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.
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.