....but not necessarily the best. That title still goes to "Murderers' Row", in my opinion. "The Wrecking Crew" is probably the best-produced of the series (then again, after the embarrassing climactic chase of "The Ambushers", the only way was up), and in Elke Sommer it has the sexiest bad girl since Daliah Lavi of "The Silencers". It also has the second best villain in the sophisticated Nigel Green (re-teaming with Sommer after "Deadlier Than The Male") - Karl Malden remains the best. But director Phil Karlson makes the same mistake as in "The Silencers" - he lets several scenes play out too long. However, my biggest problem with this movie has to do with Sharon Tate. Not with the actress - who is beautiful, likable and energetic - but with her character. She is very inconsistently written, alternating between clumsy and competent, sometimes in the same scene. And what's worse, Matt Helm is obnoxiously condescending towards her - I much preferred his equal partnership with Janice Rule in "The Ambushers". This film has gained some fame for having Bruce Lee involved in the staging of the fight scenes: truth be told, they are still quite ungraceful, though at least Dean Martin has added more kicks to his repertoire. My favorite scene is easily the fight between major babes Sharon Tate and Nancy Kwan - unfortunately it is spoiled by a few too many interruptions. ** out of 4.
Review of The Wrecking Crew
