Tuesday, March 05, 2013

Booze, Bullets & Broads: The Story of Matt Helm, Superspy of the Mad Men Era

Hey pallies, likes even though I am not a technophile by nature, likes I gotta 'fess up that technology 'specially 'puter techonology has hugely hugely aided in the fuelin' and thrivin' of the Dino-revolution.  And, today ilovedinomartin is thrilled to report that the relatively new "E-book" phenomenon is startin' to spawn some way cool Dino-literature that probably otherwise woulda not see the light of print.

From our wonderful pallies over at that bonded blog, "HMSS -   Her Majesty's Secret Servant,' who 'though they majorly put the accent on James Bond have shared some special Helmer prose from time to time, comes news of a brand new Dino-tome exclusively devoted to our most beloved Dino as swingin' spyster Matt Helm.  As you will read below the volume is beautfully tagged, "Booze, Bullets & Broads: The Story of Matt Helm, Superspy of the Mad Men Era."

Scribed by a Mr. Bruce Scivally, his other writin' credentials include working  "on John Cork-directed documentaries of the James Bond films that were part of DVD extras. He and Cork also wrote James Bond: The Legacy, a coffee table book that came out last decade."  Sellin' in E-book format only at the modest price of $2.99, this little treasure is gonna be a must for all Dino-holics everywhere.  Only wishes dudes that it woulda come out in print format for all us low tech dudes.  Indeed the volume may be the impetus for this Dino-phile go get a readin' devise.

ilovedinomartin thanks the pallies at HMSS for puttin' the Dino-world onto this great new Dino-resource, and all you dudes can check out the original printin' of this news at the  Her Majesty's Secret Servant pad by clickin' on the tag of this Dino-report.  Dino-delightedly, DMP




E-book on the Matt Helm films now available
Posted on March 3, 2013 by The HMSS Editors



Dean Martin as Matt Helm in The Silencers.

There’s an new e-book about the four-film Matt Helm series available. Bruce Scivally has written Booze, Bullets & Broads: The Story of Matt Helm, Superspy of the Mad Men Era.



Scivally previously worked on John Cork-directed documentaries of the James Bond films that were part of DVD extras. He and Cork also wrote James Bond: The Legacy, a coffee table book that came out last decade.



Here’s the description from the new e-book’s AMAZON.COM LISTING:



The story of Matt Helm, spy of the Mad Men era. After his creation by Donald Hamilton, Helm went from being a literary rival of James Bond to being a cinematic rival with the production of four movies starring crooner Dean Martin as a woozy, boozy secret agent. Produced by Irving Allen, the former partner of 007 film producer Cubby Broccoli, the Helm movies influenced not only the Bond films but also Austin Powers, and remain a “guilty pleasure” viewing favorite of red-blooded males everywhere.



We’ve written before how the first Helm movie, The Silencers, had THE BIGGEST EFFECT ON THE 007 FILM SERIES from rival movies because Dean Martin got a bigger paycheck than Sean Connery. Allen made Dino a partner in the enterprise. Soon after, Connery began demanding not only more money but to be a partner in the Bond films. 007 producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman resisted the partnership demand, contributing to Connery’s departure after You Only Live Twice.



Also, according to film historian Adrian Turner, some at United Artists were keen on Phil Karlson to direct Dr. No. But Karlson’s asking price was $75,000, which helped Terence Young get the job. Karlson ended up directing The Silencers and The Wrecking Crew, the final Helm movie.



For the Scivally e-book, the price is $2.99. You can download it for free if you’re a Prime Member of Amazon.



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