This week on the Spec, I'll be posting a series of entries on the most ridiculously awesome spy movie series of the 60s: The Matt Helm movies starring Dean Martin.
The four films--The Silencers, Murderers' Row, The Ambushers, and The Wrecking Crew--were released over the course of three years (1967-69) during the height of the James Bond craze. While they lack much of the quality that many spy movies of the period had, they make up for that by being contagiously fun. Dean Martin functions here in the mode that he followed for his tv series: he clearly isn't trying very hard, and most of the time he's reading his lines off of cue cards, but his personality carries him a long way. And the films do a great job of playing off the hard-partying persona he developed during this period of his career.
In fact, a lot of Dean Martin purists dislike these movies because he seems to be wasting his talents. However, I always felt that one of Dean's many talents--and perhaps his most endearing one--was that he never seemed to work harder than he had to. So, while he certainly could act, as he proved in The Young Lions, Some Came Running, Rio Bravo, and elsewhere, his talents were such that he could easily coast on his personality alone. Plus, he gets to sing a lot in these movies.
The movies also benefit from having some incredible leading ladies, including Ann-Margret, Sharon Tate, Stella Stevens, Janice Rule, Senta Berger, Camilla Sparv, Elke Sommer, and Daliah Lavi.
Here's the great opening sequence from the first Matt Helm movie, The Silencers. The music is by Elmer Bernstein, who may be slumming a bit here. Cyd Charisse performs the theme song.
This sequence captures the feeling of unbridled hedonism that these movies all celebrate. When the stripper opens her top to reveal the film's title, you know exactly what you're going to get.
And the line, "And she's 38 where it is great to measure 38"--I really don't know what to say about that, except it makes me happy.
The opening credit sequence for the second film, Murderers' Row, features music by Lalo Schifrin. The music may be better here, but the sequence contains less stripping. The design resembles a more generic 60s spy movie style than the earlier movie does, too.
So, tomorrow we'll start Matt Helm Week off with The Silencers.
This could be the best week of my life. Just yesterday, I learned that an upcoming film will reveal, in Cinemascope and Technicolor, the tropical adventures of Odile and Franz. And now... Matt Helm.
ReplyDeleteHey pallie Dr. K, how Dinoawesome this is a Matt Helm week at your pad...loves it. I am a lover of all thin's Dino and I loves the Matt Helm capers so much precisely 'cause it is our Dino doin' what the King of Cool does best...playin' his cool, hip, and ever randy self...my fav of favs is numero duo..."Murders Row"...simply pure Dinomagic...pallie you are certainly gonna make my Dinoweek and I can make a Dinopromise to be glued to your blog for this whole Dinoweek!!!! Never was, never will be anyone as cool as the King of Cool...oh, to return to the days when Dino walked the earth...
ReplyDeleteThis is so cool. I'm a huge fan of Dean Martin. I really dig him in the Matt Helm spy flicks. These, along with Ocean's 11, are my favorite of the Dino movies. Dino is at his best here. Sure he's not trying hard. He's basically playing his cool and hip self in these movies. That's what is so much fun here. These movies don't take themselves very seriously. They are pure escapist fun. Besides Martin, we are treated to quite a lot of gorgeous women of this era. I look forward to your blogs on these movies. Great video clips. I always loved the song for The Silencers.
ReplyDeleteHey there, Dr. K. I really love your blog. I just left some comments on these Matt Helm posts. I plan to check out your blog more. I'm going to add a blog link to my blog. Great job you do here. Cheers!
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