[9]

With double-entendres out the wazoo and sight gags out the yin-yang, not to mention a shiny young Val Kilmer dancing and singing his heart out, Top Secret! wins me over. Kilmer plays an Elvis Presley-like crooner set to perform in World War II-era Germany, but he ends up falling in love with a freedom fighter (Lucy Gutteridge) and helping her rescue her scientist father from the Nazis.

Top Secret! is from the makers of Airplane!, and as well-loved as that film is, I personally enjoy this one a lot more. The film primarily spoofs World War II spy films, but dips its toes in other genres, including a protracted lampoon of The Blue Lagoon. The jokes come rapid-fire, ranging from low-key (“In women’s tennis, I always vote against the heterosexual.”) to openly outrageous (human beings land on a pigeon statue) and absurdly inspired (a climactic underwater bar brawl). I chuckle throughout this film, but my favorite moment is in the middle of the movie, where Kilmer summarizes the outrageous predicament he and Gutteridge have gotten themselves into. She responds with, “I know. It all sounds like some bad movie.” Then the two of them nervously gaze into the camera. As far as I’m concerned, film parodies don’t come better than this.

Adding uncommon cinematic luster to the laughs is production design by James Bond’s Peter Lamont and a dynamic score by Lawrence of Arabia‘s Maurice Jarre. Kilmer does his own singing on the soundtrack, including several parody tracks and a cover of Little Richard’s ‘Tutti Frutti’.

Directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker. With Omar Sharif, Jeremy Kemp, Peter Cushing, and Michael Gough.