Kurt Kasznar

Secret agent Matt Helm must battle foreign spies and a rogue nation's exiled ruler in order to recover a hijacked U.S. government experimental flying saucer. Without a doubt, there's a mole in the secret Intelligence and Counter Espionage agency. Right after the successful launch of the first state-of-the-art USAF flying saucer, the powerful tractor beam of a nefarious criminal organisation forces the experimental vessel to crash-land in the lush Central-American jungles. As a result, having no recollection of the mysterious incident, the amnesiac test pilot, Sheila Sommers, will have to join forces with the spy extraordinaire and suave photographer, Matt Helm, and travel to sun-kissed Acapulco to shed light on this thorny case. Nevertheless, their luxurious Mexican resort is rife with deadly traps and crafty double-agents, bent on stopping the prying intruders. Will Matt and Sheila unearth the dangerous conspiracy? Can they retrieve the top-secret spacecraft? —Nick Riganas A flying saucer, built by the U.S. Air Force and powered through electromotive forces, is launched into space on a top secret test flight. Shortly after it attains a position in space, strange tractor beams are aimed at it that drag it slowly bring it down to a spot in the lush jungles near Acapulco. There must be a mole in the secret Intelligence and Counter Espionage agency (ICE). The test pilot, Shiela Sommers is recovered but is suffering from amnesia, most unresponsive. That changes as soon as Matt Helm, spy extraordinaire and suave photographer, is sent by his boss MacDonald to visit her. A past assignment, in which they posed as a married couple, instantly snaps her out of the memory loss has her believing that they are once again married. Matt Helm and Shiela travel to sun-kissed Acapulco to shed light on this thorny case. The luxurious Mexican resort is rife with deadly traps and crafty double-agents, bent on stopping the prying intruders. Their targets are exiled ruler, Ortega, and his henchman Quintana. Quintana's Ole brewery plant becomes a focus of action. Interfering initially is foreign agent Francesca Madeiros. Eventually, they agree to cooperate. Most anxious to get his hands on the saucer is an Arab agent/assassin named Nassim. He fails to realize that the electromotive forces used to propel the saucer are fatal to men. That's why the initial test flight was piloted by Shiela. —Garon Smith A government space saucer is hijacked mid-flight by a powerful laser beam. ICE sends agent Matt Helm to Acapulco with and the female pilot, Sheila Sommars, to recover the saucer, under the guise of Matt taking fashion photographs of beautiful models. Matt is temporarily side-tracked, falling prey to the seductive charms of enemy agent Franceca Madeiros. —<slaygirl@sexydeath.com> A flying saucer built by the U.S. government is launched into space on a top secret test flight. Sheila Sommars is the pilot chosen and all goes well until she is found a few months later in a state of shock. Agent Matt Helm is then assigned to find the saucer, with Sheila posing as his wife. When he gets to Mexico, he must not only deal with the exiled ruler, Ortega and his henchman Quintana, but with enemy agent Fracesca Madeiros and an Arab agent/assassin named Nassim. —Brian Washington <Sargebri@att.net>

American ne'er-do-well Joe January is hired to take Paul Bonnard on an expedition into the desert in search of treasure. Paul Bonnard arrives in Timbuktu in search of a guide to escort him into the Sahara desert. American Joe January takes the job despite misgivings about Bonnard's plans. Dita, a prostitute who has been deeply moved by what appears to be Bonnard's spiritual nature, follows the two men into the desert. Eventually the trio arrives in the ruins of a lost city, where Bonnard hopes to find the treasure his father sought years earlier before disappearing. But what Bonnard finds alters him in unexpected ways, with tragic results. —Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>

After submitting a story of her beautiful sister, a woman assumes her identity to maintain the attention of a playboy publisher. Ruth and her beautiful sister Eileen come to New York's Greenwich Village looking for "fame, fortune and a 'For Rent' sign on Barrow Street". They find an apartment (such as it is!), but fame and fortune are a lot more elusive. Ruth gets the attention of playboy publisher Bob Baker when she submits a story about her gorgeous sister Eileen. She tries to keep his attention by convincing him that she, (a "spinsterish old-maid writer") and the gorgeous, man-getting Eileen are one and the same person.

Paris, France. After the success of his first book, famous American writer Charles Wills (Van Johnson) returns to Paris, and visits a local cafe named Café Dhingo where he chats with the bartender about his life. Charles flashes back to his past.... August 1944. Shortly after the liberation of Paris from the Nazis, Charles, a sergeant in the US Army and reporter for the Stars and Stripes, was on the streets of Paris, covering the liberation celebration. He was suddenly grabbed by the most beautiful brunette woman he ever saw, she kissed him on the lips and disappeared into the crowd. Charles followed the crowd to Café Dhingo and met another pretty American woman named Marion Ellswirth (Donna Reed). The mutual attraction was instant, and he was invited to join the party her father was throwing in celebration of the liberation of Paris and the impending end of the war. Charles, Marion, and her persistent French suitor Claude Matine (George Dolenz) arrived at the Ellswirth household, only to find that the woman who kissed Charles was Marion's younger sister Helen (Elizabeth Taylor). During drinks, Charles learned that Marion and Helen's father, James Ellswirth (Walter Pidgeon), fought in the trenches of France during World War I. He survived the war and settled in Paris and was part of the drifter generation (aka: The Lost Generation, 1883-1900). Unlike most drifters, he never grew out of it; even went as far as raising his two daughters to desire such lifestyle. Helen took after her father and used her beauty to sustain a life of luxury even though James was flat broke. Marion went the other way, and looked for serious-minded and conventional young men such as Claude the aspiring prosecutor and Charles the future novelist. Over the next few months, Charles and Helen fell in love and started dating. After Helen recovered from a near-death case of pneumonia from being out in the rain during that winter, they got married and settled in Paris in the spring of 1945 after news that World War II has ended for good. James had hoped that Helen would marry rich, but having taken a liking to Charles, he accepted Charles into the family. Helen eventually got pregnant and gave birth to a daughter in 1946, whom they name Vickie. Marion, having lost Charles to Helen, agreed to marry Claude around the same time. Charles struggles to make ends meet with his meager journalist salary while he worked on his novels as well as look after Vickie, while Helen and Grandpa James partied on. Then one day luck struck: James had bought a few large pieces of land in Texas, convinced that he would become an oil baron. The oil never came and the deeds became a family joke. Always ready with practical jokes, he gave those deeds to Charles as Helen's dowry. Five years later in 1951, the joke turned into gold as oil began to shoot up from these lands non-stop, bringing them money beyond Charles and Helen's dreams. With all of their debits paid off, Charles quit his job to focus entirely on his writing career, and Helen and James began to host parties instead of going to them. Over the next year, the relief of financial strain and the influx of wealth suddenly brought out the irresponsible side of Charles, as he could no longer deal with the disappointment of his manuscripts getting rejected by publishers. And unexpectedly, this brought out the responsible side of Helen. Now it was Helen who wished to stay home to raise their daughter Vickie, while Charles partied his wealth away. They also each took on other interests: Helen started to flirt with handsome English tennis player named Paul Lane (Roger Moore). Charles asked professional divorcee Lorraine Quarl (Eva Gabor) to join him as he competed in a local Paris-to-Monte Carlo race. After the race, Charles returned to Paris to patch things up with Helen, only to find her sitting in Café Dhingo with Paul. A fight broke out between Paul and Charles, an angry Charles went home first and bolted the door and then passed out after drinking too much whiskey. Helen ended up having to walk all way to Marion's place in the falling snow and rain. She caught pneumonia again and this time... she didn't make it. Charles hears about her hospitalization the next day and races to the hospital to be at her side when she dies. After Helen's funeral, Marion petitioned for and got full custody of Vickie. Charles went back to his hometown of to Milwaukee to deal with the loss of both his wife and daughter. Two years later in the present day 1954, having straightened out his life and quit drinking for good, Charles returns to Paris (where the movie begins) and finished telling his story to the Café Dhingo bartender. Charles then goes to Marion's house, hoping that his reformation would have softened Marion, and give eight-year-old Vickie (Sandy Descher) back to him. Still feeling resentful towards Charles for having fallen for Helen instead of her, Marion refuses. Seeing that Charles and Vickie belong together, Claude finally stepped in and told Marion off. In the final scene, Marion and Claude bring Vickie to Café Dhingo to look for Charles. And in front of the painting of Helen, the family is finally reunited again. Charles and Vickie then walk off together to go back to America.