Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Just in case this fact was not made clear in the other reviews. Back in the spy era (James Bond, Our Man Flint, Secret Agent, Man from UNCLE, I SPY, Callan etc etc) there was a very popular series of thrillers penned by a respected suspense writer, Donald Hamilton. Although (arguably) all the entries in the series (27 in all) were of lesser quality than the very first and most visceral work, DEATH OF A CITIZEN, readers worldwide were captivated by the character and the first-person narrative, and Hamilton continued to pen them for decades, into a ripe old age. Hollywood (speaking broadly here) was aware of the success of this series and, faced with a choice between attempting to actually bring the character to life on-screen, or creating a cheap, superficial, low-quality, vehicle for superstar Dean Martin to merely show up for, and walk away with a large paycheck for everyone, well, let's just say the second idea was just too good to pass up. SO HERE IS THE POINT OF THE REVIEW. There were a handful of films made under the Matt Helm title. They had nothing to do with Matt Helm. And just in case this is too confusing, I will add that they (speaking broadly again) also made a TV series with the name MATT HELM, but (hopefully you are ahead of me here) it had nothing to do with the Hamilton character either, it was about a detective, and about making more money for the producers by using a name that resonated with the public. So, bottom line, all the Martin films are not based on the actual character and taken together as a whole they contain the cinematic equivalent of a can of beer left open in the sun for 48 hours. And leave the same taste in your mouth. Glad we had a chance to clear that up.

In comparison to the early 1960's James Bond adventures, the success of which it is obviously trying to emulate, "The Silencers" is a bit more racy, a bit more campy (or, in Victor Buono's case, a lot more campy), and, paradoxically, a bit more violent. The production values, however, are closer to the numerous European Bond-influenced spy flicks made during that decade, rather than to the legitimate Bond films themselves. The pacing is sluggish and there are several sequences that would benefit from some serious editing (the one with Helm and Gail in the car after the chase, for example). At least near the end enough stuff blows up, and some neat gadgets are put to work, giving the film some semblance of action. Stella Stevens shows not only her killer curves but also a flair for slapstick comedy, however my favorite woman in the movie is the slinky, exotic Goddess Daliah Lavi - she is also part of the one genuinely surprising twist in the plot. Flawless face, astonishing body, she never got to be an official Bond girl but at least with films such as this and "Casino Royale" (1967) she came close. ** out of 4.

If Harry Palmer was the poor man's James Bond, and Derek Flint was the poor man's Harry Palmer, then where does that leave Dean Martin's Matt Helm? Bottom feeding in the secret agent pond, I suppose. The Helm films began promisingly, entertainingly and shlockily with 1966's "The Silencers," a promise that was soon dissipated in two very poor films and redeemed somewhat, in 1969, in the fourth and last. Dino basically plays himself here, and these films seem something like extended sketches on the old "Dean Martin Show." But Matt Helm IS cool. How cool? Well, he wears a turtleneck and sports jacket to lounge around a Phoenix pool, and his apartment features a circular bed that dumps him into his bubble bath in the morning. He also has a bar in his car so that he can get tippled while he drives. (Hey, wait a minute...that ain't cool, kids!) A la Bond, he also comes equipped with some nifty gadgets in "The Silencers" (a backward-firing pistol and sports jacket buttonbombs), fights a criminal organization (the leeringly named Big O), makes dumb jokes (his put-down of Frank Sinatra IS pretty funny, actually) and woos the babes. Here, he spends time with Nancy Kovack, Cyd Charisse, Israeli actress Dahlia Lavi and the wonderfully klutzy Stella Stevens; a quartet of pulchritude that would amazingly be topped in Helm's final film, "The Wrecking Crew," with its remarkable Tina Louise/Elke Sommer/Nancy Kwan/Sharon Tate foursome. "The Silencers" also features the phoniest-looking laser beam ever and a moderately exciting ending. This movie's kinda fun, actually. Oh...did I mention that Helm's secretary is named Lovey Kravezit?

Dean Martin personifies Donald Hamilton's super-spy Matt Helm, especially in this era of girl-ogling and martini guzzling. "The Silencers" was the first of four Helm adventures, and, while not a classic, it does offer some laughs and colorfully tatty '60's surroundings. Helm attempts to stop madman Victor Buono from blowing up an atomic test site; sexy klutz Stella Stevens becomes his unofficial sidekick, though she may be a ruse to help the villains. Nutty, tipsy nonsense, certainly no threat to the James Bond franchise but mindless fun nonetheless. Followed by "Murderers' Row" the very same year, "The Ambushers" in 1968 and "The Wrecking Crew" in 1969. ** from ****