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.

Premise

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

Production

Exterior locations included: Royal Garden Hotel, Moor Park Golf Club, Castle Howard, London Zoo, Richmond, London; Newington Causeway; Elephant and Castle; and 29 Danehurst Gardens.[2] The signs read The Francis Trevellyan [sic] Animal Foundation and The Ark, at Eileen House, since demolished.[2][3][4][5][6]

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."[7]

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."[8]

Film critic Leslie Halliwell said: "Rather painful, overacted and overwritten farce full of obvious jokes masquarading as satire."[9]

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.[10]

References

  1. ^ "The Spy with a Cold Nose". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  2. ^ a b Monkey, Silver. "The Spy with a Cold Nose". Reel Streets. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
  3. ^ "EILEEN HSE / NEOBRAND / PEABODY". Southwark Notes - whose regeneration?. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2025. After a saga lasting nearly five years, Boris Johnson has resolved to grant planning permission for the construction of a 41-storey tower on the site of Eileen House in Newington Causeway, Elephant & Castle
  4. ^ "Eileen House, Elephant & Castle" (PDF). Greater London Authority. 16 April 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2025. planning report PDU/1100a/01 16 April 2009 Eileen House, Elephant & Castle in the London Borough of Southwark planning application no. 09/AP/0343
  5. ^ "Ministry of Sound tower block plans approved by mayor". BBC News. 7 January 2014.
  6. ^ "Lent's league days". The Guardian. 17 March 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
  7. ^ "The Spy with a Cold Nose". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 34 (396): 79. 1 January 1967. ProQuest 1305838555.
  8. ^ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 870. ISBN 9780992936440.
  9. ^ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 953. ISBN 0586088946.
  10. ^ "The Spy With A Cold Nose". BAFTA. Retrieved 6 February 2024.


source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spy_with_a_Cold_Nose