The Spy with a Cold Nose

The Spy with a Cold Nose
The Spy with a Cold Nose
Directed by	Daniel Petrie
Written by	Ray Galton; Alan Simpson
Produced by	Joseph E. Levine; Leonard Lightstone
Starring	Laurence Harvey; Daliah Lavi; Lionel Jeffries; Pickles (dog)
Cinematography	Kenneth Higgins
Edited by	Jack Slade
Music by	Riz Ortolani
Production; company	Associated London Films
Distributed by	Paramount British Pictures (UK); AVCO Embassy Pictures (US)
Release date	19 December 1966;
Running time	93 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

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.^[1] 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

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 M.I.5
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 (uncredited)
John Forbes-Robertson as M.I.5 Workshop Director
Arnold Diamond as agent in water wagon
Pickles the dog as himself

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."^[2]

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."^[3]

Film critic Leslie Halliwell said: "Rather painful, overacted and overwritten farce full of obvious jokes masquarading as satire."^[4]

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.^[5]

References

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

External links

The Spy with a Cold Nose at IMDb
The Spy with a Cold Nose at the TCM Movie Database

This article related to a British comedy film of the 1960s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[BFIsearch-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.

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v t e Galton and Simpson
Ray Galton Alan Simpson
Sitcoms	Hancock's Half Hour (1954–60) Citizen James (1960) Hancock (1961) Comedy Playhouse Series 1 (1961–62) Series 2 (1963) Steptoe and Son (1962–74) The Galton and Simpson Comedy (1969) Clochemerle (1972) Casanova '73 (1973) The Galton and Simpson Playhouse (1977) Paul Merton in Galton and Simpson's... (1996–97)
Films	The Rebel (1961) The Wrong Arm of the Law (1963) The Bargee (1964) The Spy with a Cold Nose (1966) Loot (1970) The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins (1971) Up the Chastity Belt (1971) Steptoe and Son (1972) Steptoe and Son Ride Again (1973)
Galton with others	Spooner's Patch (1979–82) Room at the Bottom (1986–88) Get Well Soon (1997) Steptoe and Son in Murder at Oil Drum Lane (2005)
Related articles	Associated London Scripts Sanford and Son (1972–77) Fleksnes Fataliteter (1972–2002) The Last Fleksnes (1974) Albert & Herbert (1974–82) Skyll inte på mig! (1978)