Dean Martin had already been goofing on the James Bond bandwagon since 1966, with three previous outings as the boozing secret agent ladies man Matt Helm. With The Wrecking Crew, he wisely brings back director Phil Karlson (who did the first in the series, The Silencers) for the final entry. Martin’s Helm character was always surrounded by beautiful women in the roles of heroines and villains. Sharon Tate’s growing confidence in her comedic skills makes her performance as spy ally Freya Carlson a pleasure to watch as she goofily attempts to aid Helm in foiling arch villain Count Contini (Nigel Green), who is trying to wreck the global economy. Contini has his own stable of deadly females (Elke Sommer and Nancy Kwan) to thwart Helm’s efforts. Dino was so impressed with Tate’s presence and comic timing that he wanted to bring her character back for the next Helm picture. Unhappily, the film’s diminished box office returns, and Tate’s untimely tragic death in August, 1969, made this impossible. Although Tate still had one more movie in the can – the Italian comedy, The 13 Chairs – it was posthumously released.
“The Wrecking Crew emerges as a very entertaining, relaxed spy comedy. It features Dean Martin, Elke Sommer, Nancy Kwan and Sharon Tate, the latter in a delightful comedy performance.” – Variety
