Top Secret!
Encyclopedia
Top Secret! is a 1984 comedy film directed by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker
. It stars Val Kilmer
(in his first feature film), Lucy Gutteridge
, Omar Sharif
, Peter Cushing
, Michael Gough
and Jeremy Kemp
. The film is a parody of the GDR era and Elvis films. The original music score is composed by Maurice Jarre
.
The film tells the story of Nick Rivers (Kilmer), an American pop singer (whose songs sound suspiciously like those of Elvis Presley
, The Beach Boys
and Little Richard
), who goes to East Germany (but the film, anachronistically, also parodies Nazi Germany
) to perform at a cultural festival. While there, he becomes involved in the French resistance movement and helps the beautiful Hillary Flammond (Gutteridge) rescue her father (Gough), a brilliant scientist being held by the Germans and forced to build the deadly Polaris naval mine.
The film also features short performances by Omar Sharif
as Agent Cedric, and Peter Cushing
as a Swedish bookstore proprietor, in a scene filmed completely in reverse.
Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker
Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker are an American comedy filmmaking trio consisting of Jim Abrahams and brothers David and Jerry Zucker who specializes in slapstick comedy films during the 1980s and the early 1990s...
. It stars Val Kilmer
Val Kilmer
Val Edward Kilmer is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! , then the cult classic Real Genius , as well as blockbuster action films, including a supporting role in Top Gun and a...
(in his first feature film), Lucy Gutteridge
Lucy Gutteridge
Lucy Karima Gutteridge is an English actress.Gutteridge was born in London, the eldest daughter of Bernard Hugh Gutteridge by his marriage to Nabila Farah Karima Halim, the daughter of Prince Muhammad Said Bey Halim of Egypt and his British second wife, Nabila Malika...
, Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif is an Egyptian actor who has starred in Hollywood films including Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and Funny Girl. He has been nominated for an Academy Award and has won two Golden Globe Awards.-Early life:...
, Peter Cushing
Peter Cushing
Peter Wilton Cushing, OBE was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the handsome but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally...
, Michael Gough
Michael Gough
Michael Gough was an English character actor who appeared in over 150 films. He is perhaps best known to international audiences for his roles in the Hammer Horror films from 1958, and for his recurring role as Alfred Pennyworth in all four movies of the Burton/Schumacher Batman franchise,...
and Jeremy Kemp
Jeremy Kemp
Jeremy Kemp is an English actor. He is known for his roles in the miniseries The Winds of War, The Blue Max and Z-Cars....
. The film is a parody of the GDR era and Elvis films. The original music score is composed by Maurice Jarre
Maurice Jarre
Maurice-Alexis Jarre was a French composer and conductor.Although he composed several concert works, he is best known for his film scores, and is particularly known for his collaborations with film director David Lean. Jarre composed the scores to all of Lean's films since Lawrence of Arabia...
.
Plot
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
and Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
), who goes to East Germany (but the film, anachronistically, also parodies Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
) to perform at a cultural festival. While there, he becomes involved in the French resistance movement and helps the beautiful Hillary Flammond (Gutteridge) rescue her father (Gough), a brilliant scientist being held by the Germans and forced to build the deadly Polaris naval mine.
The film also features short performances by Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif is an Egyptian actor who has starred in Hollywood films including Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and Funny Girl. He has been nominated for an Academy Award and has won two Golden Globe Awards.-Early life:...
as Agent Cedric, and Peter Cushing
Peter Cushing
Peter Wilton Cushing, OBE was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the handsome but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally...
as a Swedish bookstore proprietor, in a scene filmed completely in reverse.
Cast
- Val KilmerVal KilmerVal Edward Kilmer is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! , then the cult classic Real Genius , as well as blockbuster action films, including a supporting role in Top Gun and a...
as Nick Rivers - Lucy GutteridgeLucy GutteridgeLucy Karima Gutteridge is an English actress.Gutteridge was born in London, the eldest daughter of Bernard Hugh Gutteridge by his marriage to Nabila Farah Karima Halim, the daughter of Prince Muhammad Said Bey Halim of Egypt and his British second wife, Nabila Malika...
as Hillary Flammond - Peter CushingPeter CushingPeter Wilton Cushing, OBE was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the handsome but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally...
as Bookstore Proprietor - Jeremy KempJeremy KempJeremy Kemp is an English actor. He is known for his roles in the miniseries The Winds of War, The Blue Max and Z-Cars....
as General Streck - Christopher VilliersChristopher VilliersChristopher Francis Villiers is an English actor.He is known for his part in the top rated ITV1 soap opera, Emmerdale in which he plays the role of the solicitor Grayson Sinclair. He also played the part of Captain Nigel Croker in Mile High from 2004 to 2005...
as Nigel "The Torch", Resistance Leader - Warren ClarkeWarren Clarke-Biography:Clarke was born in Oldham, Lancashire. His first television appearance was in the long running Granada soap opera Coronation Street, initially as Kenny Pickup in 1966 and then as Gary Bailey in 1968. His first major film appearance was in Stanley Kubrick's controversial A Clockwork...
as Colonel von Horst - Harry Ditson as Du Quois, Resistance Member
- Jim Carter as Déjà Vu, Resistance Member
- Eddie TagoeEddie TagoeEddie Tagoe is a Ghanaian actor best known in the U.K. for playing "Presuming Ed" in the 1986 film production of Withnail and I, a role which he resumed in 2000 in a stage production of the same work. Internationally, he may be better recognized for his brief appearance in the movie, Raiders of the...
as Chocolate Mousse, Resistance Member - Omar SharifOmar SharifOmar Sharif is an Egyptian actor who has starred in Hollywood films including Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and Funny Girl. He has been nominated for an Academy Award and has won two Golden Globe Awards.-Early life:...
as Agent Cedric - Michael GoughMichael GoughMichael Gough was an English character actor who appeared in over 150 films. He is perhaps best known to international audiences for his roles in the Hammer Horror films from 1958, and for his recurring role as Alfred Pennyworth in all four movies of the Burton/Schumacher Batman franchise,...
... Dr. Paul Flammond
See also
- List of American films of 1984
- Airplane!Airplane!Airplane! is a 1980 American satirical comedy film directed and written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker and released by Paramount Pictures...
- Police Squad!Police Squad!Police Squad! is a television comedy series first broadcast in 1982, created by Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker and starring Leslie Nielsen. A spoof of police procedurals, the series was packed with ZAZ's usual sight gags, wordplay and non sequiturs...
- The Naked GunThe Naked GunThe Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! is a 1988 American comedy film that is the first in a The Naked Gun series of films starring Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy, and O. J. Simpson...