Movies - The Silencers

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	Movies - The Silencers

The Silencers is the title of a 1962 spy novel by Donald Hamilton, the fourth in a series of books featuring assassin Matt Helm. In 1966 it was adapted very loosely for an American comedy-spy-fi motion picture starring Dean Martin.

The film was the first of four produced in the late 1960s starring Martin as secret agent Matt Helm. Whereas Hamilton's books were generally serious spy novels about a former Second World War assassin who is recruited to continue killing for an American government agency, the film versions were more light-hearted spy romps spoofing the James Bond series in the same spirit as Our Man Flint
, and have been named as direct inspirations for the Austin Powers spy spoofs of the 1990s and early 2000s.

The Silencers borrows a plot element from the first Helm novel, Death of a Citizen, as it begins with the agent being coaxed out of retirement. Helm's mission: to stop an evil organization called "Big O" from exploding an atomic bomb over New Mexico.

Co-starring with Martin are Stella Stevens, Daliah Lavi, Victor Buono, and Cyd Charisse who opens the film with a song-and-dance performance of the theme song. James Gregory also makes his first appearance as Macdonald, Helm's superior and a recurring character in the film series.

Released at the height of James Bond "mania", The Silencers was a major box office hit in 1966 and was followed by three more films: Murderers' Row
(also released in 1966), The Ambushers
(1967) and The Wrecking Crew
(1969). A fifth film, The Ravagers, was announced but never produced.

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