Main Cast: Phyllis Diller, Jack E. Leonard, Brian Donlevy, Johnny Tillotson, Jayne Mansfield
Release Year: 1966
Country: US
Run Time: 75 minutes
Plot
Joseph Cates (Who Killed Teddy Bear?) directed this insipid, widely reviled musical-comedy featuring heavyset comedian Jack E. Leonard in his leaden screen debut as twins Irving and Herman. The plot concerns some teenagers searching for treasure on a tropical island owned by a cosmetics tycoon (Brian Donlevy). His daughter (Jayne Mansfield, a year before her death) heaves her bosom a great deal and sings (badly). The best singing is done by lead teen Jordan Christopher, making his own screen debut with some promising numbers backed by the Wild Ones. There are a number of subplots involving spies, mermaids, and the legendary Fountain of Youth, as well as some amusing interplay between Leonard and Phyllis Diller to keep things interesting. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
Review
The Fat Spy is a dreadful comedy that is almost entirely devoid of intentional laughs, but which may very well provide camp-lovers with some unintended howlers. Those expecting from the title a spoof of James Bond should be warned that Spy is really a spoof of Frankie and Annette "beach movies," if it can really be said to be a spoof of anything. The comedy is extremely obvious, the jokes rarely land except with a thud, and the pacing and timing are almost always off. The story is total nonsense, an attempt to capture some of the looseness associated with the better "Road" pictures but without an ounce of inspiration or originality. The few attempts at originality -- discovering that one of the character's real names is "Rapunzel Fingernail" (?) -- are simply embarrassing. Joseph Cates directs ineptly, unable to establish a consistent style or tone and seemingly unconcerned about pacing. Phyllis Diller and Jack E. Leonard try to do what they can, but she pushes much too hard and he pulls in such a different direction that neither achieves much to speak of. Jayne Mansfield is around for some snickers. Some of the music, while not great, is pleasant in a conservative-sixties-pop kind of way. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
The Fat Spy is a 1966Z movie that attempts to parody teenage beach party films. It was filmed at Cape Coral, Florida. It is featured in the 2004 documentary The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made. Barely released to theaters in 1966, it was rarely seen until the 1990s, when it was apparently in public domain and since has been widely released on DVD and VHS in various editions sold mainly at dollar stores.
Plot
A mostly-deserted island, which is widely perceived to be the home to the fountain of youth, is off the coast of Florida. The island gets some visitors in the form of a teenage boy band, "the Wild Ones", and their gang of swimsuit-clad young people, who head there in a crowded powerboat ostensibly for a scavenger hunt. However, they spend about half their screen time crooning to each other, or dancing on the beach.
The island's wealthy owner, Wellington (Brian Donlevy) recruits his blonde bombshell daughter, Junior (Jayne Mansfield), to remove the teenagers from the island. Junior is eager to see her love interest (and the island's only resident), rotund toupee-wearing botanist Irving (Jack E. Leonard). However, Irving is more interested in flowers and his bicycle than in the amorous Junior. Wellington asks Irving to spy on the teenagers, which he does by donning a sweatshirt that reads "Fink University" and 'getting their trust' by joining them in dancing the Turtle. Meanwhile, Irving's twin brother Herman (also Jack E. Leonard, without a toupee), Wellington's trusted employee, plots with his love interest, the scheming harridan Camille Salamander (Phyllis Diller) to find the fountain of youth first.
Quality
The acting styles are wildly inconsistent. The teenagers don't have much to do, but act naturalistically. Mansfield's acting is slightly exaggerated. Donlevy delivers his lines as though reading them. Diller and Leonard mug constantly like black-hatted villains in silent films, rolling their eyes at the camera and gesturing like players of Charades.
The film is shot with one camera, with very little coverage. The camera generally remains in place for long periods, and is usually just pointed at the action from a medium distance.
The film begins with an almost three-minute scene of two young men singing and strumming a guitar on a railing overlooking an ocean. The song is about people becoming strange when they get money, and has no relationship to the plot. Then the titles begin.
There are some digs at Wellington's American chauvinism; these also have no relationship to the plot.
