As George Lazenby’s 007 opined in 0n Her Majesty’s Secret Service, the world is not enough. Neither is the new book James Bond and the Sixties Spy Craze, although it gets close. Written by Thom Shubilla (Primetime 1966-1967), the handsome hardback from Applause tracks the wannabes, never-weres, knockoffs, one-offs and other Bondy-come-latelys proliferating after the … Continue reading James Bond and the Sixties Spy Craze
Dean Martin plays Matt Helm (or vice versa) for the fourth and final time in The Wrecking Crew, the most lackadaisical of the series, yet mojo-charging all the same. Sixties spy spoofs are the true chicken soup for the 21st-century battered soul. In Denmark, a billion bucks of American gold bars get poached from a … Continue reading The Wrecking Crew (1968)
Matt Helm adventure No. 3, The Ambushers, finds the ever-sassy, always-sauced spy (Rat Pack crooner Dean Martin) ordered by Intelligence Counter Espionage (ICE) to retrieve the federal government’s super-secret, experimental flying saucer, which has been hijacked. One José Ortega (Albert Salmi, Caddyshack), a millionaire beer magnate, and his precious, all-powerful, matter-moving laser beam are to … Continue reading The Ambushers (1967)
Former Intelligence Counter Espionage agent Matt Helm (Dean Martin, post-Rat Pack) sees superbly stacked women everywhere: his dreams, his morning bath, his breakfast — hell, everywhere. So omnipresent are these lovely ladies that not only does he often have to ask, “You have been vaccinated?,” but that viewers of The Silencers may forget that director … Continue reading The Silencers (1966)