1991: Donald Hamilton discusses Matt Helm films

Over on The Spy Command’s Facebook page, reader Bill Groves shared a 1991 letter he received from Matt Helm creator Donald Hamilton. In the letter, Hamilton commented about the four 1960s Matt Helm movies starring Dean Martin. The films took Hamilton’s very serious novels and made them into comedies that incorporated bits from Dino’s variety […]

Who’s the next spy to be revived? How about Matt Helm?

The Man From U.N.C.L.E., after a long hibernation, arrives in movie theaters in less that two weeks. If U.N.C.L.E. can stage a comeback, any character can. So who should be the next ’60s spy to be revived from “suspended animation”? How about Matt Helm, code name Eric? Strictly speaking, Helm wasn’t a spy. He was […]

Matt Helm, America’s loaded weapon

Originally published in 2000, with a 2007 update in Her Majesty’s Secret Servant. A 2015 update is at the end Of all the spy-oriented movies series of the 1960s, arguably the Matt Helm series released by Columbia Pictures was the most successful. Four movies were produced, with a fifth announced before star Dean Martin decided […]

Matt Helm audio books coming in August

Audio book versions of Donald Hamilton’s first five Matt Helm novels are coming starting in August. Death of a Citizen, The Wrecking Crew, The Removers, The Silencers and Murderers’ Row will make their audio book debut, You can CLICK HERE for ordering information. UPDATE Sept. 8: See comment below which has updated pricing information.   […]

E-book on the Matt Helm films now available

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: […]

Matt Helm prequel available

A prequel novel to Donald Hamilton’s Matt Helm series of novels is out. Matt Helm: the War Years is AVAILABLE ON KINDLE. The author, Keith Wease, says he has permission of the Hamilton family. Here’s how he described it on Amazon.com: Although a cold-blooded killer, Matt Helm has a superb sense of humor, a sharp […]

Covers for Titan re-issue of Matt Helm books revealed

The first covers for Titan Books’s re-issue of Donald Hamilton’s Matt Helm novels have been revealed. Amazon.com has pages for the first two Helm novels, Death Of a Citizen and The Wrecking Crew, being republished by Titan. It appears Titan is going with a standardized format, featuring a shadowy Helm ready to fire a semi-automatic […]

Matt Helm project still kicking around at Paramount, THR says

Paramount is still interested in a serious Matt Helm movie, according to Web site of The Hollywood Reporter. In A STORY THIS WEEK, there was this nugget from an interview with Adam Goodman, president of Paramount Film Group: Goodman faces his share of challenges as Paramount looks to make up for the defection of Marvel […]

Titan Books’ Matt Helm deal doesn’t include The Dominators

The Dominators, the unpublished 28th Matt Helm novel by Donald Hamilton, isn’t part of Titan Books’ plans to reissue the series of novels starting in 2013. Gordon Hamilton, son of the late author, relayed the news to a listserv concerning the literary Helm. Here’s the full text of the short message: ” That is not […]

A few early Matt Helm novel highlights

With the news that Titan Books plans on bringing Donald Hamilton’s Matt Helm novels back into print in 2013, those unfamiliar with the stories might wonder what the fuss is all about. So we thought we’d present a Helm sampler. Helm isn’t so much a spy, as a counter assassin — he goes after enemy […]