The Silencers (1966)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Phil Karlson

Writers:

Donald Hamilton (novels)
Oscar Saul (writer)

Release Date:

18 February 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy

Tagline:

Follow Matt Helm secret agent from bedroom to bedlam with guns, girls and dynamite!

Plot:

In this, the first Matt Helm movie, we see Matt Helm coaxed out of semi-retirement by an attractive ex-partner...

Plot Keywords:

Matt Helm | Rain | Pantyhose | Parody | Spy

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Dean Martin	...	Matt Helm
Stella Stevens	...	Gail
Daliah Lavi	...	Tina
Victor Buono	...	Tung-Tze
Arthur O'Connell	...	Joe Wigman
Robert Webber	...	Sam Gunther
James Gregory	...	MacDonald
Nancy Kovack	...	Barbara
Roger C. Carmel	...	Andreyev
Cyd Charisse	...	Sarita
Beverly Adams	...	Lovey Kravezit
Richard Devon	...	Domino
David Bond	...	Dr. Naldi
John Reach	...	Traynor
Robert Phillips	...	1st Armed Man

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:12 | USA:Not Rated | UK:PG | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Although one of the greatest female dancers in the history of the movie musical, Cyd Charisse singing in films was almost always dubbed. A young Vikki Carr performed her singing in The Silencers (1966).

Goofs:

Continuity: In the missle control room scenes near the end, Tung-Tze's submachine gun has no magazine in it when he enters the room but a magazine is present in a later shot.

Quotes:

Matt Helm: [to Gail] You know, if you were an Indian, Custer would still be alive.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Sopranos: The Knight in White Satin Armor (#2.12)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

The Last Roundup

"It happened down in Santiago..."

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.