The Ambushers
film poster by Robert McGinnis
Directed by	Henry Levin
Produced by	Irving Allen
Written by	Donald Hamilton (novel) Herbert Baker (screenplay)
Starring	Dean Martin Senta Berger
Music by	Herbert Baker Hugo Montenegro
Cinematography	Edward Colman, ASC Burnett Guffey, ASC
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	December 22, 1967
Running time	102 min
Country
Preceded by	Murderers' Row
Followed by	The Wrecking Crew

The Ambushers is a 1967 science fiction spy comedy film filmed in Acupulco starring Dean Martin, Senta Berger and Janice Rule. It is loosely based upon the novel of the same title by Donald Hamilton.

The film was the third of four produced in the late 1960s starring Martin as secret agent Matt Helm. It followed The Silencers and Murderers' Row and like those earlier films followed the approach of being a spoof of the James Bond film series rather than a straight adaptation of Hamilton's novel. It was followed by one more, The Wrecking Crew in 1969.

This film is generally considered the weakest of the four Helm films, and is cited in the book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time by Harry and Michael Medved.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Music 3 Cast 4 References 4.1 Bibliography 5 External links

[edit] Plot

When a government-built flying saucer is hijacked mid-flight by Jose Ortega, the exiled ruler for an outlaw nation, secret agent Matt Helm and the ship's former pilot Sheila Sommars are sent to recover it. Along the way they must deal with Ortega's henchmen, Francesca Madeiros (an operative for Helm's main nemesis Big O), who poses as a model and seduces Helm, and an assassin named Nassim.

[edit] Music

Hugo Montenegro became the third composer in as many films to do the score for the series. He wrote (along with Herbert Baker who worked on Murderer's Row) the theme song, "The Ambushers," which featured the vocals of Boyce & Hart, two of the songwriters from Murderer's Row. Montenegro went on to compose the score solo for the next Matt Helm film, The Wrecking Crew.

[edit] Cast

Actor	Role
Dean Martin	Matt Helm
Senta Berger	Francesca Madeiros
Janice Rule	Sheila Sommers
James Gregory	MacDonald
Albert Salmi	Jose Ortega
Kurt Kasznar	Quintana
Beverly Adams	Lovey Kravezit

[edit] References

[edit] Bibliography

• Wingrove, David. Science Fiction Film Source Book (Longman Group Limited, 1985)

[edit] External links

• Internet Movie Database

v • d • e The Matt Helm series by Donald Hamilton Novels Death of a Citizen (1960) · The Wrecking Crew (1960) · The Removers (1961) · The Silencers (1962) · Murderers' Row (1962) · The Ambushers (1963) · The Shadowers (1964) · The Ravagers (1964) · The Devastators (1965) · The Betrayers (1966) · The Menacers (1968) · The Interlopers (1969) · The Poisoners (1971) · The Intriguers (1972) · The Intimidators (1974) · The Terminators (1975) · The Retaliators (1976) · The Terrorizers (1977) · The Revengers (1982) · The Annihilators (1983) · The Infiltrators (1984) · The Detonators (1985) · The Vanishers (1986) · The Demolishers (1987) · The Frighteners (1989) · The Threateners (1992) · The Damagers (1993) · The Dominators (unpublished) Films The Silencers (1966) · Murderers' Row (1966) · The Ambushers (1967) · The Wrecking Crew (1969) Television series Matt Helm (1975)

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