{{Short description|1965 British comedy film by Robert Asher}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}} {{Use British English|date=June 2015}} {{Infobox film | name = The Intelligence Men | image = The_Intelligence_Men_film_Theatrical_release_poster_(1965).png | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = Robert Asher | writer = Dick Hills and Sid Green <br> Peter Blackmore | starring = Eric Morecambe<br />Ernie Wise<br />William Franklyn<br />April Olrich | producer = Hugh Stewart | music = Philip Green | cinematography = Jack Asher | editing = Gerry Hambling | distributor = Rank Organisation | released = {{Film date|df=y|1965|3|25|London}} | runtime = 104 minutes | country = United Kingdom | language = English }}
'''''The Intelligence Men''''' (U.S. title: '''''Spylarks<ref>{{Cite web |title=SPYLARKS Eric Morecambe Ernie Wise MI5 UK SPY COMEDY Vintage US Movie Flyer | eBay |url=http://www.ebay.com/itm/SPYLARKS-Eric-Morecambe-Ernie-Wise-MI5-UK-SPY-COMEDY-Vintage-US-Movie-Flyer-/311389748652 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902045904/http://www.ebay.com/itm/SPYLARKS-Eric-Morecambe-Ernie-Wise-MI5-UK-SPY-COMEDY-Vintage-US-Movie-Flyer-/311389748652 |archive-date=2 September 2017 |access-date=1 September 2017}}</ref>''''') is a 1965 British comedy film directed by Robert Asher and starring Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise.<ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web |title=The Intelligence Men |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150039737 |access-date=13 April 2024 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref> It is subtitled "M.I.5 plus 2 equals 0". It was written by Dick Hills and Sid Green and Peter Blackmore.
Morecambe and Wise made two further films, ''That Riviera Touch'' (1966) and ''The Magnificent Two'' (1967).<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|date=11 August 2025|access-date=11 August 2025|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-film-studios-the-rank-organisation-1965-to-1967/|title=Forgotten British Film Studios: The Rank Organisation, 1965 to 1967}}</ref>
==Plot== Eric, in his London coffee bar, is happily serving black coffee to a sinister-looking man when the man tries to persuade him to remember a tune. Unfortunately, Eric is tone-deaf. Ernie Sage enters the coffee bar and Eric tries to get him to identify the tune, without much success. Eventually, Sage realises that this could be something to do with a forthcoming visit by a Russian trade delegation and an assassination attempt by an organisation known as "SCHLECHT" (a parody of SPECTRE from the James Bond films; the word is German for "bad" or "evil", although there is little evidence of German involvement to sabotage this mission).
He reports this to his superiors in Military Intelligence (although he is little more than an office-boy), and they reluctantly agree that only Eric, having heard the tune, will be able to lead them to the centre of the plot. Eric is persuaded to pose as a British agent – the recently deceased Major Cavendish – who had managed to infiltrate SCHLECHT. After a few set-piece comedy interludes, the tune is identified and the plot switches to a performance of ''Swan Lake'' at the projected venue for the assassination, where the star Russian ballerina Madame Petrovna is in grave danger.
This section provides some of the funniest moments of the film: for example, Eric, masquerading as a Russian, adopts a broad Scottish highland accent; and during the ballet performance itself, Eric and Ernie, dressed in Egyptian costumes, get mixed up in the "Dance of the Little Swans". Finally, however, the villain is unmasked and all ends happily.
==Cast== *Eric Morecambe as Eric *Ernie Wise as Ernie Sage *William Franklyn as Colonel Grant *April Olrich as Madame Petrovna *Gloria Paul as Gina Carlotti *Richard Vernon as Sir Edward Seabrook *David Lodge as stage manager *Jacqueline Jones as Karin *Terence Alexander as Reed *Francis Matthews as Thomas *Warren Mitchell as Prozoroff *Peter Bull as Philippe *Tutte Lemkow as seedy SCHLECHT agent *Brian Oulton as laundry basket man *Michael Peake as sinister stranger *Bob Todd as Policeman outside Military Intelligence building (uncredited)
==Production== Filming started October 1964 and took place at Pinewood.<ref>{{cite news|title=Showpage|newspaper=Sunday Sun|date=18 October 1964|page=12}}</ref>
It was the last of several collaborations between producer Hugh Stewart and Asher. Stewart says this was because he fired Asher's brother Jack, the cameraman, who Stewart thought was too slow.<ref name="hugh">{{cite web|url=https://historyproject.org.uk/interview/hugh-stewart|website=British Entertainment History Project|title=Hugh Stewart|date=22 Nov 1989}}</ref> ==Release== The film opened at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on 25 March 1965.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=25 March 1965 |title='Ipcress File' and 'Marriage' Shine |volume=2999 |issue=574 |page=7 |magazine=Kine Weekly}}</ref> ==Reception==
=== Critical === ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' wrote: "This exceptionally unfunny comedy makes it very hard to understand what, on any level, has contributed to the popularity of Morecambe and Wise. A formal dinner party scene, not by any means devoid of farcical possibilities, is so appallingly mishandled by the director that it emerges as an almost classic example of how not to amuse while apparently trying."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1965 |title=The Intelligence Men |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305824915 |journal=The Monthly Film Bulletin |volume=32 |issue=372 |pages=75 |id={{ProQuest|1305824915}} }}</ref>
''Kine Weekly'' wrote: "It's a funny film, Very good comedy attraction for all classes."<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=25 March 1965 |title=The Intelligence Men |volume=2999 |issue=574 |pages=9 |id={{ProQuest|2600910257}} |magazine=Kine Weekly}}</ref>
''The Radio Times Guide to Films'' gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise found the transition from TV celebrities to film stars a difficult one to make. They were not helped by the fact that, for their big-screen debut, Sid Green and Dick Hills (scriptwriters of their ITV series at the time) failed to marry the familiar Eric and Ernie characteristics that kept audiences in stitches week after week with the demands of what is, in all honesty, a fitfully entertaining spy spoof."<ref>{{Cite book |title=Radio Times Guide to Films |publisher=Immediate Media Company |year=2017 |isbn=9780992936440 |edition=18th |location=London |pages=467}}</ref>
Critic Leslie Halliwell awarded the film no stars, describing it as an "inept and rather embarrassing big-screen debut for two excellent television comedians".<ref>{{cite book |last=Halliwell |first=Leslie |authorlink=Leslie Halliwell |title=Halliwell's Film and Video Guide |year=1997 |page=379 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=0-00-638779-9}}</ref>
=== Box office === The film was one of the 12 most popular movies at the British box office in 1965.<ref>"Most Popular Film Star." Times [London, England] 31 Dec. 1965: 13. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 11 July 2012.</ref> According to Stewart the film was not a success in America, but it made a profit, and led to two more Morecombe and Wise films.<ref name="hugh"/>
==Notes== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb title|0059315}} {{Morecambe and Wise}} {{Robert Asher}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Intelligence Men, The}} Category:1965 films Category:British spy comedy films Category:Cold War spy films Category:1960s spy comedy films Category:1965 spy films Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios Category:Films directed by Robert Asher Category:Morecambe and Wise Category:Films set in London Category:1965 comedy films Category:Parody films based on James Bond films Category:1965 English-language films Category:Films scored by Philip Green Category:English-language spy comedy films Category:English-language action adventure films