I'd always wanted to check out Dean Martin's Matt Helm series of comedy-thrillers spoofing the hugely successful James Bond films; I'd seen a few imitations of the latter already (including James Coburn's two Derek Flint movies) and one good lampoon in CARRY ON SPYING (1964) but this first of the Helms is generally considered as the most successful of the lot.
And great fun it is, too with Martin gleefully sending up not just the secret agent formula (pardon the pun) but his own image as a singer, boozer and womanizer! Starting off with the amusingly lewd credit sequence (those for the Bond films themselves were known to be quite risqué) which is highlighted by Cyd Charisse dancing and miming the title tune (vocals provided by Vicki Carr), we're then introduced to the comfortable lifestyle of a retired secret agent. Matt Helm's house, in fact, is equipped with any number of appliances such as a multi-purpose bed and shower parts strategically placed to appease the censor(!) and a gorgeous personal secretary with the suggestive name of Lovey Kravezit!! Incidentally, like Bond, he comes armed with a plethora of unlikely gadgets-cum-deadly weapons such as knives darting out of a camera (Helm is an amateur photographer), a jacket fitted with micro-bombs and, best of all, a gun that can shoot in reverse!
Helm operates in the service of I.C.E. (Intelligence Counter Espionage), whose nemesis is The Big O; their current leader is an underused Victor Buono as an improbable Asian and his nefarious plan involves a wide-spread infestation of radioactivity which would eventually spark a war between the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. Helm's superior is played by James Gregory and his luscious aide is Daliah Lavi; they're supposed to pick up a compromising tape from the leading performer (Charisse) at a swank club. However, she's murdered in mid-routine and in full view of the audience (shades of Hitchcock's THE 39 STEPS [1935] perhaps?) but, before she expires, Charisse confides the tape and a cryptic message to Stella Stevens (who happens to be standing nearest to her). The latter constitutes a delightful presence as an accident-prone red-headed beauty whom Helm even dubs a "disaster area"; having been involved with Robert Webber (who's revealed as an operative of The Big O), Helm suspects that Stevens is too and tries to get her to reveal their intentions but it eventually transpires that the double agent resides within his own ranks! Martin and Stevens are caught and taken to the enemy underground base but, naturally, manage to escape, outwit Buono, defeat his henchmen, and thwart the operation in the nick of time.
The film provides stylish and witty entertainment spiced with in-jokes (including a friendly jibe at Martin's fellow Rat Packer Frank Sinatra) and the occasional verse sung by Martin himself commenting on the action(!); incidentally, Elmer Bernstein's score is quite good. If one had to nitpick, the plot isn't all that interesting or even very suspenseful though a car chase early on and the final outburst of action is competently handled by director Karlson. Still, the film's mainstay are undoubtedly the two leading performances one laid-back but, at the same time, shrewdly self-deprecating and the other at once sexy and charmingly maladroit.
One final nod to the James Bond extravaganzas is the film's epilogue announcing the next adventure of the secret agent; by the way, I'll be following this myself with another Martin/Helm outing though it happens to be the very last one in the series, THE WRECKING CREW (1969; mind you, all three sequels are reportedly much inferior!), which I acquired concurrently with THE SILENCERS
And great fun it is, too with Martin gleefully sending up not just the secret agent formula (pardon the pun) but his own image as a singer, boozer and womanizer! Starting off with the amusingly lewd credit sequence (those for the Bond films themselves were known to be quite risqué) which is highlighted by Cyd Charisse dancing and miming the title tune (vocals provided by Vicki Carr), we're then introduced to the comfortable lifestyle of a retired secret agent. Matt Helm's house, in fact, is equipped with any number of appliances such as a multi-purpose bed and shower parts strategically placed to appease the censor(!) and a gorgeous personal secretary with the suggestive name of Lovey Kravezit!! Incidentally, like Bond, he comes armed with a plethora of unlikely gadgets-cum-deadly weapons such as knives darting out of a camera (Helm is an amateur photographer), a jacket fitted with micro-bombs and, best of all, a gun that can shoot in reverse!
Helm operates in the service of I.C.E. (Intelligence Counter Espionage), whose nemesis is The Big O; their current leader is an underused Victor Buono as an improbable Asian and his nefarious plan involves a wide-spread infestation of radioactivity which would eventually spark a war between the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. Helm's superior is played by James Gregory and his luscious aide is Daliah Lavi; they're supposed to pick up a compromising tape from the leading performer (Charisse) at a swank club. However, she's murdered in mid-routine and in full view of the audience (shades of Hitchcock's THE 39 STEPS [1935] perhaps?) but, before she expires, Charisse confides the tape and a cryptic message to Stella Stevens (who happens to be standing nearest to her). The latter constitutes a delightful presence as an accident-prone red-headed beauty whom Helm even dubs a "disaster area"; having been involved with Robert Webber (who's revealed as an operative of The Big O), Helm suspects that Stevens is too and tries to get her to reveal their intentions but it eventually transpires that the double agent resides within his own ranks! Martin and Stevens are caught and taken to the enemy underground base but, naturally, manage to escape, outwit Buono, defeat his henchmen, and thwart the operation in the nick of time.
The film provides stylish and witty entertainment spiced with in-jokes (including a friendly jibe at Martin's fellow Rat Packer Frank Sinatra) and the occasional verse sung by Martin himself commenting on the action(!); incidentally, Elmer Bernstein's score is quite good. If one had to nitpick, the plot isn't all that interesting or even very suspenseful though a car chase early on and the final outburst of action is competently handled by director Karlson. Still, the film's mainstay are undoubtedly the two leading performances one laid-back but, at the same time, shrewdly self-deprecating and the other at once sexy and charmingly maladroit.
One final nod to the James Bond extravaganzas is the film's epilogue announcing the next adventure of the secret agent; by the way, I'll be following this myself with another Martin/Helm outing though it happens to be the very last one in the series, THE WRECKING CREW (1969; mind you, all three sequels are reportedly much inferior!), which I acquired concurrently with THE SILENCERS