Top Secret (1984)Directors: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Starring: Val Kilmer, Lucy Gutteridge, Christopher Villiers, Eddie Tagoe, Jim Carter, Harry Ditson, Jeremy Kemp, Michael Gough, Omar Sharif
After seeing Flying High for the first time a few weeks ago, I was quite keen to revisit another Abrahams and Zucker brothers film, Top Secret!. I saw it maybe a decade ago, and thought it was quite good for what it was, but a lot of people continue to rave about it so I thought another look may be in order.
American rock 'n' roll sensation Nick Rivers (Kilmer) is sent to East Germany to perform in a cultural festival which the Nazis are using to distract the world as they prepare for their tilt at world domination. While in Germany, Rivers falls for Hillary Flammond (Gutteridge) who is a part of the French resistance, and whose father, scientist Dr. Paul Flammond, is being held prisoner by the Nazis who are forcing him to build them a super-weapon.
Abrahams and the Zucker brothers like to play on particular genres. In Flying High it was the disaster movie genre. In the case of Top Secret! they've kind of mashed together two genres; the World War 2 espionage/spy genre and the Elvis musical. As you would expect from these kings of the spoof, both are done very well, but the Elvis inspired musical numbers are particularly on the money.
Easily the most inspired scene in the film takes place in a Swedish bookshop, featuring a cameo from Peter Cushing (you might recognise him as Grand Moff Tarkin from Star Wars, but in doing so would out yourself as a nerd... as I have just done). The scene relies on the observation that English, when recorded and played backwards, sounds like Swedish, though probably not to a Swedish person. To play off that joke, they have recorded the entire scene backwards and put English subtitles over the dialogue. At first it just looks a bit strange, and it takes you a while to work out what they're doing, but as the scene goes on they start to play with it. Check it out.
I always think it's a bit strange that Val Kilmer is the lead in this film, though surely it is not as strange as Omar Sharif, of Laurence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago fame, being in the film, because I have never really thought of Kilmer as being a comic actor. But then I'm not really sure what Val Kilmer is supposed to be. An average dramatic actor/part time action hero? That being said, hands down the most impressive thing I've seen from him was a comic performance in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang though the comedy in that film is not as in your face, winking to the audience as in a Zucker brothers film. Top Secret! was his screen debut though, so he came with none of the baggage that comes with Val Kilmer when you watch him today, and he did all his own singing for the film so there is some talent there.
Top Secret! was Abraham and the Zucker brothers' follow up to the incredibly successful Flying High but it really doesn't live up to the standards set by the first film. While it still has its fair share of laugh-out-loud funny moments, the most noticeable difference between the two films is the density of the humour. Flying High was absolutely packed with gags. In every scene, every shot, there were multiple things going on that you had to be looking and listening for. This density is not there in Top Secret!. It is very much one joke at a time and therefore you don't have that feeling of being bombarded, in a good way, like the first film gives you. A lot of people have really fond memories of Top Secret!, it has quite a following, but I'd suggest that it shouldn't be the first port of call if you're looking for a Zucker style spoof comedy.
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