utubes The Matt Helm series are a treasure of what was the scene in the late 1960's. James Bond had the world crazy for the spy genre so Hollywood made various spy type TV and Films, these included Matt Helm and Derek Flint. The Matt Helm series had the cool factor down to a science with Dean Martin being the coolest cat around at the time. The Wrecking Crew is steeped in 1960's vibe, from the set designs to the the wonderful music in the movie. This is probably one of the movies that best captures that era. The Matt Helm series is a must have addition to your video collection along with the Flint movies. One particular scene from "The Silencers" that is especially indicative of the 1960's is when Matt and Gail are driving through the desert in Matt's American made spy station wagon. Matt pushes a button and out comes a stocked bar in the back and they proceed to pour drinks and get toasted as they are driving along, without seat-belts!

gjack-184-789126 The opening montage with a zippy title track, followed by Hugo Montenegro's sophisticated Jazzy score score which perfectly matches the introduction to Nigel Green and Elke Sommers characters, followed by the Heist and another rousing score is an opening sequence that has stayed with me for years.The fourth film in this 60's spy series is my favourite, although the first 'The Silencers' is a stronger film and is rightly considered the best of the series.After the nadir that was 'The Ambushers' ( I only watched that once ) the Wrecking Crew is an attempt rein in the excesses of spy spoofs, but its only partially successful.The final instalment runs out of steam, picks up speed, de-rails , gets back on track, only to miss its stop - making the Wrecking Crew a very Uneven journey.Curiously Dean Martin's portrayal is one of the weak point in this film. Don't get me wrong - he is fun to watch but he scratches, mugs and double takes his way through every scene where he could have been more focused. This is fine if your part of a double act but as the focal point Martin's Matt Helm should have been more the hero than the unwitting bystander ( the clue is in the surname ) You can't ignore the real life tragedy that overshadowed this film and perhaps this is why 'The Wrecking Crew' feels like a post-script to the glamour films of the 1960s . The style of this film is curiously muted (thankfully) and with the exception of Martin and Tate all the characters look like they belong in a darker, more serious spy movie. This is underscored by a tragic and unwavering loyalty Elke Sommer and Nancy Kwan's characters have for Nigel Green's baddie - suggesting a fixation that goes beyond material wealth. Sharon Tate's character by contrast is clearly the innocent, unaware of the darker undertones that infiltrate this movie. This mixture of innocence and awkwardness attempts to recapture a similar part played by Stella Stevens in 'The Silencers' but isn't very successful - although it does give Dean Martin an excuse for some good comedy one liners. The Wrecking Crew is far from a train wreck. It's also far from a rollicking good adventure. It is a comedy spy spoof that features a good score , nice performances from the main baddies, fight sequences that hint at the kung-fu craze that would soon follow and a fun if misguided performance from Dean Martin.

Dave from Ottawa Dean Martin returns as men's magazine photographer and part-time secret agent Matt Helm, in this, the last, weakest and most notoriously sexist of the whole leering, dirty-minded series. The plot, what there is of it, involves the recovery of a billion dollars worth of gold bullion; but the story is just a mechanism to string together a series of scenes of Dino smarming his way into the boudoirs of a bevy of beauties (Tina Louise, Nancy Kwan, Elke Sommer), hoping to tease information out of them. Sharon Tate, in one of her last screen appearances, reprises Stella Stevens' klutzy sidekick part from The Silencers, but, like the movie as a whole, does not quite hit the right note with it, making for a hit and miss performance. The whole exercise is silly beyond belief, the usual jokes about Dean/Matt's drinking and womanizing fall flat and Dean himself was beginning to look a little old for an action hero. Plus, the sets and settings looked a bit cheap and stage-bound for what was supposed to be an international action hit. What 'entertainment' value there is here involves the camera lingering on the legs and cleavages of Dean's shapely co-stars, and the tight plot from Don Hamilton's novel is a dog-eared illogical mess by the time it hit the screen. Any true action-suspense fan will rapidly develop a headache from the gaps and gaffs in the logic of what is left of the plot.The final credits advertise a fifth Matt Helm adventure - The Ravagers - which was never made. Clearly, the public, the studio and Dino himself must have been tiring of the whole business by this point.

bensonmum2 Count Massimo Contini (Nigel Green) is the mastermind behind a billion dollar gold robbery. His plan is to send the world markets into chaos. He may get away with it unless Matt Helm (Dean Martin) can track down the missing gold. But along the way, Helm will meet up the Count's hired muscle, a gorgeous female killer, and a ditsy woman who insists on helping him.I suppose the best way to describe a Matt Helm film would be a light and breezy spoof of the James Bond movies. Nothing is very serious and you're sure that everything will work out in the end. Dean Martin plays Matt Helm about as laid back as could be imagined. Instead of a gun, you're more likely to see him with a drink in one hand, a cigarette in the other, a beautiful woman to ogle, and a quick quip. His fights scenes may leave a lot to be desired, but there's no denying his "cool".The Wrecking Crew is actually one of the better Matt Helm films. The hiding place of the gold is ingenious, the spy gadgets are plentiful, and the women are everywhere. The cast is one of the better assembled for any of these films. Nigel Green and Elke Sommer make a wonderful pair as the distinguished master criminal and the sexy killer (roles very similar to the ones they played in 1966's Deadlier Than the Male). But Sharon Tate really shines as the ditsy Freya Carlson. It's incredibly sad to think that this would be Tate's last role before her brutal murder. She's a joy and a real pleasure to watch.