dnhyt This is a really bad movie. Do not waste any part of your life watching it. It is not so much a Bond spoof as an eighth-grader's prequel of Austin Powers, by way of Las Vegas. If you've ever read any of the Matt Helm books, you'll hate this movie, because it has absolutely nothing in common with the books besides the character's name.This Matt Helm sings. He has a huge collection of impractical and silly gadgets. His dialog is painfully stilted and inappropriate, and he talks too much. If the Dean Martin character were completely removed from the movie, it would be a third-rate period TV action show. With him in it, it's much worse than that.I hope whoever approved the making of this turkey lost his job and never worked in the movie business again.

RamblerReb I will not bother to go over the plot or other cinematic elements of this light-hearted spoof, and concentrate on the man himself, the King of Cool, Dino Crocetti.His casual sexism, smug chauvinism, and generally patronizing attitude are refreshing reminders of the days when men were expected to behave that way, political correctness be damned. My favorite scene is when he casually breaks out a bottle of liquor **while driving** to knock back a few with Stella Stevens. The ways Dean acts would get him picketed by anhedonic prudes-- excuse me, **feminist groups**, if he were performing today. Then again, if he were performing today, we'd have bigger problems because it would mean that the zombie apocalypse has begun. All in all, a playful time-capsule romp through the days when people just seemed to have more damn fun.

Poseidon-3 Following the success of "Dr. No" and the subsequent James Bond films, a raft of gadget-laden, sexually suggestive copycats flooded the cinema landscape, some of them serious in tone, most of them light and/or parodying in nature. Here, Martin plays Matt Helm, the character in a popular series of spy novels which were not intended to be amusing, but some of which were adapted into a series of frothy, campy, goofy, tacky films. This first in a collection of four is among the best, though that still doesn't qualify it as a stellar piece of film-making. Super-spy Martin is drawn out of retirement in order to thwart villain Buono, who is bent on world domination. Aiding him to a point is delectable fellow spy Lavi. Standing in his way is Stevens, the girlfriend of Webber, one of Buono's hit men. Stevens, apart from being suspected as an enemy through her association with Webber, is dangerous simply by way of her penchant for calamity and chaos, which seem to dog her at every turn! Traversing the American southwest in his tricked out station wagon (!), Martin swings from clue to clue when he isn't swinging from babe to babe. None of it is ever believable for a moment if it was ever meant to be. That's fine, but the film has an unfortunate piecemeal feel to it and an undercoat of cheapness that no amount of fancy sets or Moss Mabry gowns (which are mostly very striking) can fully overcome. It leans towards the illogical and the senseless and has a sloppy feel to it. Much of this comes from Martin's completely laid back and noncommittal performance, by now heavily colored by his seat-of-the-pants casualness that was popularized on his glitzy TV variety show. Stevens, on the other hand, gives a winning and wacky performance and looks astonishing as a redhead. From her memorable backwards first entrance to her stunning last one (in a flimsy blue chiffon nightgown with hair piled high), she is the primary reason to sit through this movie. Lavi is no slouch, either. Her fashion model looks and breathy, sex-kitten line readings are also a big draw. Not to be left out, legendary dancer Charisse has a late-career highlight as a singer-stripper who figures into the espionage. Her appearance during the credit sequence is not quite as daring as the publicity stills promised, but she's still very arresting. Her second get-up is as vulgar as it is bizarre and her soft-focus close-ups are amusing, but she still gives it her all. Always intriguing Buono is nonetheless pretty lame as a goofy answer to the quasi-Asian villain Joseph Wiseman portrayed in "Dr. No." Best advice is to jettison the silly plot lines and just soak up the preposterous gadgetry, the gorgeous women (which also include Kovack and Adams), the anything goes 60's atmosphere and colors and the free-spirited performance of Stevens. On this level, the film is enjoyable enough to make its viewing worthwhile.

ShadeGrenade Irving Allen co-produced several films in the '50's and '60's with Albert R. 'Cubby' Broccoli, among them 'The Red Beret', 'Cockleshell Heroes' and 'The Trials Of Oscar Wilde'. A disagreement arose when Broccoli expressed an interest in Ian Fleming's 'James Bond' books. Allen was convinced they had no merit, the partnership ended and Broccoli made the films with Harry Saltzman, of which 'Dr.No' ( 1962 ) was the first. As we now know, they became one of the decade's biggest pop culture phenomena. Allen then set up a rival series of spy pictures, based on Donald Hamilton's 'Matt Helm', an altogether more hard boiled character. After being rebuffed by Paul Newman, he offered the role to Dean Martin, who accepted on the grounds that his company - 'Claude Productions' - be involved. Allen agreed, hence all four Helm pictures carried the credit 'A Meadway Claude Picture'.With Dino around, 'Matt Helm' was bound to turn silly and did. Of the quartet, however, the first - 'The Silencers' - manages to be pretty good. It opens with the ( off-screen ) killing of I.C.E. ( International Counter Espionage ) agent Jim Traynor. His partner, Tina Batori ( Daliah Lavi ), is assigned a replacement in the shape of Matt, with whom she has worked before. The latter lives a life of luxury in a gadget-packed house, with a beautiful secretary ( Beverly Adams ) boasting the unlikely name of 'Lovey Kravezit' taking dictation while sharing his bath. Matt returns home one night to find the lovely Barbara ( Nancy Kovack ) laying in wait for him with a knife. Before she can stick it into his back, she is shot dead by Tina ( Matt's codename of 'Eric' is used here ). She tells him that a top American scientist named Naldi ( David Bond ) is about to pass a vital computer tape to the subversive B.I.G. O ( Bureau for International Government and Order ) organisation. After wiping out a contingent of killers, they head for Phoenix and the Slaygirl Club, where the courier is to be the stunning Sarita ( Cyd Chariise )...As 'Matt', Dean Martin is...well, Dean Martin. Ridiculous gadgets abound, including a gun that shoots backwards, a camera that fires blades, a phone that spits gas, and jacket buttons that double as hand grenades. Oscar Saul's script is based not only on the book of the same name but also 'Death Of A Citizen', the first in the series. He does a good job at combining the plots and, although there is plenty of comedy, there are a few serious bits as well. Take the scene where Matt and Tina take Gail Hendrix ( Stella Stevens ) back to their hotel room for questioning following Sarita's killing. Thinking her klutzy nature to be an act, he gets rough by pushing her so hard she tumbles over the bed and onto the floor, and then rips off her dress, leaving her fuming in her underwear. This scene is lifted almost verbatim from the novel, and is not played for laughs. It is one of the reasons why 'The Silencers' works so much better than the other films. We see a glimpse of the original character - a Government-sponsored assassin who killed in cold blood when he needed to.Other villains include Roger C.Carmel ( 'Harry Mudd' of 'Star Trek' ) as the swarthy 'Andreyev', Robert Webber as hotel pianist 'Sam Gunther' and Arthur O'Connell as garage owner 'Joe Wigman'. These characters are played straight but their boss - 'Tung-Tze' ( Victor Buono ) - is not. He brings to the role the campy approach he brought to 'King Tut', his regular role on the 'Batman' television series. Stella Stevens is hilarious as the accident-prone 'Gail', one wishes she had been used in the sequels. Elegant Daliah Lavi played similar roles in 'Casino Royale' ( 1967 ) and 'Some Girls Do' ( 1969 ). The exciting climax in B.I.G. O's Command Headquarters has Helm ( with Gail at his side ) endeavouring to prevent the launching of a missile before it is redirected at the atomic testing centre at White Sands, Alamorgordo. Great music from Elmer Bernstein.'The Silencers' made less money than the Bond movie 'Thunderball', but thanks to Dino's co-production deal he wound up with a bigger paycheck than Connery. A sequel - 'Murderers' Row' - was announced at the end of 'The Silencers'. Unfortunately, a change of writer - Herbert Baker - and director - Henry Levin' - resulted in a shift in tone as the sophisticated elegance of the first film was thrown away. Phil Karlson did a splendid job with 'The Silencers', but only directed one more 'Matt Helm' film - the awful 'The Wrecking Crew' ( 1969 ).