The Silencers (1966) watch online HD

THE SILENCERS was the first in a line of spy films starring the legendary Dean Martin, but it will probably be enjoyed more by fans of old Dino than by fans of the genre. For one thing, there's no way it can be taken seriously as an action-adventure, with all of the star's mugging and leering, his double entendres, and frequent song parodies that come out of nowhere. But neither is it really a comedy, since there is a lot of realistic violence and mayhem.

Rather, it hovers back and forth and in between the two, a world in which Martin is completely at home as the all too casual superspy Matt Helm, agent for ICE (Intelligence and Counter Espionage). You know that he'll meander along in his own inimitable way, boozing, joking, and scoring, until he saves the world at film's end. If you accept that, then you can kick back and enjoy the show for its low-brow humor and the adequate action.

Forget the plot. I'm not sure that I can explain much beyond relating that the evil BIG O (Bureau of International Government and Order) is out to start WWIII between the superpowers. The main bad guys are played by Victor Buono (made up to be Chinese!), Robert Webber, and Arthur O'Connell. Each of them have done far better work elsewhere, and there's nothing in their roles here that couldn't have been handled by a call to central casting.

The ladies are another matter. Helm is joined by a partner, played by Daliah Lavi (in a step down from the previous year's LORD JIM), who tries very hard in her role. Making a better impression are Cyd Charisse and Stella Stevens. Charisse, the only female co-star in Martin's "over forty" age bracket, proves that she's still got it with a libido-raising routine during the credits, and turns up again later as an exotic dancer who passes along some vital microfilm during her act.

Stevens really livens things up, as a redhead who is suspected of being an enemy agent because she's the girlfriend(?) of Webber, and happens to wind up with the microfilm. She's innocent (well, at least of being a spy) but gets dragged along, accompanying Helm on his mission. Later on, her character turns out to be not quite so dumb, and does her part to battle the bad guys and save the world. While Helm is singlehandedly mowing down the enemy, she shows more ingenuity using her favorite new toy, the reverse-firing gun (a clever weapon, as you'll see).

Again, this film will be enjoyed if you know what to expect, and you'll know what to expect if you know Dino, who played Helm the way he played himself. If you're a fan of his well-worn persona, then that's probably good enough. Along with his easygoing style and humor, throw in assorted action sequences, and many beautiful women (especially sexy Stevens, who does a lot with her role), and you've got THE SILENCERS. It succeeds as very passable entertainment, and is certainly the best of the entire Matt Helm series.

The first in the Matt helm series; some say the best of all the James Bond spoofs. Violence and humor are equally mixed, as they are in the Bond pictures. *The Silencers* probably has the most alluring collection of femmes fatales as Hollywood has ever assembled. Klutzy (or is she really?) Stella Stevens, brunette Dahlia Lavi, blond Nancy Kovack, and dancer Cyd Charisse all have important roles. It is not giving away too much to say that of these four women, two are good, two are bad, and three of them suffer the fate of getting shot to death at surprising moments.

A bit of trivia: Beverly Adams, Helm's curvaceous secretary, married Yvres St. Laurent. And deadly Nancy Kovack married conductor Zubin Mehta, the lucky devil. Kovack, clad in only her high heeled shoes and one of Martin's white shirts, tries to seduce him into coming back to work for ICE, his old outfit. It is perhaps the most erotic three minute scene in any spy movie.

I'm a Dean Martin fan so I may be biased but I really enjoyed this goofy spy parody. Martin parodies not only the Bond genre but also his own character as a super suave playboy. However, I would have to say that the real mastery of this kind of spoof would still be found in the "Our Man Flint" movies with James Coburn. There wit is a bit sharper and their humor is over-the-top without being quite so goofy.

I recently bought the DVD, and I forgot how much fun it was. It's not rocket science at all, and one could argue that even as an obvious spy spoof (in the best Bond and Flint traditions) it hiccups a bit throughout its own pretensions: Dean Martin's photographer-as-spy is properly cool, but there's a fine line between being laid-back and appearing to sleep on camera. (I could also say something about a modern audience being more than a bit startled at the immense objectifying of women throughout the whole film, but society is currently enjoying a renaissance of all things politically INcorrect and telling the rest of us to shut up- so I'll shut up.) Martin's female co-stars are all a smörgåsbord of beauty and sex appeal- every last one of them, but the one who seems to have emerged with the strongest impression is Stella Stevens' accident-prone klutz (whose airhead personality got on my nerves after a while, but I cannot deny that she looked fantastic as a redhead). For me, I preferred the enigma that is Daliah Lavi (a black-haired siren of Mideastern gorgeousness), who emerges a double agent and semi-lover of Helm's. The film does two brilliant things which take its visual appeal to dizzying heights: It launches the film with clever opening credits which peek under a bevy of gorgeous strippers, each doing a 'legitimate' strip-tease (no true nudity). Ending the strip parade is the film's other secret weapon: Cyd Charisse. I love that TPTB had the foresight to acknowledge a younger and older demographic at the same time- while simultaneously spotlighting one of filmdom's greatest dancers in a cameo (at the age of 45)- with the longest, most gorgeous legs in history. After singing the title song Charisse emerges a second time about 37 minutes into the film (in an important plot point) to perform a stunning dance in a Vegas nightclub to the Vikki Carr song "In Santiago-" then disappears much too quickly. Otherwise, there is a lot of fun with Martin poking fun at his own persona: many songs become sexual double-entendre, an audio cameo by Sinatra is quickly nixed, and so forth.

This is an amusing film and Stella Stevens is just wonderful. There's a great scene where she has a special pistol that fires backwards, and pretends to give up, and hand over the gun to the enemy guy, who attempts to shoot her, thus shooting himself. And STella is a major babe.

He's super spy Matt Helm.All the girls love him and all the men envy him.And some want to kill him.In the 1960's they made four Matt Helm movies.The Silencers (1966) is the first one of them directed by Phil Karlson.In this movie Matt Helm's job is to prevent WWIII.Not an easy job to do, except for Matt Helm.Matt Helm movies were James Bond parodies.They did the same Austin Powers did some decades later.And this agent could also sing! The actor who portrayed Matt Helm was super cool Dean Martin.The leading lady of this first movie was portrayed by super sexy Stella Stevens (Gail).Daliah Lavi plays Tina.The singing and dancing beauty Cyd Charisse is Sarita.The movie history has pretty much forgotten these movies.I found The Silencers rather entertaining.Matt Helm movies look very 60's.It's probably the nostalgia that raises the value of these movies.And the super cool Dean Martin.

Yep, that's the premise, and the beginning to the silliest spy series, before a certain dentally-challenged International Man of Mystery arrived.

Dean Martin starred as Matt Helm, the lead character in a series of novels by Donald Hamilton. The books were serious spy adventures; but, there is nothing serious about the film series. Dean plays it tongue-in-cheek, often making fun of his own image and rivalry with fellow Rat Packer Frank Sinatra. The films are filled with strange characters and silly gadgets.

Martin has fun with the role and keeps the film rolling along, but Stella Stevens makes it memorable. She is sexy as hell, but is such a lovable klutz that she dominates every scene. Victor Buono gets to chew the most scenery this side of his Batman appearances.

The gadgets make James Bond look like a documentary: a gun that shoots backward unless the trigger is pushed, exploding buttons, a station wagon with a fold down bed and bar, and Helm's many household appliances.

These films were anything but serious, but this one is very entertaining. The films tended to get worse with each new entry, but most of the elements work well here. If you are looking for serious spy cinema, try 007 or Harry Palmer. If you want some goofy fun, try this.

Dean Martin stars in this spy spoof, the beginning of the Matt Helm series. Matt may have a blase attitude about his duties and all the beautiful women around him throwing themselves at him, but he still carries out his duties well and ends up obliging the women, with good humor and lines. The screenplay is interspersed with Dean's singing, lending to the lighthearted atmosphere. While tongue in cheek, the plot is good, as Victor Buono plays the lead villain who is seeking to engineer a nuclear disaster. Among many gorgeous women in this male fantasy, the leading one is Stella Stevens, who plays Gail Hendrix, suspected of being a spy till the end. There is a nice scene when she and Dean are pulled over in a car on the highway in a rainstorm. Some people just don't enjoy spoofs, but I do if they are well done, and with its many nice elements I enjoyed this more than most real things.

Just in case this fact was not made clear in the other reviews. Back in the spy era (James Bond, Our Man Flint, Secret Agent, Man from UNCLE, I SPY, Callan etc etc) there was a very popular series of thrillers penned by a respected suspense writer, Donald Hamilton. Although (arguably) all the entries in the series (27 in all) were of lesser quality than the very first and most visceral work, DEATH OF A CITIZEN, readers worldwide were captivated by the character and the first-person narrative, and Hamilton continued to pen them for decades, into a ripe old age. Hollywood (speaking broadly here) was aware of the success of this series and, faced with a choice between attempting to actually bring the character to life on-screen, or creating a cheap, superficial, low-quality, vehicle for superstar Dean Martin to merely show up for, and walk away with a large paycheck for everyone, well, let's just say the second idea was just too good to pass up. SO HERE IS THE POINT OF THE REVIEW. There were a handful of films made under the Matt Helm title. They had nothing to do with Matt Helm. And just in case this is too confusing, I will add that they (speaking broadly again) also made a TV series with the name MATT HELM, but (hopefully you are ahead of me here) it had nothing to do with the Hamilton character either, it was about a detective, and about making more money for the producers by using a name that resonated with the public. So, bottom line, all the Martin films are not based on the actual character and taken together as a whole they contain the cinematic equivalent of a can of beer left open in the sun for 48 hours. And leave the same taste in your mouth. Glad we had a chance to clear that up.

This is the best Matt Helm film and along with the somewhat more serious Bulldog Drummond film, Deadlier Than The Male, one of the best tongue-in-cheek spy/adventure films ever made.

The production is breezy and entertaining, the direction is hilarious (Martin, Stella Stevens) and seductive (Daliah Lavi) and there are quite a few clever bits of strategy played out by all the characters.

Matt Helm likes his women but treats them with respect. The women, unlike in the Bond and Flint movies, are not just window dressing; They become integral to the plot.

The mixture of clever plot, sharp dialog and self-deprecating humor make this Bond alternative much more enjoyable than the pretentious, boring, self-congratulatory Flint films. Matt Helm wants to have a good time but knows when to get down to business.

Universal Pictures packages this film with the enjoyable film The Wrecking Crew. This package deserves to be part of any spy collection.

The Matt Helm movies were in fairly steady rotation on the local UHF channel in my town in the 70s. I watched them quite a bit as a kid, when I was little because they involved gadgets and explosion,and when I was a slightly older kid because they involved gadgets and explosions and literally acres of almost-naked gorgeous women. Needless to say, this movie was a pretty big hit in 1966 when it was first released, however it trades pretty much entirely on the desire of teen aged boys to see as many nearly-naked women as possible. This was back in the days before VCRs and DVDs and Cable TV made smut into a major industry, and when it was presumably much harder to get a copy of Playboy if you were a kid, so the appeal was not to be understated.

Alas, on this end of the 20th century, where you literally can't check your Email w/out someone offering you pictures of naked women, that aspect of the film has lost some of it's allure. The movie is something like a late night soft-core Cinemax film, only without the actual nudity. (Well, actually, there's plenty of nudity, most of which is conveniently obscured by a chair back, or a coffee cup or whatever) The plot is, well, mostly incoherent, and functions mainly as a means of getting Helm from one sexual situation to another. If the Bond formula is "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" then the Matt Helm formula is 3-parts Kiss Kiss to one quarter cup of Bang, so it actually gets rather tedious.

The direction is pretty much atrocious, and that adds to the proto-soft-core feel of the film. Production values are on the whole about equal to the level of a good Irwin Allen TV show, and the gadgets are pretty lame, even by the standards of the day, and there is frankly just too much sex. I don't mean that to sound prudish, but come on! That's why Playboy pads out each issue with articles about Peruvian oil wells, it can't *All* be about the T&A. Ideally, a spy parody like this should be something like an Oreo cookie, where the sweet, creamy middle of Stella Stevens (Pretty amazing as a redhead, BTW) is sandwiched in between the chocolate cookies of good storytelling and an interesting plot. Instead, this film plays out like you've scraped the filling off of three or four Double Stuffs, and piled it all on an Andes Candy, so that in the end all you've got is a big pile of sweetened lard and, well, it never ends up tasting as good as you thought it would when you started slapping it all together.

Other Caveats: The brilliant Victor Buono is horribly underused in this film playing a character that *might* possibly be Chinese, but more likely simply *wants* to be Chinese. Or he might simply be an overweight female impersonator with a particularly unfortunate fashion sense. Another odd feature is that the movie is at it's worst when Dino actually acts. Most of the time he sleepwalks through the film in his trademark personality, seeming slightly buzzed, but at random intervals he'll actually act and emote in a scene ("Did you think you bought me off last night?") and then suddenly you remember that Dino was one half of the second-most-successful comedy team of all time, and actually a pretty talented actor on occasion. Those glimmers pull you out of the films sugar shock, and, well, it's distracting. The film was apparently running rather short, so they decided to pad it out with a lengthy and pathologically un-funny scene where we spend about ten minutes watching Stella Stevens attempt to get out of a station wagon in the rain and repeatedly fall in the mud. It's painful to watch, and I can't believe they didn't cut it out. Horrible.

On the bright side, Stella is amazing looking, and not at all shy about it. Indeed, all the women in the film have that inexplicable mid-60s va-va-voom quality, but the most striking of them is the 45-year-old Cyd Charise who is just jaw-droppingly sexy in her two brief appearances in the film. And as ever, it's impossible not to like Dino.

Two notes for the DVD version of this film: If you saw this show on UHF back in the day, the uncut DVD version is...well, surprisingly lurid. There's nothing on here that wouldn't get past a network censor in 2006, but even so the tone of it is kind of aggressively pornographic, so keep that in mind before you screen it for the youth group on Wednesday night at church. Also, stick around through the end credits! There's a teaser for the next film in the series that features an almost-blooper by Martin, who's clearly thinking "What in the hell am I doing?" that makes the preceding 90 minutes of cheeze whiz all the more worthwhile.

Stella Stevens playing the character of Gail Hendricks is the main reason to watch this entertaining movie.She oozes sexiness in every scene she is in...even the scene in the baddies headquarters where she resigns herself to being executed by Robert Webber's character Sam Gunther. Gail is saved by Matt Helm's reverse firing gun which she then uses to good effect when in further trouble. Very clever !

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 ).

The Silencers was ostensively based on Donald Hamilton's novel featuring government assassin Matt Helm. Perhaps unfortunately, they took little more than the name of the title character and a few other characters from Hamilton's novel. In Hamilton's books Helm was a government assassin (code name: Eric) working for an unnamed government agency, who had a stronger resemblance to Sam Spade or Mike Hammer than James Bond. He was of Scandinavian descent and made a living writing Westerns between his service in WW II as a secret agent and his reactivation as such in the first novel (Death of a Citizen). I can imagine the surprise of fans of the novels when this movie came out! No hard nosed government assassin, Matt Helm in the movie is little more than Dean Martin doing his usual Dean Martin routine!

That having been said, I can't help liking the film. True, it's not Hamilton's Matt Helm, but it is a bit of Sixties camp that can be enjoyed on its own merits. The Dean Martin persona seems perfectly fitted for a poor man's "James Bond" and Stella Stevens is simply adorable. Probably my biggest complaint with the movie is the music, which is almost annoying. True, The Silencers is not a classic in the espionage genre (it's not even a classic in Bondian espionage genre), but it is a fun way to waste one's time.

I've been reading the comments and I've only seen one of you talk about Nancy Kovack. I remember when I saw this at the age of 10, and I thought, and still do think, that Nancy was just very sexy. True, she wasn't a real blonde, the brown eyes gave it away, but the husky voice, the come hither act, and those gorgeous legs, made this one flick I love to put on late at night. I heard that the DVD has a smaller picture so when we last see our Nancy baby, that we don't get to see her butt. That's a shame, 'cause it was a nice one. Anyway, I liked her so much in this flick. And, it was what made my mind up that a girl in a man's shirt is very sexy.

Stella Steven carries this thing. She's adorable, at her most energetic and pretty funny. Dean Martin is likable but he's sleepwalking through the movie. The plot itself is an afterthought. It moves slow because not much happens and there are drab bits where Dean listens to himself sing on the soundtrack. Women will roll their eyes at the mysogyny and dead ideas of male coolness. Men might find some of the male fantasy cute but its so tame and impractical. The best part of the movie is the garish and then-futuristic production design. The directing is limp and the jokes are very dated but couldn't have been too great in their day. Its a curiosity if you just NEED to see the bridge between James Bond and Austin Powers, but this is really a weak rom-com that takes a few cues from You Only Live Twice. Not necessary viewing. For a good Bond ripoff watch "Danger Diabolik" and I think "Casino Royale" is funnier and more interesting as a Bond spoof.

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.

My favorite part of this "tongue-in-cheek" espionage flick, is when Dean Martin, convinced that Stella Stevens has the micro-film tape on her, completely rips her dress off of her, leaving the sexy Stevens standing there in her bra, gartered-panties, nylons and high-heels. Great scene !! I'm sure it was Stella Stevens who kept the attention of male viewers throughout this silly movie. Sure , there were other attractive women in the movie. But Stevens was tops !! Dean martin, pretty much being himself as opposed to acting, was entertaining to a degree. However, it was Stella Stevens who stole the show. I didn't even consider being annoyed by her "flighty" character. She's just too damn pretty.

The Silencers introduces us to Dean Martin's character via a ludicrously over-the-top depiction of a swinger's bedroom in 1960s America, complete with an ambulatory bed that dumps the lazing occupants directly into a Jacuzzi. Pretty standard 60's sex-comedy stuff; a slightly more explicit manifestation of a comedic allusion somebody might make in a Doris Day movie. (The later station wagon sporting a couch in the back seat hits a similar note.) "Okay," I thought. "This is basically going to be Austin Powers before Austin Powers: a silly James Bond spoof."

Well, not quite. The Silencers doesn't really follow through on that.

The movie is light-hearted enough throughout. But since it gets caught up in as many cliches as it sends up, it's not really consistent enough to be a spoof--unless the Roger Moore Bond films can accurately be described as such. This strikes about the same ratio of goofiness to sincerity.

Should I go on comparing this film to Bond? It seems only natural, since the franchise was developed as an answer to the Broccoli undertakings. Notable to me were the sexual politics on display. Matt Helm is surprisingly respectful of leading female-bystander-dragged-into-covert-operations Gail, played by Stella Stevens. For a long time, forced into a road trip with Helm to clear her name, she demands he keep his distance. I kept expecting him to force a kiss on her anyway, because that's how the sixties rolled. To my amazement, that never happened. Instead Helm simply kicks back and relaxes in waiting for the inevitable sexual chemistry to drive her into his arms more willingly. For those of us who get queasy when Connery's Bond seduces a woman by forcing himself on her with brutish force, it's refreshing.

Speaking of Stella Stevens, I also found her performance to be one of the highlights of the film .(The other is the dance number in the opening credits with Cyd Charisse.) She handles the comedy pretty well while also delivering as required in the dramatic moments. Probably the standout scene in the film for me is a moment in which, after struggling over a gun, Gail fully believes she is about to be executed by a henchman. She doesn't cower and beg and scream for Matt Helm. Instead she raises herself up with all the courage and dignity she can muster and looks the gunman straight in the eye with a defiant glare just as he prepares to pull the trigger. I found this surprisingly powerful and endearing for such a silly film. (The resolution of this scene is also one of the funnier outcomes.)

There's also a TLR camera that shoots throwing stars out of the lens. As a vintage camera enthusiast I was pretty keen on that.

Will I see the sequels? If I can find them, I might. Mainly because I know Ann-Margret is in one of them.

Retired secret agent Matt Helm (Dean Martin) is a photographer of beautiful models with beautiful assistant Lovey Kravezit. His former boss Macdonald at Intelligence Counter Espionage with deadly Tina recruit him back in the fight against the evil Big O organization led by Tung-Tze who plans to use the underground atomic bomb test in New Mexico to start WWIII. Andreyev is the evil henchman. Matt encounters bumbling bosom blonde Gail Hendricks (Stella Stevens) and Sam Gunther.

Before Austin Powers, there was Matt Helm. This is a semi-spoof of Jimmy Bond. Dean Martin is the perfect lady's man to play the role. It's a lot of scantily clad beautiful women and outrageous spy stuff. It is semi-spoof because it's not that that far from the actual Bond franchise. It's got some song and dance as long as the dancing has the girls jiggling. The most important part is that this is fun and Martin seems to be having fun winking at the audience.

This was the first of Dean Martin's four appearances as the spy Matt Helm. Kind of a working man's James Bond. Swedish writer Don Hamilton wrote 27 of these Helms adventures, and they were so very mod. Taking place in the 1960s, we see all the futuristic house inventions, like the automatic bed, coffee makers, drying devices. And or course, the new, scientific specialty weapons. The sexy bombshells come and go, some good, some evil. Stella Stevens, Daliah Lavi, Beverly Adams, Cyd Charisse. Viewers will certainly recognize his nemesis, Victor Buono, leader of the "Big-O" organization. Buono was probably best known for the odd piano accompanist in "Baby Jane". Fun song in the middle, lip synched by Charisse... "In Chile, It got HOT!". The fight scenes are all pretty cheesy, and Martin kind of ambles through his role, but its fun entertainment. Every few minutes, one of the girls gets her dress ripped off, so that's going on, but with Dean Martin, we would expect nothing less! Matt's boss is James Gregory, aka Detective Luger on Barney Miller. It's a goofy, fun adventure, and it IS available on Sont DVD. Haven't seen this shown on cable yet. Directed by Phil Karlson.

Many dreadful things followed in the profitable wake of the James Bond series. The Matt Helm series was not the worst of these. They were a comic turn on a serious series of spy novels by Donald Hamilton. Now, I love Dean Martin, and Bond spoofs/rip-offs, I even love some of the Matt Helm films (#2, MURDERER'S ROW, and #3, THE AMBUSHERS), but THE SILENCERS is just plain bad.

Director Phil Karlson (WALKING TALL) is mostly to blame for the failure of this film. I know this because he also directed THE WRECKING CREW, the last film in the series, and it had all the same problems. He introduces us to our hero, lying naked in bed, having dreams of models in various silly costumes which are narrated by Martin's singing. Meanwhile, Matt Helm's boss, MacDonald (James Gregory) is trying to call him to get him on his mission. This is supposed to be funny, but it's tedious as hell and a bad start for an action-comedy.

In the only well shot scene in the movie, we see agents of I.C.E. (the good guys) chasing agents of BIG-O (the bad guys) in cars on a deserted stretch of highway in Arizona. The viewer is introduced to a fairly standard plot involving the threat of the United States being destroyed with its own missiles. Things never pan out quite right in this movie, though. All the action sequences are mishandled and the attempts at romance and comedy are painful. The bad guys, who are supposed to be imposing and exotic, try to defeat Helm with mundane items like police cars and telephones. Meanwhile, Matt Helm gets a gun that can shoot backwards (leading to a bad running gag) and exploding coat buttons.

The film's love interest is Stella Stevens, playing a clumsy girl who somehow got caught up with BIG-O without knowing it ("Big *O*? You are sick! S-I-Q-U-E, sick!"). The scenes between her and Dean Martin are all awful stuff that tries to be funny, but just slows the movie down. A very long sequence has the pair driving to San Juan. Helm gets her drunk to get her to talk, and... Well, don't say I didn't warn you.

Things do end up building to a Bond-like climax involving BIG-O's underground base of operations and an animated missile. Our villain, the man in the chair, has to be the saddest attempt to make a white man look Oriental in screen history. I'd call it racist, but it's really just pathetic.

MURDERER'S ROW had all these bugs worked out and came in a tighter, funnier package thanks to Henry Levin. THE AMBUSHERS, often called the worst in the series, is still bad, but it's a lot easier to watch than this or THE WRECKING CREW. THE SILENCERS simply does everything wrong. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether it wants to be funny or what. Elmer Bernstein wrote a good score for this, so it's even more annoying that Karlson leaves so much of this film silent. If you are stuck watching this for some reason try to either fast forward or fake a heart-attack. If you want a Bond spoof/rip-off that won't make you want to die, see either MURDERER'S ROW or OUR MAN FLINT. THE SILENCERS can only give you pleasure if you burn the tape and get high inhaling the fumes.

Just like the last commenter. I first saw this movie when I was about 12. All the woman are alluring; but, Nancy's scene was definitely a notch above. Of all the Matt Helm movies, she and Elke Sommer in the Wrecking Crew are the most seductive and deadliest. Fortunately for Matt and unfortunately for the beauties their own people eliminate them. Even when Nancy is limp in Matt's arms he still has a what just happened look. That's the difference between Matt and Bond. James is always in control; Matt survives due to the incompetence of his enemies. But, that's the point of these movies - comedy. These movies are dated when viewed now; but, are worth watching for those who want a taste of the 60's.

Though it lacks style or wit, The Silencers is the best of the 4 Dean Martin Matt Helm films. Like another Bond parody, 1967's Casino Royale, The Silencers features gorgeous women, endless innuendo and an irrelevant plot. Stella Stevens walks away with the acting honors and a relaxed and charming Daliah Lavi is both a perfect foil and complement to Dean Martin's under appreciated talents Cyd Charisse is in great form, but for my money Victor Buono made a better villain on TV's Batman than he does here. The photography by Burnett Guffey (Bonnie and Clyde) is bright and appealing, and director Phil Karlson (Walking Tall) seems to be marking time with this poorly paced film. Still, it's fun.

Producer Irving Allen once collaborated with Albert R. (Cubby) Broccoli on such productions as "Fire Down Below," but having supposedly disagreed about the merits of a series of films based on some secret agent character named James Bond, they went their separate ways. Broccoli made cinema history with "Dr. No" ad infinitum, while Allen jumped on the Bondwagon with his Matt Helm series starring Dean Martin. The first, "The Silencers," is the best of the quartet, but that is faint praise indeed. This could just as easily be retitled "The Dean Martin Show: The Motion Picture." It's just as sloppy, dim-witted, and dumb, but not nearly as entertaining. Stella Stevens, looking as luscious as ever, is the best thing about this otherwise forgettable film.