{ "id": "ep2gsxhh97", "slug": "the-ambushers", "title": "The Ambushers", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": 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works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series.franchise-series.action-thriller-series-entries", "label": "Action, thriller, and crime series film entries", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series.franchise-series.action-thriller-series-entries" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The Ambushers (1967) is the third of four Matt Helm spy spoofs, starring Dean Martin as agent Matt Helm, directed by Henry Levin, about a hijacked US flying saucer only women can pilot, filmed in Mexico.", "snippet": "The Ambushers (1967) is the third of four Matt Helm spy spoofs, starring Dean Martin as agent Matt Helm, directed by Henry Levin, about a hijacked US flying saucer only women can pilot, filmed in Mexico.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series.franchise-series.action-thriller-series-entries.entries-released-1960s-and-1970s", "markdown": "# The Ambushers\n\n**The Ambushers** is a 1967 American spy-spoof comedy, the third of four [Columbia Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/columbia-pictures) films starring [Dean Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/dean-martin) as secret agent [Matt Helm](https://www.edgepedia.org/matt-helm), directed by Henry Levin from a screenplay by Herbert Baker and produced by Irving Allen.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/22360-THE-AMBUSHERS) In it, Helm is recalled by his former chief MacDonald (James Gregory) to recover a hijacked American experimental flying saucer, working alongside the craft's pilot Sheila Sommers (Janice Rule) against the villains Jose Ortega (Albert Salmi) and Quintana (Kurt Kasznar) and the double agent Francesca Madeiros (Senta Berger).[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/22360-THE-AMBUSHERS) • [2](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/theambushers)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | Opened in Chicago on 20 December 1967, New York on 22 December, Los Angeles on 27 December; 102 minutes, Technicolor[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/22360-THE-AMBUSHERS) |\n| Series position | Third of four Matt Helm films, following *The Silencers* (1966) and *Murderer's Row* (1966) and followed by *[The Wrecking Crew](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-wrecking-crew-1968-film)* (1969)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/22360-THE-AMBUSHERS) • [3](https://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/downloads/a29d1860-d733-4bf6-8189-3f595fa26665?locale=es) |\n| Source | Loosely based on Donald Hamilton's 1963 novel *The Ambushers* and, uncredited, his 1968 novel *The Menacers*[4](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/ambushers_the) |\n| Central gimmick | The saucer can be flown only by women, because the electromagnetic energy powering it is fatal to males[4](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/ambushers_the) |\n| Filming | 24 April to late June 1967, mostly in central Mexico, including Acapulco, Cuernavaca, Orizaba, and Estudios Churubusco in Mexico City; about $1 million was spent in Mexico[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/22360-THE-AMBUSHERS) |\n| Critical standing | 32% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 4 reviews; the Science Fiction Encyclopedia calls it the worst of the four Helm films[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ambushers) • [4](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/ambushers_the) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nThe first U.S. flying saucer sent into space is sabotaged by the enemy agent Jose Ortega, and its pilot, Sheila Sommers, is captured and tortured.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/22360-THE-AMBUSHERS) Matt Helm, a sleuth-photographer and top agent for the counter-espionage agency ICE ([Intelligence](https://www.edgepedia.org/intelligence) and Counter Espionage), is called in to investigate.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/22360-THE-AMBUSHERS) • [4](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/ambushers_the) Only women can fly these saucers, since the electromagnetic energy that powers them kills males; Sommers, an agent and test pilot forced down in the jungle, has amnesia but recovers her memory on meeting Helm again, with whom she had once posed as a married couple.[4](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/ambushers_the)\n\nPosing as husband and wife, Helm and Sheila fly to Acapulco, where they are hosted by Quintana, a brewery tycoon working for Ortega.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/22360-THE-AMBUSHERS) After nearly being killed by the beer baron's henchmen, they are helped to escape by Francesca Madeiros, a secret agent for another foreign power, whom they dupe into leading them to Ortega's hideout in the Mexican jungle.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/22360-THE-AMBUSHERS) Francesca is killed by Ortega's right-hand man, Nassim (David Mauro).[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/22360-THE-AMBUSHERS) In the climax, Ortega follows Sheila into the grounded saucer, unaware that setting off its radioactive controls produces a blast only a woman can survive; Ortega and Quintana are both killed, though not before Quintana traps Sheila in the saucer and sends it rolling down a railroad track, from which Helm rescues her with his ray gun and a motorcycle.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/22360-THE-AMBUSHERS)\n\n## Production\n\nProducer Irving Allen bought the screen rights to Donald Hamilton's source novel in August 1965, while the first installment, *The Silencers*, was still in production, intending it as the immediate follow-up; Richard Levinson and William Link were attached to develop the screenplay.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/22360-THE-AMBUSHERS) The project was pushed back in favor of *Murderer's Row*, whose end credits carried a title card announcing *The Ambushers*; Herbert Baker then replaced Levinson and Link, and in March 1967 Daily Variety confirmed Martin's return under a three-picture deal with Allen and Columbia Pictures.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/22360-THE-AMBUSHERS)\n\n**Casting and wardrobe.** According to a 5 April 1967 Variety item, fashion designer [Oleg Cassini](https://www.edgepedia.org/oleg-cassini) conducted a worldwide search for eleven international models to appear in the film wearing his \"new wave look\" fashions, merchandised as a promotional tie-in; his role reportedly included supervision of all male and female wardrobe, makeup, and hairstyles.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/22360-THE-AMBUSHERS) Inga Neilson was among those chosen, and Betty Worledge was hired as the models' \"den mother\" during the shoot.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/22360-THE-AMBUSHERS)\n\n**Locations.** [Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) ran from 24 April 1967 to around late June, with most location work in central Mexico: Acapulco (including the Las Brisas resort, its beach club, and La Concha), Fortin de las Flores, Orizaba, and [Cuernavaca](https://www.edgepedia.org/cuernavaca), plus studio work at Estudios Churubusco in Mexico City; the unit returned to Los Angeles in mid-May for shots at the Hotel Bel-Air parking lot.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/22360-THE-AMBUSHERS) The title song, with music and lyrics by Hugo Montenegro and Herbert Baker, was sung by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/22360-THE-AMBUSHERS)\n\n## Reception and place in the series\n\nThe Matt Helm series was created to compete with the [James Bond](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-bond) films, directly parodying them to differentiate Columbia's product at a time when Martin was less marketable than [Sean Connery](https://www.edgepedia.org/sean-connery) or [James Coburn](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-coburn); the four films ran from 1966 to 1969 and relied on camp, with Helm a wisecracking lothario.[3](https://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/downloads/a29d1860-d733-4bf6-8189-3f595fa26665?locale=es) *The Ambushers* followed that approach as a spoof rather than a straight adaptation of Hamilton's novel.[6](https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/The_Ambushers)\n\nCritical response was poor. The Tomatometer stood at 32% from four reviews, including a 2/5 from Philip Martin of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and a 2/4 from Roger Ebert of the [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times).[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ambushers) • [7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ambushers/reviews) Ebert's 1967 review described the film as Martin going to Acapulco, driving scenic highways with ravishing beauties, and occasionally getting shot at, noting a fight sequence inside a giant vat of beer and more drinking jokes than he could distill from a weekend of [W. C. Fields](https://www.edgepedia.org/w-c-fields).[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-ambushers-1967) The Science Fiction Encyclopedia states that *The Ambushers* is regarded as the worst of the four Helm cinema adaptations, though it adds that its use of women as spaceship pilots may be a first for US science-fiction cinema.[4](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/ambushers_the) A retrospective at Cinema Scholars likewise calls it the worst entry in the series, criticizing it as boring and short on laughs.[9](https://cinemascholars.com/matt-helm-a-movie-retrospective/?amp=1)\n\n## References\n\n1. [The Ambushers (1967), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/22360-THE-AMBUSHERS)\n2. [The Ambushers, Sony Pictures Entertainment](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/theambushers)\n3. [Matt Helm series and Bond parody, University of Pittsburgh thesis](https://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/downloads/a29d1860-d733-4bf6-8189-3f595fa26665?locale=es)\n4. [Ambushers, The, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/ambushers_the)\n5. [The Ambushers, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ambushers)\n6. [The Ambushers, The Grindhouse Cinema Database](https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/The_Ambushers)\n7. [The Ambushers Reviews, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ambushers/reviews)\n8. [The Ambushers movie review, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-ambushers-1967)\n9. [Matt Helm: A Movie Retrospective, Cinema Scholars](https://cinemascholars.com/matt-helm-a-movie-retrospective/?amp=1)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Franchise and series entries as standalone works › Action, thriller, and crime series film entries › Entries released 1960s and 1970s*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-ambushers", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-ambushers.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"The Ambushers\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-ambushers. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[The Ambushers](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-ambushers)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/the-ambushers](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-ambushers). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"The Ambushers\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-ambushers. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The Ambushers is the third of four Matt Helm spy spoofs, starring Dean Martin as agent Matt Helm, directed by Henry Levin, about a hijacked US flying saucer only women can pilot, filmed in Mexico." }