The Wrecking Crew (1968)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Phil Karlson

Writers:

Donald Hamilton (novel)
William P. McGivern (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 January 1969 (Finland)

Genre:

Comedy | Action | Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

Matt Helm gets it from the Wrecking Crew!

Plot:

The count has stolen enough gold to cause a financial crisis in the world markets so I.C.E. sends in ace spy Matt Helm to stop him...

Plot Keywords:

Gold | Matt Helm | Spy | Train | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Dean Martin	...	Matt Helm
Elke Sommer	...	Linka Karensky
Sharon Tate	...	Freya Carlson
Nancy Kwan	...	Yu-Rang
Nigel Green	...	Count Contini
Tina Louise	...	Lola Medina
John Larch	...	'Mac' MacDonald
John Brascia	...	Karl
Weaver Levy	...	Kim
Wilhelm von Homburg	...	Gregor
Bill Saito	...	Ching
Fuji	...	Toki
Pepper Martin	...	Frankie
Ted Jordan	...	Guard (as Ted H. Jordan)

Also Known As:

The House of Seven Joys (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for sensuality, violence and some language.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 | UK:PG (cut) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:M (original rating) | USA:PG (re-rating) (1996)

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

This was the final film in the Matt Helm series. Although plans were afoot for a fifth film ("The Ravagers"), as well as a proposed teaming with Frank Sinatra for "Matt Helm Meets Tony Rome", the poor box-office showing of both "The Wrecking Crew" and Sinatra's second go round as Rome in "Lady In Cement" brought the Matt Helm series to an end.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: There are no mountains in Denmark

Quotes:

Lola Medina: I've heard that you do... drink.
Matt Helm: Just call it a hobby.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Once Upon a Body (1969)

Soundtrack:

Cry

Its sad when you think of what might have been

Someone once said that Dean Martin was so laid-back he made Perry Como look like a nervous wreck. It was said if a nuclear bomb went off behind him he wouldn't even drop his martini glass. Martin and his fellow Rat-packer Frank Sinatra were among our few recording giants who achieved in films as well. Although not as good an actor as Sinatra, Martin had a charming presence on the screen and was always entertaining to watch, even when you knew he wasn't taking it too seriously. The Matt Helm films came out at the same time as Sean Connery was playing Bond and have been largely forgotten today. Martin played the reluctant spy with tongue firmly in cheek. The Wrecking Crew was the last of the four Helm films and I feel it was the best. A gold train has been hijacked by a criminal mastermind. The one billion dollar theft will cause world wide financial panic and its up to Matt Helm to save the day. Of course in any spy film of this nature, you have to have beautiful women and there are plenty here. Elke Sommer and Tina Louise light up the screen, but it is Sharon Tate who steals the show as bumbling MI5 agent Freya Carlson. I thought it was so funny how she kept getting Helm into deeper and deeper trouble, even getting him arrested at one point. She tells him "I wont desert you Mister Helm". He says "Do me a favor PLEASE DESERT ME!". However, she comes through in the end and there is a good fight scene between her and Nancy Kwan. (For trivia lovers, Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee helped to set up the fight scenes for this film). People have commented the fight scenes involving Helm are fakey, what do you expect? Dean Martin was 52 when this film was made. Sharon really stole the show in this one, in fact they later based one of the characters in the Austin Powers films on her character here. This was her last film before she was murdered by the Charles Manson family. Its chilling when you watch it and think of how horribly her life ended.