''The Silencers'' is a 1966 American

Pathécolor Pathécolor, later renamed Pathéchrome, was an early mechanical stencil-based film tinting process for movies developed by Segundo de Chomón for Pathé in the early 20th century. Among the last feature films to use this process were the British ...

spy film spoof motion picture released in 1966 and starring

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...

as agent

Matt Helm Matt Helm is a fictional character created by American author Donald Hamilton (1916-2006). Helm is a U.S. government counter-agent, a man whose primary job is to kill or nullify enemy agents—not a spy or secret agent in the ordinary sense of t ...

. It is loosely based upon and takes its title from the 1962 novel ''

The Silencers ''The Silencers'' is the title of a 1962 spy novel by Donald Hamilton, the fourth in a series of books featuring assassin Matt Helm. Plot summary When a female agent in Mexico is killed before Helm can complete his mission to extract her, he f ...

'' by

Donald Hamilton Donald Bengtsson Hamilton (March 24, 1916 – November 20, 2006) was an American writer of novels, short stories, and non-fiction about the outdoors. His novels consist mostly of paperback originals, principally spy fiction, but also crime ...

, and also adapts elements of Hamilton's first Helm novel, ''

Death of a Citizen ''Death of a Citizen'' is a 1960 spy novel by Donald Hamilton, and was the first in a long-running series of books featuring the adventures of assassin Matt Helm. The title refers to the metaphorical death of peaceful citizen and family man Matt ...

'' (1960). Co-starring with Martin are

Stella Stevens Stella Stevens (born Estelle Eggleston; October 1, 1938) is a American former actress. She began her acting career in 1959 and starred in such popular films as '' Girls! Girls! Girls!'' (1962), '' The Nutty Professor'' (1963), ''The Courtship of ...

Daliah Lavi Daliah Lavi (born Daliah Lewinbuk or Levenbuch, he, דליה לביא ; 12 October 1942 – 3 May 2017) was an Israeli actress, singer, and model. Biography Daliah Lewinbuk (or Levenbuch) was born in Shavei Tzion, British Mandate of Palestine ...

, James Gregory and

Victor Buono Victor Charles Buono (February 3, 1938January 1, 1982) was an American actor, comic, and briefly a recording artist. He was known for playing the villain King Tut in the television series ''Batman (TV series), Batman'' (1966–1968) and musician ...

. It is notable as being the first film to have a

post-credits scene A post-credits scene (commonly referred to as a stinger or credit cookie) or mid-credits scene is a short clip that appears after all or some of the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV series, or video g ...

Plot

Once a photographer by day, spy by night, Matt Helm is now a happily retired secret agent, shooting photos of glamorous models instead of guns and enjoying a close relationship with his assistant, the lovely Lovey Kravezit. But then his old boss, Macdonald, coaxes him back to the agency ICE (Intelligence and Counter Espionage) to thwart a new threat from the villainous organization Big O. The sinister Tung-Tze is masterminding a diabolical scheme to drop a missile on an underground atomic bomb test in New Mexico and possibly instigate a nuclear war in the process. Helm's assignment is to stop him, armed with a wide assortment of useful spy gadgets, plus the assistance of the capable

femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of ...

, Tina, and the seemingly incapable Gail Hendricks, a beautiful but bumbling possible enemy agent. Along the way, Helm is nearly sidetracked by a mysterious knife-wielding seductress and he witnesses the murder of a beautiful Big O operative, the sultry striptease artist Sarita. In the end, Helm prevails, with Gail by his side as he all but singlehandedly destroys Tung-Tze's evil enterprise and plot to rule the world.

Cast

as Matt Helm *

as Gail Hendricks *

as Tina *

as Tung-Tze *

Arthur O'Connell Arthur Joseph O'Connell (March 29, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an American stage, film and television actor, who achieved prominence in character roles in the 1950s. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for both ''Pic ...

as Wigman *

Robert Webber Robert Laman Webber (October 14, 1924 – May 19, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in dozens of films and television series, roles that included Juror No. 12 in the 1957 film ''12 Angry Men''. Early life Webber was born in Santa Ana, ...

as Sam Gunther * James Gregory as Macdonald *

Nancy Kovack Nancy Kovack (born March 11, 1935) is a retired American film and television actress. Early years Kovack is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Michael A. Kovack of Flint, Michigan. Her father was the manager of a General Motors plant. She enrolled a ...

as Barbara * Roger C. Carmel as Andreyev *

Cyd Charisse Cyd Charisse (born Tula Ellice Finklea; March 8, 1922 – June 17, 2008) was an American actress and dancer. After recovering from polio as a child and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s. Her roles usually featured her abilit ...

as Sarita *

Beverly Adams Beverly Sassoon (born ) is a Canadian-American actress and author. Early life Adams was born in Alberta, Canada, but was a citizen of the United States. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Adams. Raised Roman Catholic, she moved with her ...

as Lovey Kravezit *

Richard Devon Richard Devon (born Richard Gibson Ferraiole, December 11, 1926 – February 26, 2010) was an American character actor and voice actor who between the late 1940s and 1991 performed in hundreds of roles on stage, radio, television, and in f ...

as Domino *

Patrick Waltz Jack Richard Waltz (December 6, 1924 – August 13, 1972) was an American film and television actor. He was credited in his first film as Philip Shawn. Waltz was born in Akron, Ohio, the younger of two sons born to Frank and Lucy Leona (nee Dug ...

as Hotel Clerk

Production

Development

Film producer

Irving Allen Irving Allen (born Irving Applebaum, November 24, 1905 – December 17, 1987) was a theatrical and cinematic producer and director. He received an Academy Award in 1948 for producing the short movie ''Climbing the Matterhorn''. In the early 19 ...

had been in partnership with

Albert R. Broccoli Albert Romolo Broccoli ( ; April 5, 1909 – June 27, 1996), nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career. Most of the films were made in the United Kingdom and often filmed at Pi ...

Warwick Productions Warwick Films was a film company founded by film producers Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli in London in 1951. The name was taken from the Warwick Hotel in London.Broccoli, Albert R., Zec Donald. ''When the Snow Melts''. Boxtree. 1998 Their f ...

, who released through

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. Broccoli wanted to buy the rights to the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

series of novels, but Allen was not interested. The partnership broke up, Broccoli went into partnership with

Harry Saltzman Herschel Saltzman (; – ), known as Harry Saltzman, was a Canadian theatre and film producer. He is best remembered for co-producing the first nine of the ''James Bond'' film series with Albert R. Broccoli. He lived most of his life in Denh ...

and

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

on the Bond films and enjoyed tremendous success. Allen decided to make his own spy series. He read a copy of one of the

novels at an airport - "''The Silencers'' or ''The Death of a Citizen'', I forget which," he said laterAllen at Helm of Production Thomas, Kevin. Los Angeles Times 6 July 1967: e14. - and optioned the film rights in twenty four hours with his own money ("and it was a sizeable amount" he said). In 1964 he set up the series with Columbia Pictures. ''The Silencers'' was to be the first.

Casting

Dean Martin was not the original choice for the lead. Allen said "We had wanted Paul Newman or one of the good stars but no one would go up against

Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...

. Nobody wants to go up against a successful series." Eventually it was decided to make the film a comedy and Allen suggested

play Matt Helm. Martin signed in March 1965. Director Phil Karlson had the idea to make the film in a

tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scott ...

style. Comedy writer

Herbert Baker Sir Herbert Baker (9 June 1862 – 4 February 1946) was an English architect remembered as the dominant force in South African architecture for two decades, and a major designer of some of New Delhi's most notable government structures. He wa ...

revised

Oscar Saul Oscar Saul (December 26, 1912, New York City – May 23, 1994, Los Angeles) was an American screenwriter. Saul wrote or collaborated on the screenplays for numerous movies from the 1940s through to the early 1980s. His best-known work was on the sc ...

's original script. Martin was a co-producer of the Helm series.

Moss Mabry Moss Mabry (July 5, 1918 – January 25, 2006) was an American costume designer. Biography He started off designing costumes for his high school plays, but actually studied mechanical engineering at the University of Florida. He later went to ...

provided the costumes, except for Martin's Sy Devore suits.

Richard Levinson Richard Leighton Levinson (August 7, 1934 – March 12, 1987) was an American screenwriter and Television producer, producer who often worked in collaboration with William Link. Life and career Levinson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. H ...

and

William Link William Theodore Link (December 15, 1933 – December 27, 2020) was an American film and television screenwriter and producer who often worked in collaboration with Richard Levinson. Biography Early life Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ...

also worked on the script of this and ''

The Ambushers ''The Ambushers'' is a novel by Donald Hamilton first published in 1963, continuing the exploits of assassin Matt Helm. Plot introduction Matt Helm conducts a by-the-book assassination in the (fictional) Central American nation of Costa Verde. A ...

'', the third film in the Matt Helm series.

Themes

The film was the first of four produced between 1966 and 1969 starring Martin. The film series includes James Gregory as Macdonald, Helm's superior (played by

John Larch John Larch (born Harold Aronin; October 4, 1914 – October 16, 2005; also credited Harry Larch) was an American radio, film, and television actor. Early life and military service John Larch was born Harold Aronin to Jewish parents in Sale ...

in the fourth film) and

as Lovey Kravezit, Helm's photo assistant (character missing in fourth film). Whereas Hamilton's books were generally serious spy novels about a former

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

assassin who is recruited to continue killing for an American government agency, the film versions were lighthearted spy romps spoofing the

series in the same spirit as ''

Our Man Flint ''Our Man Flint'' is a 1966 American spy-fi comedy film that parodies the ''James Bond'' film series. The film was directed by Daniel Mann, written by Hal Fimberg and Ben Starr (from a story by Hal Fimberg), and starred James Coburn as maste ...

'', which was released the previous month. The Helm series has been cited as one of the principal inspirations for the

Austin Powers ''Austin Powers'' is a series of American spy action comedy films: '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' (1997), '' Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'' (1999) and '' Austin Powers in Goldmember'' (2002). The films were produced ...

spy comedies of the 1990s and early 2000s.

Reception

Released at the height of James Bond mania, ''The Silencers'' was a major box office hit in 1966, earning $7 million in United States rentals that year. "It was a very lucky thing," said Allen, "great timing that Helm caught on the same time Dean's TV series took off." There were three follow-up films, including '' Murderers' Row'' (also released in 1966), ''

'' (1967) and '' The Wrecking Crew'' (1969). A fifth film, ''The Ravagers'', was announced, but never produced.

Soundtrack

Elmer Bernstein Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 origi ...

provided the score. The title song is performed by

Vikki Carr Florencia Vicenta de Casillas-Martínez Cardona (born July 19, 1940), known by her stage name Vikki Carr, is an American vocalist. She has a singing career that spans more than four decades. Born in El Paso, Texas, to Mexican parents, she has pe ...

, though

opens the film with a sexy

striptease A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner. The person who performs a striptease is commonly known as a "stripper" or an "ex ...

-style dance while

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. Audio for lip syncing is generated thr ...

hing to Carr's vocals. Carr also sings "Santiago" on the soundtrack. Two soundtrack albums were released — Bernstein's original score on an

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

album that does not feature any artwork of Dean Martin, and a

Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any repea ...

album by Martin singing several songs that were featured in the film, along with some instrumentals by the Mike Leander Orchestra. A

scopitone Scopitone is a type of jukebox featuring a 16 mm film component. Scopitone films were a forerunner of music videos. The 1959 Italian Cinebox/Colorama and Color-Sonics were competing, lesser-known technologies of the time one year before the Scop ...

video of the title song was sung by

Joi Lansing Joi Lansing (born Joy Rae Brown, April 6, 1929 – August 7, 1972) was an American model, film and television actress, and nightclub singer. She was noted for her pin-up photos and roles in B-movies, as well as a prominent role in the famous o ...

. Carr's version of the title song was also used on the soundtrack of the film '' Confessions of a Dangerous Mind''. In 2016, English label Vocalion issued the soundtrack on a CD, catalog number CDLK4573.

Adaptation

''The Silencers'' borrows a plot element from the first Helm novel, ''Death of a Citizen'', as it begins with the agent being coaxed out of retirement. Helm's mission is to stop an evil organization called "BIG O" (the Bureau for International Government and Order) from their plan of "Operation Fallout": diverting an American missile into an underground

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

testing site in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Silencers 1966 films American spy comedy films Columbia Pictures films Films scored by Elmer Bernstein Films directed by Phil Karlson 1960s spy comedy films Films about fashion photographers Films based on American novels Films based on multiple works of a series 1966 comedy films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films