This comedy spy caper is so tongue in cheek that if you played a drinking game with this, you'd run out of vermouth. At the height of his rat pack popularity, Dean Martin scored a series of films spoofing the popular spy genre, and as an American version of James Bond, Martin is totally a hoot. Silencers on guns keep killing all of the women whom Dino obviously intends to bed, and it all surrounds a new and even more deadly atomic bomb set to be dropped on America in the middle of nowhere with the intention of starting World War III. The plot really is secondary, with Dean's romantic inclinations and the parade of beauties in nothing but panties and bra passing by. Ironically, it's James Gregory, the buffoon politician at the center of Angela Lansbury's nefarious scheme in "The Manchurian Candidate" as Martin's good guy boss. The women include such lovely ladies as Stella Stevens, Daliah Lavi and the still gorgeous Cyd Charisse (seen briefly) who hasn't aged a day since her time as one of MGM's great dancers. Victor Buono, Robert Webber and Roger C. Carmel are among the bad guys. Chase sequences on mountainside highways, nightclub scenes where the star gets shot, and lots of political intrigue, along with Martin's witty commentary, make this a lot of fun. Films like this were all over in the 1960's, but they lacked in the charm and inventiveness of this and the ground-breaking Bond films. This flies by in just over an hour and a half. Martin gets a few digs in at Sinatra's expense with a certain other singer on the radio getting his approval. The best bits involve inventive sets, particularly a bed that raises to dump Dean in his pool and car seats that turn into a reclining love making machine. Stella Stevens gets the worst of it as the redhead stuck in the car with him in a rainstorm and escapes, only to end up a muddy mess in a truly hysterically funny scene. The outrageous wrap-up has a neat little twist, and the final credits give the audience a view of things to come in the already planned sequel.

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 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.

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.