This movie is bad even by Matt Helm standards. It's as incomprehensible as the previous movie, "Murderers' Row", but lacks the ambiance of a French locale or the flamboyant villain that saved that one. The action sequences are totally lacking any credibility whatsoever. It's a shame that this one chased away so many movie goers that they decided not to turn out for the splendid (by Matt Helm standards) "The Wrecking Crew", the last and best of the series.
And those who excuse it as "a product of it's time" are the ones missing the point. There were plenty of good spy parodies made in the 1960s (including the first and last Helm movies), this just wasn't one of them. It has nothing to do with "production values" of the era or the period corniness. Just like people understand that most Elvis movies were corny but entertaining, they realize there were a few out and out stinkers. Well this film is a stinker. In fact, it was so bad it was originally listed in the book "The Fifty Worst Films of All-Time" when first published in 1978.
And those who excuse it as "a product of it's time" are the ones missing the point. There were plenty of good spy parodies made in the 1960s (including the first and last Helm movies), this just wasn't one of them. It has nothing to do with "production values" of the era or the period corniness. Just like people understand that most Elvis movies were corny but entertaining, they realize there were a few out and out stinkers. Well this film is a stinker. In fact, it was so bad it was originally listed in the book "The Fifty Worst Films of All-Time" when first published in 1978.