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The Silencers (1966)
Director: Phil Karlson
Writers: Donald Hamilton (novels), Oscar Saul (screenplay)
Cast: Dean Martin, Stella Stevens, Daliah Lavi
Genre: Spy Adventure Comedy
The Silencers (1966)
Writers: Donald Hamilton (novels), Oscar Saul (screenplay)
Cast: Dean Martin, Stella Stevens, Daliah Lavi
Genre: Spy Adventure Comedy
'Retired agent Matt Helm is re-activated in order to stop an evil organization from exploding an atom bomb over the USA and starting WWIII.'
Wholly smokes!....This was great fun! The Silencers is the first of four spy films based on the Matt Helm character played by that swanky singer and all around fun guy, Dean Martin.
The spy novels that the movies are based on were written by Donald Hamilton from 1960-1993. I've not read any of the books but the movie is said to be very different than the novels. It works as both a take on the James Bond films, but fitted to the personality of Dean Martin.
Only in the 1960s would we have drinking while driving! In fact Deano has a will stocked wet bar in the back set of his spy car.
So we get plenty of pretty girls all decked out in mid 1960s couture fashions...and good old Matt 'Deano' Helm has a bedroom that's fit for a swinging bachelor, complete with remote control bed and a luxurious bubble bath big enough for a party.
I found this movie to be more serious than I would have thought and yet it delivers some laughs, while entertaining. A young Stella Stevens was really good in this too. She plays a hapless girl who just happens to be dating an evil spy, which then makes Matt Helm think she's an evil counter spy herself. Which then puts her in all sorts of harms way.
Not as crass as it appears, the young lady losing her clothing is Stella Stevens and Dean Martin suspects her of being an enemy spy. I guess he's looking for hidden weapons
Cyd Charisse has a role as an exotic dancer, that has to be seen to be appreciated. At 40 she's still looking great and fit as a fiddle. She sings too, though she's dubbed, it's still a great number.
That's Daliah Lavi in blue, and dead on the floor is another beauty played briefly by Nancy Kovak.
The bad guys aren't all that colorful but Deano and his gal pals are! Don't miss the coolest spy tool ever made!...the reverse shooting gun.
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The spy novels that the movies are based on were written by Donald Hamilton from 1960-1993. I've not read any of the books but the movie is said to be very different than the novels. It works as both a take on the James Bond films, but fitted to the personality of Dean Martin.
Only in the 1960s would we have drinking while driving! In fact Deano has a will stocked wet bar in the back set of his spy car.
So we get plenty of pretty girls all decked out in mid 1960s couture fashions...and good old Matt 'Deano' Helm has a bedroom that's fit for a swinging bachelor, complete with remote control bed and a luxurious bubble bath big enough for a party.
I found this movie to be more serious than I would have thought and yet it delivers some laughs, while entertaining. A young Stella Stevens was really good in this too. She plays a hapless girl who just happens to be dating an evil spy, which then makes Matt Helm think she's an evil counter spy herself. Which then puts her in all sorts of harms way.
Not as crass as it appears, the young lady losing her clothing is Stella Stevens and Dean Martin suspects her of being an enemy spy. I guess he's looking for hidden weapons
Cyd Charisse has a role as an exotic dancer, that has to be seen to be appreciated. At 40 she's still looking great and fit as a fiddle. She sings too, though she's dubbed, it's still a great number.
That's Daliah Lavi in blue, and dead on the floor is another beauty played briefly by Nancy Kovak.
The bad guys aren't all that colorful but Deano and his gal pals are! Don't miss the coolest spy tool ever made!...the reverse shooting gun.
++