I suspect one likes Dean Martin's Matt Helm movies or one hates them. These parodies of the spy genre function much like the Flint movies, though with more cheese and lots more music. I've long wanted to gather these up for my collection but always found them too expensive or unavailable all together. But now I have them for a fair price and they were delightful in that hammy way only Dean Martin could deliver. There is not one moment in a Matt Helm movie in which one feels the hero is under threat. But even so, the movies do provide fun rides.
Matt Helm was created by writer Donald Hamilton in 1960 and he continued to write new novels in the series for thirty years. The first was titled Death of a Citizen and it was adapted in the first of the Matt Helm movies from Columbia in 1966.
That debut novel was blended with elements of 1966's The Silencers to supply the basis for the debut movie. The first one had a big budget of nearly eight million and it's as smarmy as it's possible to be. The films play on the reputation that Martin had of being a drunk, always performing with a drink in his hand. He also, like most spies was supposed to be a dame magnet and with Martin's Helm, that aspect was elevated to absurd proportions. The first movie has a real Las Vegas feel to it, with Martin wandering around various night clubs looking for clues, clues which are usually supplied by some statuesque lady moments before she's killed. He drags around Stella Stevens with him because he thinks she might be in on the plot, though she does prove to be an innocent. She's so innocent that she often wanders off and just as often loses track of her clothes. Victor Buono is the master villain and he's fantastic as usual as the leader of "Big O" (No comment). Cy Charisse is around early as a former partner of Helm's. James Gregory makes the first of three appearances as Helm's boss at I.C.E. (Intelligence and Counter Espionage).
Murderers' Row brings Helm back to the big screen again in late 1966, adapting another novel by Hamilton of that title, a rare one which doesn't have the "The" in it. Martin uses his clout to give his sone a boost when the musical group Dino, Desi, and Billy perform briefly at one point in the film. This time Karl Malden is the big villain and Ann-Margaret has the dizzy dame role who tumbles around with Helm throughout the story. She seems a bit too young for Martin in this one to be frank. The night club aroma is abandoned for a more youthful approach. Big O is using the threat of death ray to blackmail Washington D.C.
The Ambushers has a great poster but it's a bit of a bizarre movie. This 1967 movie saw the money drying up and it shows as much of this movie takes place on remote and presumably cheaper locations. This is the first movie not to showcase Helm's round bed that slips him into his pool-sized bath. Janice Rule is an agent and astronaut who has suffered a great trauma. She travels with Helm as they look for a stolen spacecraft, one which can only be operated by women. This film feels more like a regular movie, the glam having flaked off due to budgetary concerns.
A fifth movie titled The Ravagers was apparently planned with Tate scheduled to return, but Martin was done. The first three movies advertise "The Slaygirls", the models Helm uses for his calendar work. They playmates and models from across the globe who have obvious assets which make these movies of their time for certain. These Matt Helm movies are delightful and dumb. They feed off the spy craze and at the same time point out the absurdities which came with the genre. Glad I finally got to see them all in wacky original order.
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