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The Spy with a Cold Nose

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1966 British film by Daniel Petrie

The Spy with a Cold Nose
Directed byDaniel Petrie
Written byRay Galton
Alan Simpson
Produced byJoseph E. Levine
Leonard Lightstone
StarringLaurence Harvey
Daliah Lavi
Lionel Jeffries
Pickles (dog)
CinematographyKenneth Higgins
Edited byJack Slade
Music byRiz Ortolani
Production
company		Associated London Films
Distributed byParamount British Pictures (UK)
AVCO Embassy Pictures (US)
Release date
  • 19 December 1966 (1966-12-19)
Running time93 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Spy with a Cold Nose is a 1966 British comedy film directed by Daniel Petrie and starring Laurence Harvey, Daliah Lavi, Lionel Jeffries, Denholm Elliott, and Colin Blakely. It was written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.

Plot

A dog has a covert listening device implanted before being presented as a gift to the Russian leader. Spies recruit a veterinarian, to retrieve the transmitter before the Russians find it.

Cast

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Broad, thoroughly British farce, developed along totally predictable lines but partly saved by a script which at least has the virtue of keeping things on the move, and by a zany and superbly timed performance from Lionel Jeffries. There is good support from Colin Blakely as the dog-loving Russian Premier and from Eric Portman as the British Ambassador who holds private meetings in a sound-proof glass bowl. The dogs have thankfully little to say for themselves."

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "Ace sitcom writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson here offer their contribution to the spy boom that was dominating popular cinema in the 1960s. Their sub-Bondian farce stars Laurence Harvey and fine comedy actor Lionel Jeffries in a story of Cold War espionage which features a bulldog with a listening bug grafted to its insides for spying on the Russians. The script was held up as a model of its type but the genius of the words lost a little something in translation, but much mirth remains."

Film critic Leslie Halliwell said: "Rather painful, overacted and overwritten farce full of obvious jokes masquarading as satire."

Accolades

The film was nominated for the 1967 Golden Globe Awards in the Best English-Language Foreign Film category, and Lionel Jeffries in the Best Performance in a Comedy or Musical category.

References

  1. "The Spy with a Cold Nose". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  2. "The Spy with a Cold Nose". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 34 (396): 79. 1 January 1967 – via ProQuest.
  3. Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 870. ISBN 9780992936440.
  4. Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 953. ISBN 0586088946.
  5. "The Spy With A Cold Nose". BAFTA. Retrieved 6 February 2024.

External links

Galton and Simpson
Sitcoms
Films
Galton with others
Related articles
Films directed by Daniel Petrie


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