The Silencers

Columbia Pictures tried to create a tongue-in-cheek American James Bond with this, the first of five motion pictures based on the character of Matt Helm, a spy created in a series of novels by Donald Hamilton. Dean Martin stars as Helm, a boozing, womanizing cad of a spy coaxed out of retirement by ...more

The incredible success of the James Bond films in the 1960s inspired a rash of imitators, most of which -- like The Silencers -- only served to point up the fact that, whatever criticism could be leveled at the Bond films, they still had a certain indefinable "something" that couldn't be copied. The Silencers is not dreadful, as some of the other faux-Bonds are, but that's about the best that can be said for it. Fans of Dean Martin will certainly find things to enjoy, for the Martin "persona" is ...more