Murderers' Row (film)

Murderers' Row (sometimes spelled Murderer's Row) is a 1966 American comedy spy-fi film starring Dean Martin. It is very loosely based upon the Matt Helm spy novel Murderers' Row by Donald Hamilton, which was published in 1962.

Ann-Margret and Karl Malden co-star in this sequel to The Silencers.

Plot

The film begins with a shot of the United States Capitol being destroyed. It is actually a scale model being used in the demonstration of a heliobeam weapon in the headquarters of the Bureau of International Government and Order ("BIG O"). BIG O is a secret organization with the goal of world domination that previously appeared in The Silencers.

With the aid of a mole, BIG O conducts a worldwide assassination campaign against various secret agents working for ICE (Intelligence Counter Espionage). Matt Helm (Dean Martin) fakes his own death in preparation for investigating the scheme undetected.

Helm meets his boss, Mac (James Gregory), for a mission briefing. Helm is to track down the missing Dr. Solaris (Richard Eastham), who has developed the powerful heliobeam weapon, a device that uses the concentrated power of sunlight for mass destruction. Helm is told if he can not rescue Solaris he is to kill him, and if captured to kill himself, lest BIG O brainwash him.

Murderers' Row

Murderers’ Row was the nickname given to the New York Yankees baseball team of the late 1920s, widely considered one of the best teams in history. The nickname is in particular describing the first six hitters in the 1927 team lineup: Earle Combs, Mark Koenig, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bob Meusel, and Tony Lazzeri.

Original "Murderers' Row"

The term was originally coined in 1918 by a sportswriter to describe the pre-Babe Ruth Yankee lineup of 1918. A 1918 newspaper article described it: "New York fans have come to know a section of the Yankees' batting order as 'murderers' row.' It is composed of the first six players in the batting order—Gilhooley, Peckinpaugh, Baker, Pratt, Pipp, and Bodie. This sextet has been hammering the offerings of all comers."

1927 Yankees

The term was initially associated with the beginning of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig Yankee teams in the mid-1920s, and is commonly recognized to refer specifically to the core of the 1927 Yankee hitting lineup.

Owner Jacob Ruppert is the man most often credited with building the team, although general manager Ed Barrow may have had as much to do with it. In a game of a July series against the Washington Senators, the Yankees beat their opponents 21–1, and prompted Senators' first baseman Joe Judge to say, "Those fellows not only beat you but they tear your heart out. I wish the season was over."

Murderers' Row (boxing)

Murderers' Row refers to a group of middleweight boxing contenders in the United States competing in the 1940s and 1950s, primarily of an African-American background. Renowned for their toughness and great boxing ability, at the time they were feared throughout the boxing world and are categorised as being the most avoided fighters of their generation. According to boxing pundit Jim Murray, the Murderers’ Row were “the most exclusive men’s club the ring has ever known. They were so good and so feared that they had to have their own tournament”. The term ‘Black Murderers’ Row’ was coined by writer Budd Schulberg, screenwriter of 'On the Waterfront'.

Fighters recognised under the Murderers’ Row banner include Charley Burley, Lloyd Marshall, Holman Williams, Herbert "Cocoa Kid" Lewis Hardwick, Jack Chase, Eddie Booker, Aaron Wade and Bert Lytell. Avoided by many of the famous names of the day, the nine Murderers’ Row fighters faced each other a total of 61 times, the fights often classics and grueling contests. None of the fighters would ever compete for a title, despite being at the top of the rankings for many years and widespread admiration in the world of boxing.

Murderers' Row (novel)

Murderers' Row is the title of a 1962 spy novel by Donald Hamilton. It was the fifth novel featuring his creation Matt Helm, a Second World War assassin recruited as a counter-agent by a secret American agency. This was the last Matt Helm novel to not use Hamilton's naming convention of The (Verb)-ers (as in The Annihilators, The Ambushers, etc.).

Plot summary

Matt Helm, codenamed "Eric", is given a tough and distasteful assignment: to physically assault a fellow female agent in order to help establish her cover in an undercover operation. In doing so, however, Helm accidentally kills the woman, which results in him having to complete the woman's assignment; the assassination of an enemy agent.

He is meanwhile being pursued by his own agency, which is considering removing him from active service for his brutality. The location is near Chesapeake Bay.

Film adaptation

Murderers' Row was adapted for the cinema in 1966 as a film of the same name. It was one of four films starring Dean Martin as Helm, and like the other three films the filmmakers chose to make the movie into an action comedy only very loosely based upon the novel (no incident such as Helm's accidental beating death of a female agent occurs in the movie).