La spia dal naso freddo

The geniuses behind Tony Hancock, Galton and Simpson, cooked up this little comedy about a veterinarian (a fey Laurence Harvey) enlisted to assist the Secret Service (at the height of the James Bond craze).

"Intelligence" agent Stanley Fahrquar (an hilarious Lionel Jeffries) develops the idea of secreting a microphone in or on a dog given to the Soviet premiere (presumably no actual dogs were harmed in the making of this movie).

And they roll up Soviet agents. Until . . .

Dahlia Lavi is luscious as the femme fatale. It's when cameo actor Paul Ford is seduced by Lavi that he makes the NATO remark.

Two stories exist about this flick: one, that Peter Sellers was to play the Jeffries role; the other that the notorious sensitive Sellers was earmarked for the Harvey role but refused to appear with prime scene stealer Jeffries. I can't untangle it. Sellers could have played both but for once I'm just as glad he didn't.

It's very funny at the start but begins running out of steam. Still, it has enough giggles to make it worth a peek.