Cat, lots of kids will enjoy this movie as they watch a cute little pet get recruited into the world of government spies. You'd never guess the soft-spoken veterinarian in this movie is the same crazed assassin from The Manchurian Candidate, unscrupulous cad in Room at the Top, or naughty playboy in Darling. In this comedy, a dog is fitted with a discreet listening device so he can spy on the Russians, and Lionel is the British agent in charge of the whole operation. He doesn't get any respect at home, so this is his shot to feel like a bigshot. When the dog gets sick and has to go see the vet, Lionel tries to re-capture the dog so they can find out what his collar has been tape-recording. It's pretty harmless if you want to try it, but it's not that great.

It made me laugh a little, which hasn't happened to me in a long time. When the boss sees Stanley Farquhar(Lionel Jeffries) without a hand and says "I'm sorry!", Farquhar replies, "I left it in the office." Then I laughed again when Francis Trevelyan (Laurence Harvey) told one of his mistresses, a married woman, to buy more dogs, to have more reasons to meet. There is also a lovely scene with the "comrade princess" Natasha Romanova(the gorgeous Daliah Lavi who left us in 2017) in the Kremlin. OK, I won't tell you the whole movie, how many others do, it's great fun, watch it, I recommend it with confidence! Lionel Jeffries is very funny, the funniest of all actually, then the old secretary who's a bit deaf, a mock of Moneypenny, she is delicious and the music of the Italian Riz Ortolani is cool, cheerful.

The Russian Premier is presented with a British bulldog, who has been fitted with a transmitter (Operation Bandy Legs) by Dr. Francis Trevelyan (Laurence Harvey). The red comrade conveniently takes the dog everywhere (even the opera) and before long 200 Russian agents working in England have been captured. To plug this leak, the Ruskies put Princess (?) Natasha Romanova (Daliah Lavi) on the case. She makes mild mannered Stanley Farquhar (Lionel Jeffries) biggest dream come true: a naked lady waiting when he enters his hotel room. For reasons impossible to dispose here (it could trigger international chaos), the chip must be removed again and only Trevelyan (third best dressed man in the whole world three years running), can do it.

Although the pre-credit sequence and the order of billing would make you believe Harvey, as the ladies man veterinarian, is the lead, he only appears sporadically during the first half of the film. It is Golden Globe nominee Jeffries who carries the picture as the low key counter intelligence agent ridiculed by his wife and children. Daliah Lavi has but a few scenes scattered throughout, but does get to show off some incredible sixties outfits and underwear. Denholm Elliott is wasted as usual, and Erik Sykes plays the kind of stupid assistant who would make Peter Sellers blush.

For a spy spoof there is little action, just some people trying to lure the dog with the help of a mate. It also seems like every character has a funny but difficult to remember surname (or a silly codename). A couple of meaningless references to popular culture immediately fall flat, and the old Get Smart cone of silence (or Sound Proof Bubble as it is called here) is dragged out again for all it's worth. This does provide one amusing bit when Trevelyan loses the only thing he has going for him: the most stuck up British accent ever committed to film.

5 out of 10

Now on YT, as an adolescent I saw this on the promise of sexy t&a from previews. Now family fare and a silly premise. Its Lionel Jeffries' movie and he makes it amusing. Operation Kid Brother had fewer laughs more action and t&a.

This movie begins with a bumbling agent for British counter-intelligence named "Stanley Farquhar" (Lionel Jeffries) coming upon a brilliant plan to spy on the Soviet Union. His plan, essentially, is to put a bugging device into a bulldog named "Disraeli" which the British Prime Minister is about to give as a gift to his Soviet counterpart. To help with this plan Stanley blackmails a veterinarian by the name of "Dr. Francis Trevelyon" (Laurence Harvey) who has a predilection for the wives of his clients. At first, everything is a smashing success but this all changes when the Soviet Prime Minister sends his best spy, "Princess Natasha Romanova" (Dahlia Lavi) to Britian to uncover the source of the leaks. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this movie certainly had its ups and downs with the inconsistent comedy being the main concern. Fortunately, the presence of Dahlia Lavi-along with decent acting from Lionel Jeffries and Laurence Harvey--definitely improved what normally should have been a very lackluster film and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.