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15 out of 15 people found the following review useful: Overlooked gem that deserves a DVD!, 11 July 2005 Author: klweber42 from United States
This is one of my favorite 60's films. It's based on the first of a series of books by Martin Waddell about Gerald Arthur Otley, a young man whose occasional pocket-picking inadvertently lands him in the middle of a spy plot. (The books are great fun, too). Poor Otley's in way over his head, can't tell the good guys from the bad, and like Dorothy in "the Wizard of Oz," simply wants to go home! Suddenly his dull old life doesn't look so bad. There are many funny sequences, but the one in which he takes his driving test is truly inspired.Tom Courtenay gives one of his best performances as the lead character, and he's well supported by a terrific cast of veteran character actors. Leonard Rossiter has an especially funny cameo. Moreover, "Otley" has one of the catchiest soundtracks of that era, a quirky mix of classical and rock tunes, and you'll find yourself humming the main theme for days after you've watched the film.Why isn't this available on DVD? Or even VHS? It's a major oversight. "Otley Forever!"
9 out of 11 people found the following review useful: Enjoyable sub-sub-Bond adventure if you don't expect too much, 14 December 2003 Author: chrisdl_heath from Sevenoaks, Kent, England
Interesting little gem from the swinging sixties. Tom Courtney plays Otley, a down-on-his-luck antiques dealer in the Portobello Road in this comedy spy thriller.He's kicked out of his digs after he's gone past his sell-by date in terms of the attentions of his randy landlady because he can't pay his way and is forced to go from friend to friend at a party in order to be put up for the night.Otley manages to reel in a favour from one of his friends, but blunders into a spy plot when that friend is murdered in the flat and Otley is forced on the run. Otley has little aptitiude for anything but antiques and even this ability has to be questioned considering his circumstances.The plot meanders continuously and is a little confusing but is of little consequence. We are not meant to focus too much on it, because the film centres on how this hapless bungler manages to squirm free from one episode to another whilst we enjoy the scenery. A high point of the film is when he goes to take his driving test which turns into a car chase with some villains around the backstreets of London.The supporting cast contains some good character actors and includes Leonard Rossiter playing a hitman. Romy Schneider plays the femme fatale, but is curiously underused. An enjoyable 'sub-sub-Bond' adventure if you don't expect too much.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: spy spoof with a 60s feel, 3 February 2009 Author: didi-5 from United Kingdom
'Otley' is a definite film of its time, showing swinging 60s London and presenting Tom Courtenay in one of his defining but less-known roles, as someone who wants to be a spy but wonders what he's got into when he gets his wish. Otley is an inept spy, and was probably an even more inept drifter.Full of colour, with a great score, and many fruity cameos, this film should be better known as it is a lot of fun, with a great central performance and the chance to get really engrossed in the period. Courtenay and Romy Schneider are charming, while character greats such as Leonard Rossiter, Alan Badel, and Freddie Jones add to the overall spoof feel.
4 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Pretty Good, 13 July 2005 Author: Ephraim Gadsby from USA
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Martin Waddell's OTLEY is about a wannabe second-hand/antiquities dealer (on the dole) who already has a line of clients and who is not particular about how he acquires what he sells. He gets in trouble for stealing an object d'art that is actually a recording device employed for espionage (for one side or the other -- I can't recall which, but it doesn't matter). He is the most reluctant of spies, though he dips and dives, toward whichever side will help him get out of trouble, over four charming, short comic novels.Tom Courtenay tries to breathe life to this character, and he is surrounded by some of Britains most individual supporting players (including Freddie Jones, Ronald Lacey and Leonard Rossiter) and the beautiful Romy Schneider. Perhaps they wanted to make a film that was both a spy movie (everyone was cranking them out) as well as a "swinging London" movie (a genre worn into the ground) but it comes off as more diverting than funny; and like most movies of the period that tried to be "modern" it looks quaintly dated. But the stars are always worth watching.
3 out of 8 people found the following review useful: So-so spy spoof, 27 January 2002 Author: sibisi73 from United Kingdom
One of the hundreds of spy movies that turned up in the wake of the Bond phenomenon in the Sixties, 'Otley' is an insignificant example of the genre. Not quite sure if it is a full-blown spoof, or a light-hearted spy caper, it ends up being neither. It's basis seems to be the antithesis of the Bond films, and the other big budget espionage thrillers of the time, with much of the emphasis being on the mundane. There are lots of moments with government agents and assassins making tea, and looking after the children, and very little in the way of explosions and hi-tech gadgetry. Actually, this is quite a nice touch, which benefits from Tom Courtenay's 'lad-about-town' performance. Fairly diverting for an afternoon's viewing, but hardly a classic.
2 out of 10 people found the following review useful: Broad and uneven comedy, 13 August 2001 Author: simon_sparrow (simon.sparrow@samoa.com) from London, UK
Otley contains several inspired scenes with Tom Coutenay at his most outrageous. But, the bad scenes outweigh these moments of inspiration. This is especially true whenever Freddie Jones appears on camera to take over proceedings. His first appearance inspires guffaws. But his relentless clowning grows quickly tedious.
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