Ill-advised by his pal Mike Haney, chem teacher David Wilson falsely claims to be an undercover FBI agent to hide his infidelity. His jealous wife Ann swallows this lie, but it gets him in t... Read allIll-advised by his pal Mike Haney, chem teacher David Wilson falsely claims to be an undercover FBI agent to hide his infidelity. His jealous wife Ann swallows this lie, but it gets him in trouble with the real FBI, the CIA, and the KGB.Ill-advised by his pal Mike Haney, chem teacher David Wilson falsely claims to be an undercover FBI agent to hide his infidelity. His jealous wife Ann swallows this lie, but it gets him in trouble with the real FBI, the CIA, and the KGB.
- Awards
- 4 nominations
- Joe Bendix
- (uncredited)
- Restaurant Patron
- (uncredited)
- Mr. Cosgrove
- (uncredited)
- Tenant
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaShirley MacLaine was originally supposed to star but she changed her mind, and made "Can-Can" with Frank Sinatra instead.
- GoofsDuring the scene in the ESB's basement, after Ann storms out and David comes to, the unconscious Michael (lying on the ground) disappears from where he's lying as David walks past that spot and reappears when David returns. The bucket earlier thrown at him by Ann does not disappear, although it changes position after every cut.
- Quotes
Michael Haney: [pointing to a pair of voluptuous dames] Get a load of how those girls are assembled...
- Crazy creditsTony Curtis physically rips the title off the screen.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Discovering Film: Dean Martin (2015)
- SoundtracksWho Was That Lady?
by Sammy Cahn & Jimmy Van Heusen (as James Van Heusen)
Sung by Dean Martin
Capitol Records
A summary is in order, although it will sound silly. An assistant professor of chemistry at Columbia (Curtis, who lives with his wife, Janet Leigh) in a pad no assistant professor would allow himself to dream of, is caught being kissed by one of his students. Leigh enters his office at the wrong moment, turns on her heel and walks out to go home and begin packing. (All we see of this opening scene are the legs of the three participants.)
A desperate Curtis calls his old pal Martin, a writer of TV mysteries, to help him figure out a way to keep his wife. Over drinks of lab alcohol Martin comes up with something like, "I've got it. You know why you were kissing that girl? Because you're a secret agent in the F.B.I. and she's a Russian spy." Curtis believes this is the dumbest story he's ever heard. But Martin pulls down the shades and locks the doors and tells him that he, Martin, is himself an F.B.I. agent, having been trained at Quantico while Curtis thought he was on duty in the Army. Martin even pulls off his sock and shows him four dots tattooed on his heel, the sure sign of a secret agent. "J. Edgar Hoover has five."
Curtis is convinced. And Martin begins tattooing his heel with a pen and an electric fan. Queried by a still puzzled Curtis, Martin tells him, "Me? In the F.B.I.? I couldn't even get to be an eagle scout, you jackass." As far as the dots go, Martin doesn't know about Hoover but everybody in his fraternity at Cornell has them.
I'm going to avoid going into this because it would spoil things. Suffice it to say that in order to convince Leigh that Curtis really is an F.B.I. agent, Martin goes to his prop department at CBS and has a fake F.B.I. ID card printed and requisitions a pistol. The F.B.I. gets wind of the fake card. So does the C.I.A. So do the Russians. In the end, a drugged Curtis and Martin wake up in the basement of the Empire State Building, believing they've been kidnapped and are aboard a Russian submarine. I swear I'm not making this up. They decide to sacrifice their lives and sink the submarine, which they attempt to do by hugging each other, then turning every valve and faucet in sight, pulling levers, releasing cascades of water, until they short out the electrical circuit of the Empire State Building.
I'm going to leave it there, I think. It hasn't appeared much on TV lately, and that's the only reason I can think of why there aren't any previous comments on this hilarious comedy. Really, folks, it doesn't deserve to pass unseen. Everyone in it is at his/her comedic best. Even James Whitmore manages to evoke a sympathetic smile or two. And Barbara Nichols in a small but important role has never been funnier. In a Chinese nightclub, Martin and Curtis promise her a job on TV, a proposition which they argue should be discussed over the course of a weekend at the shore. Nichols excuses herself and phones her agent: "They're talking' about a job," she tells him, "but now they're throwin' in Atlantic City." She and Joi Lansing are the prey in this scene. "Get a load of the way these gals are assembled," Martin mutters to Curtis. And adds: "They sing and dance -- like rabbits."
It's not sophisticated but when you come right down to it comedy doesn't really need elegance to be funny. Was Feydeau sophisticated? Was Aristophanes? Was Daffy Duck?
- rmax304823
- Feb 25, 2003
- Permalink
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Wer war die Dame?
- Filming locations
- 33rd Street and 5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York, USA(Exterior - Empire State Building, Davis, Miuke, and Ann meet Belka)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 55 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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