A major inspiration for the Austin Powers movies, a series of James Bond spoofs starring Dean Martin as photographer/secret agent Matt Helm. I kept wanting to like this more than I did because it was so sixties, with all those show girls and garish colours and Dean Martin. There is something automatically endearing about a Bond spoof that figured "right - what the people want are girls, gadgets and gags so lets just give them heaps of that."
But it isn't very good. It ambles along without much excitement or eroticism and looks cheap with some unspectacular sets and action sequences. The running time feels padded with musical and dance numbers, many of which consist of Martin imagining himself singing.
Stella Stevens is good fun as a klutzy girl who may or may not be a double agent. There are attractive femmes including Cyd Charisse and Daliah Lavi plus decent male support cast including Victor Buono (main baddy) and Robert Webber. I liked the gun that shot the person who fired it. But it's a bit dumb.
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