The Wrecking Crew (1969)

Directed by Phil Karlson. Starring Dean Martin, Sharon Tate, Nigel Green, Elke Sommer, Nancy Kwan, John Larch, Tina Louise, John Brascia.

Final Matt Helm movie is gratefully a little more grounded in its spy-jinks—Helm is dispatched to recover a billion dollars worth of stolen gold bullion—but it’s too cumbersome and poorly-staged to be effective as either a farce or action picture. Sharon Tate’s comedy chops serve her well as a klutzy kook cut from similar cloth as Stella Stevens from The Silencers, and she’s certainly easy on the eyes, but there’s no attraction between her and Helm, making all of the seduction/love scenes feel like awkward pantomime. Chief baddie Green gets a couple decent lines, and Elke Sommer and Nancy Kwan are okay femme fatale types, but it just never comes to life. Fight choreography by “karate advisor” Bruce Lee is thwarted by Phil Karlson’s stilted direction. Chuck Norris appears in a bit part, his first film role. A fifth Helm movie is announced in the end credits (The Ravagers), but it never came to fruition.

42/100