The Wrecking Crew (1969 film)
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| The Wrecking Crew | |
|---|---|
 original movie poster |
|
| Directed by | Phil Karlson |
| Produced by | Irving Allen |
| Written by | William P. McGivern |
| Starring | Dean Martin Elke Sommer Sharon Tate Nancy Kwan |
| Music by | Hugo Montenegro |
| Cinematography | Sam Leavitt |
| Editing by | Maury Winetrobe |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 1969 |
| Running time | 105 min. |
| IMDb profile | |
The Wrecking Crew, released in 1969 and starring Dean Martin and Elke Sommer, is the fourth and final film in a series of American comedy-spy-fi theatrical releases featuring Martin as secret agent Matt Helm. As with the previous three movies (The Silencers, Murderers' Row and The Ambushers), the film is based only loosely upon Donald Hamilton's 1960 novel of the same title and takes great liberties with the plot and characters, being developed as a spoof of the James Bond films. The Wrecking Crew was the second Helm novel published and the earliest of the books to be adapted.
In a plotline reminiscent of the Bond novel/film, Goldfinger, Helm is assigned by his secret agency, ICE, to bring down an evil count who is trying to collapse the world economy by stealing gold. Along the way, Helm is reluctantly partnered with a British agent played by Sharon Tate in one of her final appearances on film before her murder at the hands of Charles Manson's followers. Chuck Norris makes his film debut in a small role.
Also appearing in the film are Nancy Kwan as Yu-Rang, Tina Louise as Lola Medina, and Nigel Green as the villainous Count Contini. Macdonald, Helm's chief, is played by John Larch in this film, replacing James Gregory, who played the role in the other three films. This is the only film in the series not to feature Helm's secretary, Lovesy Kravesit.
Critical response to this film varies, with some calling it the worst of the series, and others calling it the best due to its reduced reliance on outlandish gadgets and storylines. It is also notable for the appearance of Tate.
The film ends with the announcement of a fifth Matt Helm film, The Ravagers (which would have been based upon Hamilton's 1964 novel of the same title). However, Dean Martin declined to return for another film in the face of a declining box office, and the project was cancelled. Also, a "Tony Rome Meets Matt Helm" movie with Frank Sinatra reprising the character he had played in the films Tony Rome (1967) and Lady in Cement was bandied about, but never amounted to anything. Several years later, a Matt Helm TV series featuring Tony Franciosa would be attempted, but in a much more serious vein, and it was unsuccessful. As of 2006, early planning for a new Matt Helm-based film was underway through DreamWorks.
[edit] Cast
- Matt Helm: Dean Martin
- Linka Karensky: Elke Sommer
- Freya Carlson: Sharon Tate
- Yu-Rang: Nancy Kwan
- Count Contini: Nigel Green
- Lola Medina: Tina Louise
- MacDonald: John Larch
[edit] External links
| The Matt Helm series by Donald Hamilton |
|---|
| Books Death of a Citizen (1960) | The Wrecking Crew (1960) | The Removers (1961) | The Silencers (1962) | Murderers' Row (1962) | The Ambushers (1963) | The Shadowers (1964) | The Ravagers (1964) | The Devastators (1965) | The Betrayers (1966) | The Menacers (1968) | The Interlopers (1969) | The Poisoners (1971) | The Intriguers (1972) | The Intimidators (1974) | The Terminators (1975) | The Retaliators (1976) | The Terrorizers (1977) | The Revengers (1982) | The Annihilators (1983) | The Infiltrators (1984) | The Detonators (1985) | The Vanishers (1986) | The Demolishers (1987) | The Frighteners (1989) | The Threateners (1992) | The Damagers (1993) | The Dominators (unpublished) |
| Films The Silencers (1966) | Murderers' Row (1966) | The Ambushers (1967) | The Wrecking Crew (1969) |
| Television series Matt Helm (1975) |
