Themes: Traitorous Spies/Double Agents, Behind the Iron Curtain, Life Under Occupation
Main Cast: Val Kilmer, Lucy Gutteridge, Christopher Villiers, Omar Sharif, Peter Cushing
Release Year: 1984
Country: US
Run Time: 90 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
The second of Zucker-Abraham-Zucker's theatrical-feature spoofs (Airplane was the first, discounting the patchwork Kentucky Fried Movie), Top Secret! lampoons practically every film genre. Specifically, however, this is a hybrid of an "Elvis" movie and a World War II "underground resistance" thriller. In his film debut, Val Kilmer plays Nick Rivers, a Presley-like American rock idol sent behind the Iron Curtain on a goodwill tour. Before long, he is involved in a complex espionage scheme thanks to beautiful Lucy Gutteridge, the daughter of a scientist (Michael Gough) held captive by the Communists. Also essential to the action is flamboyant resistance leader Christopher Villiers, who behaves like Victor Mature in Betrayed (1954) and talks like James Mason. Adhering to Z-A-Z's cheerful disregard for people, places and events, the East Germans are depicted as Nazis, while the Underground is comprised of Frenchmen. The plot is mainly an excuse for the Z-A-Z team's fondness for joke-a-minute lampoonery, skewering cinematic targets ranging from The Blue Lagoon (1980) to The Wizard of Oz (1939). As in Z-A-Z's other efforts, Top Secret! scores its biggest yocks when invoking cliches that we never realized were cliches-and falls on its face whenever attempting a too-obvious gag (the biggest clinker: that pigeon statue in the park). Everyone has his or her favorite bits in this film: our faves include the resistance fighter named Deja Vu ("Haven't we met somewhere before?"), Kilmer's horrible nightmare while being tortured (he arrives too late to take final exams), the army-booted cow, the sensitive Pinto, and the East German National Anthem, sung to the tune of the Shorewood (Wisconsin) High School marching song. But let's say no more: comedy of this nature is designed to be seen, not written or read about. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
While critically less admired than Airplane! (1980), Top Secret! (1984) nonetheless proved a successful follow-up for the team of Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, and David Zucker. As with the previous movie, the directors continued to develop a new kind of comedy for the '80s. Top Secret!'s zaniness owed more to a Marx Brothers' classic like Monkey Business (1931) or a free-for-all like Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974) than its contemporaries, leaving aside such niceties as plot resolutions and character development. While some reviewers complained about the nonexistence of the plot, Roger Ebert pointed out that "One does not attend movies like Top Secret! in order to follow the story line." Critics enjoyed Val Kilmer's unlikely -- in retrospect -- acting debut. Playing an outdated hero with aplomb, he is aptly matched by the deadpan innocence of Shakespearian actor Lucy Gutteridge. The Zuckers and Abrahams would continue to explore anarchic comedy in later films like The Naked Gun (1988) and Hot Shots! (1991). ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., All Movie Guide
Jeremy Kemp - Gen. Streck; Billy Mitchell - Martin; Michael Gough - Dr. Flammond; Harry Ditson - Du Quois; Jim Carter - Deja Vu; Nancy Abrahams - Pregnant Woman; David Adams - Back-Up Singer; Sydney Arnold - Albert Potato; Susan Breslau - Cafe Diner; John Carney - Klaus; Warren Clarke - Col. Von Horst; Daisy the Cow - Herself; Andrew Hawkins - Pilot; Tristram Jellinek - Maj. Crumpler; Gertan Klauber - Mayor; Vyvyan Lorrayne - Mme. Bergerone; Richard Mayes - Biletnikov; Mac McDonald - German Soldier; Ian McNeice - Blind Man; Marcus Powell - Little German; John Sharp - Maitre D'; Eddie Tagoe - Chocolate Mousse; Major Wiley - Porter; Burton Zucker - Chef; Charlotte Zucker - Cafe Diner; Richard Pescud - Priest; Russell Sommers - Student; Nicola Wright - Pizzahaus Girl; Louise Yaffe - Cafe Diner; Dimitri Andreas - Latrine
Credit
John Fenner - Art Director, Michael Lamont - Art Director, Tom Jacobson - Associate Producer, Susan Arnold - Casting, Lucy Boulting - Casting, Mary Selway - Casting, Gillian Gregory - Choreography, Emma Porteous - Costume Designer, Barry Langley - First Assistant Director, Jim Abrahams - Director, Jerry Zucker - Director, David Zucker - Director, Jack Lowin - Second Unit Director, Bernard Gribble - Editor, Jim Abrahams - Executive Producer, Jerry Zucker - Executive Producer, David Zucker - Executive Producer, Maurice Jarre - Composer (Music Score), Derek Ball - Musical Direction/Supervision, Paul "H.R." Hudson - Songwriter, Jerry Zucker - Songwriter, David Zucker - Songwriter, Anderson - Songwriter, Mike Moran - Songwriter, Phil Pickett - Songwriter, Stuart Freeborn - Makeup, Kay Freeborn - Makeup, Freddie Cooper - Camera Operator, Peter Lamont - Production Designer, Christopher G. Challis - Cinematographer, Jack Lowin - Cinematographer, Donald Toms - Production Manager, Jim Abrahams - Producer, Hunt Lowry - Producer, Frederick Zollo - Producer, Jerry Zucker - Producer, David Zucker - Producer, Crispian Sallis - Set Designer, Nick Allder - Special Effects, Derek Ball - Sound/Sound Designer, Joe Powell - Stunts Coordinator, Jim Abrahams - Screenwriter, Martyn Burke - Screenwriter, Jerry Zucker - Screenwriter, David Zucker - Screenwriter
The film tells the story of Nick Rivers (Kilmer), an American pop singer (whose songs sound suspiciously like those of Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys and Little Richard whose songs did not exist until the 1950s and 60s), who goes to East Germany (but the film also parodies films set in Nazi Germany) to perform at a cultural festival. While there, he becomes involved in a resistance movement and helps the beautiful Hillary Flammond (Gutteridge) rescue her father (Gough), a brilliant scientist being held by the Germans and forced to build the deadly Polaris mine.
The film also features short performances by Omar Sharif as Agent Cedric, and Peter Cushing as a Swedish bookstore proprietor, in a scene filmed completely in reverse.
The film features an homage to the Pac-Man craze of the early 80s, at the end of a traditional trip-plotting scene across Europe.
In reference to The Sound of Music, Nick Rivers exits the stage during a concert to flee the soldiers pursuing him.
In one scene a london taxi is destroyed in a car crusher with Omar Sharif inside, a take on a scene from Goldfinger where a henchman is disposed of in a similar fashion.
The flashback scene where Hillary Flamond recounts her discovery of emotional and sexual maturity, shipwrecked in Nigel's arms on a deserted island, is a spoof of The Blue Lagoon.
Nick Rivers' line, "Seems as long as I know my way around that prison, I'll never be lonely" is a direct reference to Casablanca, where Humphrey Bogart says, "It seems as long as I have those letters, I'll never be lonely." There are many other less obvious references to Casablanca'' throughout the film, particularly in the scene where Nick and Hillary meet in the cafe, which makes reference to 'Rick's', what with the sunken floors and Gutteridge only being shot from her left side as per Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca.
Nick Rivers rides a motorcycle through a field, then winks to the camera and jumps the motorcycle over a fence, in a scene reminiscent of Steve McQueen in The Great Escape.
The first shot of Peter Cushing, peering through a magnifying glass to make one eye look huge, was based on a similar shot from 1965's The Skull. The joke here was that when Cushing lowered the glass, his eye really was huge (accomplished via prosthetic makeup).
At the end of the movie, Hillary Flamond says goodbye to each resistance member in turn, and finishes off with a hug to a living scarecrow (who materializes out of nowhere); she holds him in her arms and says "And I'll miss you most of all, Scarecrow!" This is as obvious as a nod can be to The Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy says to Scarecrow "I think I'm going to miss you most of all".
