I've been trying to reconcile myself as to how I came to watch this particular movie. I do recall seeing it, or one of its sequels, on TV perhaps when I was 10 or 11 and I suppose responding to its spy-world escapism in the wake of the Bond movies or shows like "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.". In fact I've just made a point of watching most of the Bond movies I've not seen before which mostly comprised Roger Moore's lighter, more humorous take on the Fleming character, so maybe that led me to it. Anyway, it happened and I'm kind of sorry it did.
I can see why it might have appealed in some way to my pre-teen self way back then, with its gadgetry, pretty girls, espionage and an enviable guy who never loses and always gets the girl. But that's the problem, the film seems to be aimed at exactly that twelve year-old-kid demographic. I probably didn't even know Dean Martin's background at the time or I might have seen how miscast he was in the part for starters.
Now I see it for what it is, a rather cheap, tawdry, sexist take on 007. Don't get me wrong, the 60's Bond movies occasionally splashed in the same murky waters but I'd argue much more at the shallow end. I mean, the first time we meet Helm-girl Stella Stevens she's in a bikini by a pool, bending over with old Dino sitting close by, getting an eyeful of her derrière. Later he rips off her dress to supposedly look for a concealed microfilm but of course it's only a titillating means of revealing Miss Stevens' in her fetching lingerie. If Benny Hill did James Bond, it couldn't be more leering and lairy than this.
Martin boozes and schmoozes his way through proceedings, his stunt-man arguably getting more screen time than him, although no-fool Dino does all his own work when it comes to making out with the pretty ladies who even in the more enlightened year of 1966 seem to fall like summer rain for a boozy old lech who dresses like their dad and croons to their mums.
I get that camp was in and secret-agents were very much in vogue this particular year with the success of shows like "Batman" and "Get Smart" but I don't remember either of those two series being anywhere near as crass and unfunny as this. What it is, is proof that not everything from the Swinging Sixties was cool and hip.
I can see why it might have appealed in some way to my pre-teen self way back then, with its gadgetry, pretty girls, espionage and an enviable guy who never loses and always gets the girl. But that's the problem, the film seems to be aimed at exactly that twelve year-old-kid demographic. I probably didn't even know Dean Martin's background at the time or I might have seen how miscast he was in the part for starters.
Now I see it for what it is, a rather cheap, tawdry, sexist take on 007. Don't get me wrong, the 60's Bond movies occasionally splashed in the same murky waters but I'd argue much more at the shallow end. I mean, the first time we meet Helm-girl Stella Stevens she's in a bikini by a pool, bending over with old Dino sitting close by, getting an eyeful of her derrière. Later he rips off her dress to supposedly look for a concealed microfilm but of course it's only a titillating means of revealing Miss Stevens' in her fetching lingerie. If Benny Hill did James Bond, it couldn't be more leering and lairy than this.
Martin boozes and schmoozes his way through proceedings, his stunt-man arguably getting more screen time than him, although no-fool Dino does all his own work when it comes to making out with the pretty ladies who even in the more enlightened year of 1966 seem to fall like summer rain for a boozy old lech who dresses like their dad and croons to their mums.
I get that camp was in and secret-agents were very much in vogue this particular year with the success of shows like "Batman" and "Get Smart" but I don't remember either of those two series being anywhere near as crass and unfunny as this. What it is, is proof that not everything from the Swinging Sixties was cool and hip.