Movie: (1967) A famed plastic surgeon/hypnotist/championship archer, whose brother is a “top agent,” is recruited to stop a villain and his scheme involving radioactive rugs.
First shown: 9/11/93
Opening: Tom is enjoying Joel’s home movies; Crow is scared
Invention exchange: The Mads show off Frank’s Lederhosen-hosen, Crow has invented Sara, the bobbin’ buzzard
Host segment 1: Joel’s is an evil supervillian! “I know!”
Host segment 2: J&tB parallel the lives of Sean and Neil
Host segment 3: While Joel tries to hypnotize Tom, Torgo returns in Deep 13
End: Dr. F. uses his magnetizer, much to J&tB’s dismay
Stinger: Mr. “Thunderball” pushes the button
(80 votes, average: 4.74 out of 5)
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• When I converted my ancient VHS tapes to DVD, the one containing this episode was the only one that failed to function. A pal of mine (now, sadly, no longer with us) provided me with a fresh copy. Thanks, buddy. (The last time around, this item led to a discussion of my rickety computer set up. If you’re interested, I did eventually get that mac mini — which, about a year later, died one morning and I had to get a newer one, which is working splendidly, thank you — but I am still struggling with slow and spotty Verizon DSL.)
• This episode appears in Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Vol XXV, as “Operation Kid Brother.” They had to use the alternate title to get the rights.
• References.
• This is episode is fun, and funny, but I don’t love it quite as much as the previous couple of shows. The host segments are hit and miss, for one thing. But an even bigger problem for me is that I never understood the bad guy’s plan. Or is it plans? The last time through I pointed to this site, which does a pretty good job of explaining what the heck is going on, but even he gets confused.
• I previously claimed that this is the first mention of swing choir. A commenter proved me wrong.
• Frank really commits to the lederhosen bit. You have to wonder how they felt doing some of those bits, without any audience to tell them if it was hilarious or dreadful. In the absence of feedback, they just committed.
• The Bobbin’ Buzzard is a lovely prop. Kudos to Jef Maynard or whoever was responsible.
• This movie may very well have the greatest theme song of any MSTed movie.
• Callbacks: “Hooray for Santy Claus!” (Santa Claus Conquers the Martians). Tom does the “That must be one of those [fill in noun here]s I’ve heard them talk…about…so…much…lately…” bit twice (Gamera). “There WAS no Yashuko.” (Monster-A-Go-Go). “To see your land!” (Magic Voyage of Sinbad).
• Obscure reference: “Michael, I want all the episodes of Captain Nice burned.”
• If you think this was Neil’s one and only film role, you’re mistaken. He was also in “The Body Stealers” in the 1970s, then he “retired” for a while, but ten years later he returned to movies and has been working intermittently since then. Once you get show bidness in the blood…
• Literary riff: “She thinks she’s in Dresden during the war.”
• The Rodney King incident is still on the writers’ minds.
• Joel makes a rare entrance through the “G” door in the first segment. This segment is a good example of what I call an “aren’t they adorable” sketch. It only works because, at this point, all Joel has to do is look at the camera and arch an eyebrow and we laugh. If you showed this sketch to somebody with no knowledge of the show or its performers, they’d be probably be baffled as to what’s funny about it. But fans who know and love the characters get it. I think it’s hilarious.
• Kevin really tapped into his Catholic upbringing during the nun scene.
• Crow does his Phyllis Diller impression twice, using the same line: “I’m looking for Fang!” (Fang was an invention of Diller’s from her standup days: a boorish husband she could mock. The reason he does it is because the lady’s wacky hat looks like something Diller might have worn in those days.)
• Segment two reminds me of one of those long, over-written, complicated sketches from season two. But you can sense Mike Nelson’s influence: it makes reference to a cheese factory.
• During the weird hijacking scene, Tom notes that the melody in the score sounds very similar to the classic kids’ hymn “Jesus Loves Me.” But what’s interesting is that this mockery displeases Joel, who makes him stop singing it.
• The last time around, I wondered why Beta wants to kill his own henchbabes. A commenter set me straight and this time I realized that Beta himself explains this during the party scene. I must have missed it in a previous viewing.
• Mike returns, eight episodes later, as Torgo. With the lag time these episodes had, I’m guessing the Brains had only recently picked up on the rave reviews from fans about “Manos.”
• Yet another “wha-happa?” “Wha happa” is to season 5 what “I thought you were Dale” was to season 8.
• Dr. F. is nice and evil in the closing segment. Oh, and nice job of building the magnetizer, which looks a LOT like the one in the movie. This was one of those prop-heavy episodes Jef Maynard talked about in the documentary about the show.
• Cast and crew roundup: Director Alberto de Martino also directed “The Pumaman.” Scriptwriter Frank Walker also wrote “Devil Fish.” Costumer Gaia Romanini also worked on “Hercules.” Score composer Ennio Morricone also provided music for “Diabolik.”
In front of the camera, Adolfo Celi was also in “Diabolik.” Lois Maxwell did voice work for “Invaders from the Deep.” Guido Lollobrigida was also in “The Pumaman.”
• Host segments directed by Kevin Murphy. Manager of Business Affairs Heide A. LeClerc becomes Heide A. LeClerc-Becker. Alpine horn provided by: Josef Diethelm. (Diethelm was the front man for a Twin Cities polka band.)
• Fave riff: “Do I have enough time to beat up the band?” Honorable mention: “Oh, who’s the sign for?”
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The “Wha Happa?” riffs will always remind of the Fred Willard bit ever since A Mighty Wind. It’s the first thing that came to mind too when I heard he was going to be a guest on Rifftrax and he actually said it. :)
“Hey, wha happa?”
Hehe, God bless the miracle of the internet and youtube. :twisted:
For those who never saw Wha Happen …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D421N6xlisg&feature=related
Steve’s actual voice was not used in those movies his lines were dubbed into whatever language was needed for local distribution. You have to admit that the voice that’s duding Neil sound uncannily like the same voice that duded Hercules.
By the way Alan Steel is really Sergio Ciani
Oh, forgot to mention my favorite riff. That’d probably be, “Bees might be burning in there! I’ve gotta save them!”
A close second would probably be “Enter the chiropractor!” and “Operation Double 00 Hee-Haw.”
Oh yeah, well, my dad’s ratio is bigger than your dad’s ratio!
IANAMIAP: I’m out in the country and am stuck with the slower speed of Verizon DSL–in practice, about 80kb/sec. for downloads–that likes to disconnect for no particular reason. (I moved a couple of years ago and had to say goodbye to my cable modem…sob!) And I have a 10-year-old G4 with an 8-gig hard drive that is mostly full of applications (and a second 12-gig drive mostly full of music) so I really don’t have room, even if I wanted to wait for that download speed. I have my eye on a Mac Mini, but, times being what they are, I can’t find it in the budget/justify it to the Mrs. So the wonders of DAP will have to wait.
Mrbat423: I guess the classic example of the overwritten sketch is “The Charlie McCarthey hearings” sketch in “Rocket Attack USA” — one that is, while clever, a little overlong and a little too wordy (for my taste, anyway).
Diamond Joe: I see your point. I tend assume that everybody here gets every joke, even the obscure ones, and, like the show, I sometimes just make the reference without an explanation. I’ll try to remember to include some explanatory links, like I did with the “Captain Nice” reference this week.
Bobo #51 – “It’s blowin’ peace and freedom, it’s blowin’ you and me.”
I got a weal wed wagon!
all kidding aside Sampo, you are doing very much with very little. Very impressive. My hat’s off to you, sir.
This may be an awkward shift from the geeky to the nerdy, but I’ve always loved the simple fact that the climax of the film (in the English-dubbed version, anyway) is based around Adolfo Celi getting his hands on an “atomic nucleus.” I wonder if in the Italian script the object of desire was called something that wasn’t a random grab from a science textbook. I mean, c’mon, Adolfo — you’ve got billions of atomic nuclei already! What good is one more gonna do you? And how will you know when you’ve got it? (For that matter, how are you gonna pick it up?)
What was the macguffin in Cave Dwellers ? Wasn’t that also an ‘atomic nucleus’ ?
Maybe its because I was a huge Bond fan as a kid, but I like this one a lot, even better than most of the other great ones we’ve encountered this season. Specifically, I love how I’m not entirely sure whether they’re spoofing the spy genre or being serious. I’d like to think that I’m not supposed to take a guy who makes atomic rugs seriously, but the filmmakers genuinely seem smitten with Neil (despite the fact we never get to hear his voice).
I give it 4.0
Great Ennio theme song, one that I remember at odd moments like just driving or something, and then gets stuck in my head.
Funny riffing throughout. The movie is disturbing though.
My favorite riff is almost at the very end, when the cave is exploding and people are running. The one blonde guy makes this funny face, and Crow says “Well!” in a funny tone.
It made me laugh hysterically the first time I saw it, the perfection of putting into a word the look on that guy’s face.
It happens real quick so you can easily miss it if you arent paying close attention.
This one isn’t one of my favorites, but I like it about as much as the other spy movies they featured. The “hypnosis” scenes are hilarious! + some of the background music is clearly riped off from the Bond theme, but with 1 or 2 notes changed. (listen to the horn section at 10:54)
I’m not a medium, I’m a petite -:note:-
In CAVE DWELLERS it was the “Geometric Nucleus”, but it did manage to produce some stock footage of an atomic explosion at the end. ;)
Gooooo…. MENTAL!
Joel gets both of my favorite riffs for this episode (plus at least one great “oh poopie!” moment). It was the first full Joel show I ever saw, and it stays one of my favorites today. Everything about it just so good, especially the movie’s concept. How little self-realization did everyone involved have? How did making a movie about “our top agent’s brother” get past the initial brainstorm? Yikes.
Other favorite riff?
“Licorice!?”
…the incredulous way in which Joel shouts this, as if he’s almost angered by the appearance of those odd tubes, makes me laugh every time. The “oh” that follows wraps it in a neat bow.
Manny #62
I think “Well!” was the catchphrase of the great Jack Benny.
Can anyone else confirm that Joel and the Bots are humming the Red Dwarf theme when the film pans over the nuclear missiles?
Sampo – I’m fairly certain this is not the first reference to “swing choir.” I just saw a season three ep (can’t find it now, of course – seems like it was “Mighty Jack”) in which the villain was dressed in what looked like a combination tuxedo and band leader uniform, and Tom says “Oh, he’s dressed for swing choir.”
Previous references to swing choir I can find:
318: Star Force: Fugitive Alien II
* [ 4m ] Joel: Oh, look at that suit, what, is he gonna be in swing choir, or something?!
321: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
* [ 1h ] Crow: Yeah.
Servo: Yeah, and he’d be president of the swing choir, too!
323: Castle of Fu Manchu
* [ 2m ] Joel: He’s being attacked by a swing choir.
502: Hercules
* [ 3m ] Joel: What, did Herc get on a swing choir barge?
Ah, the one I was thinking of was “Star Force.” Thanks, SGC.
Popegrutch: You may not have counted this, since it was a host segment, but Mike and the ‘bots did a ‘swing choir-off’ against Dr. F and Frank in the first host segment of The Skydivers. This is the “horrifying expanded look” Sampo is referring to. And, there’s nothing wrong with swing choir, I was in one! :grin:
Oh yeah, that was the skit that made Mike physically ill…
OMG…
Where the hell are the references to Trace’s (Crow’s) Katharine Hepburn impersonation… Every time Lois Maxwell pointed her gun at the bad guys while wearing coveralls and a straw hat I laughed my ass off!
Norman! The calla lilies are raining lead!
This is the first episode that I know I saw a part of! Of course that part was just the prologue. I couldn’t get DAP to work for me, so I should Youtube it sometime, but it will always hold special place in my heart for a show I’ve yet to actually see.
Just curious…why is it we’re already into season 5, and yet the comments from season 4 haven’t been added to that page?
By the way, many thanks to Sampo for working up these episode guides — I’ve really been enjoying the heck out of them, and the ensuing discussions.
matt #71:
The Kate Hepburn riffs were my favorite part, too. I still fall over laughing at them whenever I see this episode.
The entire episode’s excellent, though, and is one of my favorites.
One of my favorite Joel episodes. I just try to listen to the riffs. If I try to watch the movie, the dialog and plot just gives me a headache.
After the last few episodes, I found this one to be uninspired. The riffing wasn’t up to snuff like others during this season, and the host segments were just okay. I do like the Neil and Sean comparison sketch, as well as Torgo’s return.
Overall, though, just a three-star ep for me.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who didn’t believe Dr. F when he said the film starred Sean Connery’s brother Neil. I mean, that was so ridiculous it had to be made… NO! It was the real thing, man some of these films they saw were completely nuts.
Bit of a stumble here for the Brains after coming off three straight classics in “Magic Voyage of Sinbad”, “Eegah” and “I Accuse My Parents”. The weakest of the secret agent episodes. Still, it’s not too bad and certainly has its moments, but it does drag in parts. Still love Joel imitating the heavy in one of the host segments with Tom saying “Joel, you’re ruining it for me” and Joel responding “I know”.
While the riffing wasn’t the greatest, the movie was just fine. In fact, I found it far better than Superdragon – sure it might be a cheesy foreign cash-in, but it has all the elements of a good spy movie – babes, a bad guy, and a convoluted, whacky scheme.
Superdragon, the movie itself, was so boring it was almost unwatchable.
I love this episode. Another alumnus from the 1960’s Bond films appearing here is Anthony Dawson as Alpha. He played Professor Dent in DR. NO. He is more famous though for his role in Alfred Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder (1954). And despite Daddy-O’s assertion, he is not the same person as Italian director Antonio Margheriti, who used “Anthony Dawson” as an Anglicized version of his name in the credits for many of his films.
Additionally, there is a rumor that Jimmy Page appears in this film, but I believe it’s just an Italian guitar-wielding hippie with a similar hairstyle.
“Leontyne Price wants her kaftan back!”
Neil, lip-reading: “Bozo the piano chive?…I used to be good at this!”
“Your life is in great danger”….”I’m THAT bad a dancer.”
oops!…that’s “JESSYE NORMAN wants her kaftan back!”
…easy mistake, ya know. I mean they’re BOTH…….mezzo-sopranos…
There’s a big then current reference right in the show opening: converting home movies to (VHS) video!
Both inventions seem quite lame this week and I get the impression that was kind of the point. But the comedy wasn’t there either to rescue them and the whole thing really fell flat.
My Cheepnis copy of this episode has the Comedy Central bug covering up Crow for parts of the episode. I think I’ll write in and complain.
Somebody needs to explain the projecting the movie on the naked girl’s back thing. If I had a hot naked girl lying around, a movie projected on her back would not be what I choose to do with her.
I’m really not sure what to make of the evil super villain host segment. Joel plays his part well. The bots play their parts well. I want to like this one but it just doesn’t quite connect. We are all familiar with the concept of something being more than the sum of its parts. Well this is the opposite. The parts just don’t seem to add up.
I have to agree: Highlander II was a low point and probably not as good as Operation Double 007.
It was a great appearance by Torgo. It sure took long enough to deliver those sodas he forgot in 424. It was also great to close another episode with his theme music.
Favorite Riffs:
Crow: “Uh-oh, whenever there are four people on a screenplay you know there’s going to be trouble.” [Editors Note: Just ask Bill Corbet]
During the movie projecting scene: Tom “Ya know if William Conrad were there they could watch a letterbox version.”
A fireman runs up in a full protection “fire suit”: Crow “There might be bees burning in there. I’ve got to save them.”
Trumpets blare: Crow “Police Squad in color.”
‘Secret Agent Super Dragon’ and ‘Operation Double 007’are both very similar, very confusing and extremely great pieces of evidence that there was some truly weird sh..stuff…stuff going on in Europe during the 60’s and 70’s.
..and yes Neal, you do have time to beat up the band.
I showed this to some newbies, who were hooked when I said it starred Connery’s brother, Neil; they didn’t quite believe me at first. My dad loved the fight scene with Lyn Nofziger; he instantly identified all the Bond movie veterans: Adolfo Celi, Moneypenny, et al and noted they sure get to do a lot more in this film (like machine gun villains!). The scene with the murdering kidnapping nun is classic. (“I think I had her in 8th grade!” “There IS a role for women in the church!”) I, too am disappointed we don’t get to hear Neil’s real voice; and am taken aback when the poor tortured girl he just rescued, a trusting patient of his, his gunned down and he shows no reaction. I chalk it up to bad acting; Neil WAS still finding his muse, after all.
The “I Know” skit is one of those I can watch over and over. That great Morricone music is so over-the-top, it evokes such extreme danger and villainy; the point is, you don’t NEED anything to happen, you just need the music and a head nod. I starting cracking up in the first section when Beta gets up and puts on his bathrobe CUE MUSIC! then he lights a cigar MUSIC SWELLS! and he goes in the next room TRUMPET STING! nods at a worker girl TRUMPET FLARE! . . .I would love to have this music follow me everywhere.
Speaking of Morricone music, Jesus loves me, this I know…
This 1967 “spy thriller” is a class reunion of sorts for the supporting players from some of the 1960’s James Bond 007 movies. Daniela Bianchi (Maya) was in From Russia with Love, and Adolfo Celi (Beta) was the bad guy in Thunderball (Largo). Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell are best remembered playing “M” and Moneypenny. The lead is Sean Connery’s little brother Neil who had no acting career to speak of. At about this time (1967) Sean Connery was making You Only Live Twice and announced that he was finished with the Bond series (he did take a break, but was back for Diamonds are Forever). This is one of my go-to episodes in the fifth season.
Favorite lines:
You know when there’s four people on a screenplay there’s gonna be trouble.
Now, this is one naughty navy. We do more hair and makeup, before breakfast, than most people do all day.
Oh, yuck. She’s Flowbeeing his back.
Hello, I’m Merv Griffin.
They’re on the PMS Pinafore.
Oh, that’s nice, they have a BAR sign up there for the pilots.
[Largo kissing girl] I think I know why Thunderball was a hit, you never saw him kiss anyone in it.
Gillette Foamy is so thick, it can put out this fire.
“When I saw this girl’s condition.” I heaved.
Thank you Mr. Connery’s brother.
[fight at Medical Seminar] The Rodney King verdict just came in. Nancy Sinatra’s kicking ass!
Oh, he’s hardly Sean I realize, but he comes cheap.
The flirting nun.
[Nun kills guard] Gee, I think I had her in 8th Grade.
Sister Mary Mayhem.
This is the GAF Murder Viewmaster. Sister Chuck Yeager.
[of Anthony Dawson (Alpha)] Good God I’m ugly. Scared my own children out of the Nursery today.
[Neil in Tam o’ Shanter and Kilt] Operation Double 0 Girl Scout…Double 0 Double Entendre.
Do I have enough time to beat up the band?
Pantsuits from the Mary Tyler Moore collection.
[of Lotte] Martha Graham with her hair down. Fran Lebowitz.
Operation Double Double 0 Hee Haw.
Junior Samples and Linda Hunt in a deadly game of cat and mouse.
The Sod Squad…Julie, Pig, Ebb.
[Largo in gold caftan] I’ve been advised I look ridiculous…Jessye Norman wants her caftan back.
It’s closing time at Hooters.
An actual donnybrook in Easy Spirit Pumps.
If Sam Peckinpah directed the Boatniks.
Stunt Largo…Oh man am I moist, Totie Fields was never this moist.
Final Thought: I love this one. I give this one 5 out of 5 stars.
This is one of my favorite episodes, definitely in my top 5. I’m not really a fan of Bond movies, but I love all the MST3K’d spy movies.
One of my favorite lines, I don’t think anyone’s mentioned yet (and I’m probably misquoting it, it’s been a few months since I last watched this ep), as he’s trying to make time – “Let’s not forget that your name is NEIL Connery, now get in the car!”
Frank’s Lederhosen-hosen, what more needs to be said here!
Count me among those who love this episode. I have to question just how Maya managed to turn a leather belt into a spear, but whatever. I should really just relax.
Anybody ever wonder about the Koshkonong Mounds Joel mentions in the opening? There’s a little information here: http://webpages.charter.net/jsill/Koshkonong/History-Native%20American.html I live less than an hour away but I’ve never actually been there. Also nearby is a skydiving school, but that’s a whole different episode. ;-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpZZl9SSHno
Now you can sing along with your own modified lyrics! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEee EATS TUNA SALAD SANDWICHES!
Let me echo Sampo’s assessment of this movie’s theme song – it is terrific. Is it the best? Well, Diabolik has a fantastic theme song too, and little wonder, given it’s sung by the same person.
Actually, most of the music in this movie is wonderful. If you’re in the mood for it, it’s perfectly listenable to in the car, as I discovered when I sprung for the soundtrack on CD (it’s listed under one of the film’s many alternate titles, OK Connery, if you’re interested).
I echo another commenter in that I do not have any love for the 60s spy movie vibe, but man is this movie a lot of fun. I think a great deal of credit for that goes to Neal Connery. He is the perfect example of a movie hero who keeps coming up with awesome things he can do (he’s a surgeon, AND a hypnotist, AND he can read lips, AND he can speak all sorts of languages, AND he does martial arts, AND he is a master-class archer, AND he makes time with gorgeous ladies, AND…). I imagine it would be fun to write for a character like that – whatever you feel like he can do, he does.
The only thing I remembered about this episode from my original viewing 20 years ago was falling off my chair laughing when Torgo reappeared, it was totally unexpected. That is still the most memorable thing about this episode, I just don’t get into the spy movie episodes at all although this one has some good riffs. I liked the Bobbing Buzzard and Crow’s cool song.
Dated ref:
“Tailhook takes it on the road.”
And of course transferring movies to VHS.
Favorite lines:
“This is what happens when you bob for french fries.”
“He died listening to Rush…2112.” I’m a big Rush nerd and love to hear this stuff.
“Women have really broken through the glass ceiling in this movie.
Yea but a guy’s looking up it.”
As a big fan of the Bond films and their many cheap knock-offs, I almost enjoy this episode more for the movie than the riffing. Unfortunately for the Brains, the movie is just a tad too self-awarely silly to make perfect riffing fodder. But hey, how could they resist a spy flick starring Sean Connery’s brother?
Lots of fun facts at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OK_Connery
I’m a huge Bond fan, so this is irresistible to me; the fact that it was complete incompetent Euro-trash and had sooo many Bond veterans in it was enough to make me love it.
I can’t remember all the moments I love in this episode, but off the top of my head:
“Good God, I’m ugly. Scared my own children right out of the nursery this morning” – First time I saw this ep, I laughed so hard that Diet Coke came out of my nose; very, very painful
“Here’s the church, here the steeple, look inside and go to sleeple.”
“I’m…two…minutes…late.”
“Sacre bleu…sacre bleu…”
I have to agree with a poster above, what the heck does “Segment two reminds me of one of those long, over-written, complicated sketches from season two.” even mean? Over-written and complicated? I think you’re talking about the intellectual and obscure ones that make the show what it is.
Ah yes..a Connery but not the good one…love this episode…:heart:
I’d forgotten about this one, watching it right now..
“The flirting nun!”
One of my all time favorite Joel episodes! Terrible unofficial James Bond spin off starring Sean’s brother Neil Connery (and you thought Joe Estevez was an epic concept) with lots of the actual Bond players and an Ennio Morricone soundtrack = instant win. One of my favorite segment line ups too with Crown destroying Joel’s awful home movie tapes, Frank’s Lederhosen-Hosen meltdown, Crow’s awkward Bobbin’ buzzard, Joel’s great “I know!” segment annoying the heck out of the ‘bots with his smug chauvinistic bad guy imitation, the chart segment detailing Neil Connery’s supposed depressing life spiraling out of control. So yeah, I love this episode and it’s one of our most watched episodes among me and my friends next to Final Sacrifice. I also read a rumor that Sean had a falling out with his brother for doing this movie since obviously it was a cheap way to capitalize on his family name and the Bond franchise. Fave riffs (fight scene lines are so great):
“I can read lips! Did I tell ya I can read lips?! I can read lips ya know!”
“Sam Donaldson!”
“NORTH DAKOTA! BEFORE the apocalypse!” (I’m from ND so love whenever they do a shout out to our state or Fargo)
(while trying to whoo a lady) “Remember, your name is NEIL Connery!”
“Norman! The cana lilies are raining down hot lead!”
“haha! You guys look stupid! Plastic pants, plastic pants!”
CROW, not “Crown.” Urrgh