It all started in a bathtub. Or in the car listening to Burt Bacharach's "The Look of Love." Maybe it was both--Mike Myers isn't saying for sure, but regardless of the exact inspiration, Austin Powers was born. The character started as pure amusement for Myers who toyed with the trademark voice and catchphrases around the house for a couple of days---he was quickly persuaded by his wife to write a screenplay that was completed in three weeks. In 1997, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery sped onto the scene in a Union Jack Jaguar roadster, with Myers at the wheel as the sexy super spy. Replete with excessive chest hair, crushed velvet suits, and grotty teeth, Austin zips from the sixties to the nineties via a cryogenic freezing in pursuit of his nemesis, Dr. Evil, also played by Myers. Heavily inspired by the James Bond flicks, and in part by the Matt Helm spy series, The Beatles' movies, films like Our Man Flint (1965), and the general pop culture look of the Brit glam sixties, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery re-envisioned the spy spoof genre and took it to a new level of hilarity. Yet the film's conception is also a fond memorial to Myers' father, who did not live to see his son's most successful creation to date.

Eric Myers passed away from complications of Alzheimer's in 1992, just before the opening of Wayne's World, an SNL-crossover hit and another of Myers' inventions. Myers was affected deeply by his father's death and took almost two years off from performing or writing of any kind. The ultimate breakthrough was Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, a concept that Myers felt honored the spirit of his father who was a big fan of silly humor. The production company Myers founded to help produce the film was another poignant reminder of his father's influence: Eric's Boy. The movie was a smash success, grossing over fifty million and spawning two sequels, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and a third installment to be released in the summer of 2002.

Elizabeth Hurley was cast as Austin's secret agent partner Vanessa Kensington, a move that would finally get her noticed as an actress instead of a Versace decoration on Hugh Grant's arm. Myers reportedly wrote the role specifically for Hurley after seeing her on a talk show. A former Estee Lauder model, Hurley had a difficult time containing herself on the set due to some of Myers' antics which were a constant source of laughter. The solution? She turned her left ear toward Myers as he delivered his lines and refused to make eye contact with him, thus avoiding an inevitable crack-up. Veteran actor Michael York was featured as Basil Exposition, a send-up of the character Q from Bond, who demonstrates the gadgets and techno toys for Powers, including a not-so-technical-but-very-necessary dental hygiene kit. Robert Wagner, another film and TV veteran, appears as Number Two, the right-hand man of Dr. Evil. Mimi Rogers, Tom Cruise's ex, takes a turn as Mrs. Kensington, Austin's pal in the sixties and Vanessa's mother. Ever the fashion duo, both Rogers and Hurley asked for and got to keep the Emma Peel-inspired leather cat suits worn in the film.

Seth Green, best known as the character Oz from the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-present), plays Dr. Evil's artificially inseminated and embittered son Scott. According to Green, most of the movie script was tossed out in lieu of improvisation. The infamous Shh! scene was one such case, as Myers and Green bantered back and forth on the fly. SNL cohort Will Ferrell steps in as another of Dr. Evil's henchmen, the Rasputin-esque Mustafa. Fabiana Udenio, a one-time Miss Italy, takes another crown for the character with the best name - in homage to former Bond girl Pussy Galore - Alotta Fagina. Featured as the head Fembot, a term actually created for an episode of The Bionic Woman (1976-78), was Cindy Margolis, another royalty of sorts, as the one-time "Queen of the Internet" due to a record number of downloaded pictures of her body.

Music buffs will spot Susannah Hoffs (of The Bangles fame) and Matthew Sweet as members of Austin's band Ming Tea. Credits watchers will catch Demi Moore as one of the producers and a curious special thanks to both fashion designer Paco Rabanne and fictional SNL philosopher Jack Handey.

Producer: Demi Moore, Jennifer Todd, Suzanne Todd, Mike Myers
Director: Jay Roach
Screenplay: Mike Myers
Cinematography: Peter Deming
Costume Design: Deena Appel
Film Editing: Debra Neil-Fisher
Original Music: George S. Clinton
Principal Cast: Mike Myers (Austin Powers/Dr. Evil), Elizabeth Hurley (Vanessa Kensington), Michael York (Basil Exposition), Mimi Rogers (Mrs. Kensington), Robert Wagner (Number Two), Seth Green (Scott Evil), Charles Napier (Commander Gilmour), Will Ferrell (Mustafa), Fabiana Udenio (Alotta Fagina), Clint Howard (Radar Operator Ritter).
C-90m. Letterboxed. Closed captioning.

by Eleanor Quin