Watch Murderers' Row For Free

That was an excellent one.

Simply A Masterpiece

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

You have to suspend belief to watch Dean Martin play the world's best secret agent. The man seems intoxicated much of the time and mentally retarded all of the time. It's pretty much the same experience you might get if you watched Gary Busey play the Pope.Karl Malden adds nothing to the movie, either. I know that he is a good actor; but, for this movie, he's keeping that fact to himself. Is there a bright spot in this movie? Yes. Ann Margaret, a woman we see far too seldom in the movies, plays the daughter of a scientist and, like the daughter of a scientist, she dances a lot; in fact, the five minutes during which the woman dances are the most enjoyable in the entire movie.I don't hold anything against Dean Martin...loved his television show; however, his scattered concentration doesn't play well in a ninety minute movie.Watch this movie only if it will get your name entered in a car raffle...

"Murderer's Row" (19669), like all four of Deano's Matt Helmers, is so bad it's good.It always appeared as though Dino never read the scripts beforehand, never cared about the plots...just plain never cared. I guess that was part of his and the film's charm. But it must have driven his directors up the wall, including "Murderer's Row's" Henry Levin.The sets are cheesy as hell as is the music by Lalo Schiffrin. But veteran costumer Moss Mabry's creations (especially for the gals) are terrific. Very hip, very 1969 - yet still very cool today.I am not really an Ann-Margaret fan, but she's really good here. And glamorous Swedish actress Camilla Sparv is stunning! Bad guy Karl Malden is appropriately sinister, slightly amiable and yes, bad. And his right-hand man, Tom Reese (Sgt. Velie on one of the great TV series ever, "Ellery Queen") has a cool chrome steel plate atop his head - nifty gimmick.Deano's four Matt Helm flicks, made in between taping his TV show and partying between 1966-69 were all the Andre Champagne of spy flicks compared with Bond as the Dom Perignon.Why is it that I will ALWAYS watch them whenever they're on TV? I mean I'm drawn like a fly to you-know-what. I can't resist them. I guess it's because they're a guilty pleasure. Cheesy but still a lot of really stupid fun.

Matt spews of his usual lighthearted, spoof lines, surrounded by his coterie of lovely women, but this one is less interesting than others in the series, altho Karl Malden does OK as villain Julian Wall. He is trying to dominate Dr. Solaris, the secret weapon (laser) scientist, who is the father of Suzie, played by leading lady Anne Margret. In fact, she is the highlight of the movie, for aside from being gorgeous, she does some fabulous dancing. On the other hand, Matt's fight scenes, particularly with Wall's henchman Ironhead, leave something to be desired. Matt and Coco (Julian's significant other) have mild flirtations, but aside from Suzie, there is no other lady authentically part of the plot with whom Matt has the least sort of romantic interlude. Overall, a little more zip was needed, plot sometime dragged a bit. Still, the usual good chase scenes, colorful scenery and clothing, elegant settings, etc. -- fun to watch.

I enjoyed this second Matt Helm adventure enormously when I saw it during my fourth grade Christmas vacation in 1966. I assume I enjoyed it some five years later when it made its TV debut on ABC. However, I did not enjoy it when, feeling nostalgic, I watched it on videocassette. What can you say about a movie--a spy thriller, no less--whose only attribute is that it might increase one's appreciation for the talents of Dino, Desi, and Billy, the pop trio featuring star Dean Martin's now deceased son Dean Paul, and the son of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, that had some marginal success as recording artists in the mid-60s? The group makes a brief appearance in a discotheque scene in which the elder Martin (then 49) dances (sort of) with Ann-Margret, and their song, the title of which escapes me, doesn't sound half bad. That doesn't make it good, but so little in "Murderer's Row" is that their warbling is the highlight. As for ol' Dino, many of his screen performances have been dismissed by critics as sleepwalking, but most sleepwalkers probably couldn't light a cigarette or hold a glass of bourbon (which Helm doesn't drink but that's a plot device not worth exploring here) with the steadiness Martin displays throughout the Henry Levin directed film. Martin is awake, but only, I fear, to make sure he gets his paycheck. As for Levin's direction, it consists of ensuring that Martin and his co-stars don't bump into each other. They don't. In fact, you'd think they were all in different movies. At least you'd prefer to think they are. "Murderer's Row": I like that title, but wonder if it refers to the producers who made this waste of film. Everything about it reeks of a cynical disregard for everything but the cash register at the box-office. It rang all right, loud enough for Matt Helm to ride again in two more movies, but not even Dino could sing such a weary tune that long.