The Wrecking Crew (1969)

Director:

Phil Karlson

Writers:

Donald Hamilton (novel)
William P. McGivern (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 January 1969 (Finland)

Genre:

Comedy | Action | Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

Matt Helm gets it from the Wrecking Crew!

Plot:

The count has stolen enough gold to cause a financial crisis in the world markets so I.C.E. sends in ace spy Matt Helm to stop him...

Plot Keywords:

Gold | Matt Helm | Spy | Train | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Dean Martin	...	Matt Helm
Elke Sommer	...	Linka Karensky
Sharon Tate	...	Freya Carlson
Nancy Kwan	...	Yu-Rang
Nigel Green	...	Count Contini
Tina Louise	...	Lola Medina
John Larch	...	'Mac' MacDonald
John Brascia	...	Karl
Weaver Levy	...	Kim
Wilhelm von Homburg	...	Gregor
Bill Saito	...	Ching
Fuji	...	Toki
Pepper Martin	...	Frankie
Ted Jordan	...	Guard (as Ted H. Jordan)

Also Known As:

The House of Seven Joys (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for sensuality, violence and some language.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 | UK:PG (cut) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:M (original rating) | USA:PG (re-rating) (1996)

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Columbia production number 8869.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: There are no mountains in Denmark

Quotes:

Linka Karensky: My dear, you must be terribly dedicated to your work, to wear an attrocious wig like that.
Freya Carlson: How very common of you to mention it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Once Upon a Body (1969)

Soundtrack:

Red Sails in the Sunset

No boredom for Matt

In this one, Matt Helm's antagonist is Count Contini, a gold smuggler, played by Nigel Green. He is aided by his gang of thugs and two female sidekicks, Linka (Elke Sommer) and Gwen Ya-Rang (Nancy Kwan). As might be expected, both try to seduce Matt, offering fake carrots. Interestingly for a Matt Helm movie, however, Linka is a rare woman in Matt's orbit who is the recipient, rather than initiator, of the first display of interest. Earlier, there is a nice scene in which Lola Medini (Tina Louise), a former associate of Contina, seduces Matt in connection with the intrigue.

Ultimately, it is Freya Carlson (Sharon Tate) who gets her man. She is a Danish tourist agent who leads Matt around in fulfilling his duties. Like Stella Stevens in "The Silencers," she is initially quite clumsy, and is involved in a nice wetlook scene (actually, so is Linka). Freya helps Matt foil the villains.

I'm focusing mostly on the women here, but hey, you can hardly beat this bunch in this male fantasy series. The only Bond movie that can rival this group is "Thunderball."