Morecambe of the MI5 is not so Wise
Major Cavendish of MI5 had managed to infiltrate the dreaded Schlecht organization but before he can send any information back he dies in bed of natural causes, next to a beautiful woman. It leads to coffee shop owner Eric being drawn into the word of espionage when a Schlecht agent mistakes him for Cavendish. Fortunately Eric's best friend Ernie works at MI5, well as a tea boy, but he brings him to the attention of the big bosses and the two of them are sent out to find out who it is which the Schlecht organisation plan to assassinate in London.
When I say that "The Intelligence Men" ends up uneven it shouldn't really be a surprise because whilst comic geniuses Morecambe and Wise were best when doing sketches. As such "The Intelligence Men" has countless funny scenes but the stuff in between ends up weak and noticeably drags the movie down. It is a shame as some of the gags in this are simply brilliant and the chemistry which Eric and Ernie had makes even some of the dumbest jokes tickle you.
But of course "The Intelligence Men" was very much about Eric & Ernie especially as this was their first venture in to trying to bring their brand of humour to the movies. As such there isn't much else to say about it as beyond the gags we have a familiar storyline of a civilian drawn into the world of espionage, thinking it is all about the gadgets and of course getting results but mostly through accidents. Aside from that it would be fair to say that much of the humour is typical of the era with a few sexily dressed women and Eric thinking he is a ladies man.
What this all boils down to is that "The Intelligence Men" has a lot of fun scenes with Morecambe and Wise bringing their chemistry and comic genius to the big screen. But it is a case that whilst there are many funny sketches the stuff in between ends up weak and dragging this down.
