The Spy with a Cold Nose ** (1966, Laurence Harvey, Daliah Lavi, Lionel Jeffries, Eric Sykes, Eric Portman, Colin Blakely, Denholm Elliott, Robert Flemyng, Paul Ford)– Classic Movie Review 12,636

Robert Flemyng plays the chief of MI5 who decides to implant a transmitter microphone in a British dog, which is then presented to the Russian leader (Colin Blakely), in Daniel Petrie’s 1966 comedy film The Spy with a Cold Nose. The UK spies recruit English veterinarian Dr Francis Trevelyan (Laurence Harvey) to retrieve the covert listening device before the Russians send the dog to a vet.

Writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson’s sixties spy spoof is sometimes funny but often it’s just too silly for words.

Lionel Jeffries, June Whitfield, Paul Ford (as the US general) and Eric Sykes greatly add to the fun. But main stars Laurence Harvey and Daliah Lavi don’t. Neither have funny bones. Petrie’s plodding direction is no help either. He is the wrong man for the job. The score by Riz Ortolani is an asset, though.

A miscast Harvey seems understandably uncomfortable as the hero Dr Francis Trevelyan (the sort of part Dirk Bogarde could have done standing on his head), and Lavi simply looks lovely but lost as Princess Natasha Romanova.

The film was nominated at the Golden Globe Awards for Best English-Language Foreign Film and Lionel Jeffries was nominated for Best Performance in a Comedy or Musical. So somebody must have liked it. Easy to like Lionel Jeffries, though.

The cast are Laurence Harvey, Daliah Lavi, Lionel Jeffries, Eric Sykes, Eric Portman, Colin Blakely, Denholm Elliott, Robert Flemyng, Paul Ford, Bernard Lee, June Whitfield, Bernard Archard, Robin Bailey, Genevieve (aka Ginette Marguerite Auger), Michael Trubshawe, Bruce Carstairs, Glen Mason, Norma Foster, Gillian Lewis, Wanda Ventham, Amy Dalby, Julian Orchard, John Forbes-Robertson, Arnold Diamond, R S M Brittain, Peter Bayliss, René Houston, and Marianne Stone.

Pickles the dog appears as himself. He was a black and white collie, known for his role in finding the stolen Jules Rimet Trophy in March 1966, four months before the 1966 FIFA World Cup kick off in England. This true-life story might have made a much better film.

The Spy with a Cold Nose runs 93 minutes, is made by Associated London Films, is distributed by Paramount British Pictures (UK) and AVCO Embassy Pictures (US), is written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, is shot by Kenneth Higgins, is produced by Joseph E Levine and Leonard Lightstone, and is scored by Riz Ortolani.

Release date: 19 December 1966.

The Lionel Jeffries role was written for Peter Sellers.

Paul Simon declined to write songs for the film.

John Forbes-Robertson replaced Myles Eason as MI5 Workshop Director.

Cast and characters: Laurence Harvey as Dr Francis Trevelyan, Daliah Lavi as Princess Natasha Romanova, Lionel Jeffries as Stanley Farquhar, Eric Sykes as Wrigley, Eric Portman as British Ambassador, Denholm Elliott as Pond-Jones, Colin Blakely as Russian Premier, June Whitfield as Elsie Farquhar, Robert Flemyng as Chief of MI5, Bernard Archard as Russian Intelligence Officer, Robin Bailey as man with Aston Martin, Genevieve as Nightclub Hostess, Nai Bonet as Belly Dancer, Paul Ford as American General, Michael Trubshawe as Braithwaite, Bruce Carstairs as Butler, Glen Mason as ‘Ark’ Assistant, Norma Foster as ‘Ark’ Nurse, Gillian Lewis as Lady Warburton. Wanda Ventham as Mrs Winters, Amy Dalby as Miss Marchbanks, Tricia De Dulin as Air Hostess, Virginia Lyon as Lift Attendant, Julian Orchard as Policeman, Jack Woolgar as Zoo Keeper, John Forbes-Robertson as MI5 Workshop Director, Arnold Diamond as Agent in Water Wagon, and Pickles the dog as himself.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,636

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