All Movie Guide
Although it started out as a relatively serious espionage series with satirical undertones, by the time its third season rolled around The Man From U.N.C.L.E. had gone over the bend and was indulging in pure, unadulterated "camp," with outlandish storylines (one involving a deadly "hiccup" gas, another featuring exploding ice-cream bars!), shamelessly overacting villains, and cloyingly "cute" dialogue. Credit -- or blame -- for this metamorphosis can be attributed to the enormous popularity of the ABC series Batman, which in "honor" of its comic-book origins trafficked almost exclusively in exaggeration and hyperbole. However, what worked on Batman did not always work on The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and viewers began to grow tired of the series during its third season. (The show's new spin-off, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., proved to be even more out of control than its parent show -- and as result, it wore out its welcome almost immediately!) To their credit, series stars Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, respectively cast as U.N.C.L.E. agents Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, do their best to keep a straight face throughout the ridiculous proceedings; the same can be said for Leo G. Carroll, still a tower of strength in the role of U.N.C.L.E. chieftain Alexander Waverly. And, on a few rare occasions, the series' new absurdist tone paid off, notably in the two-part "The Concrete Overcoat Affair, which at the very least offered a veritable rogue's gallery of veteran gangster-movie actors, including Jack Palance, Joan Blondell, Allen Jenkins, and Jack LaRue. Incidentally, "The Concrete Overcoat Affair" was one of two multipart season-three episodes that would ultimately be released theatrically as "feature films" (its title in this capacity was The Spy in the Green Hat). The other "recycled" effort was the two-part "The Five Daughters Affair, which boasted the guest-star talents of Joan Crawford, Terry-Thomas, Kim Darby, Telly Savalas, Curt Jurgens, and Jill Ireland, and which would hit the theater screens under the title The Karate Killers. And while we're on the subject of guest stars, The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'s third season features the "dramatic" TV debuts of Nancy Sinatra and Sonny & Cher, as well as acting appearances by future syndicated newspaper astrologer Joyce Jillson and soon-to-be Hollywood studio executive Lynn Loring. Hal Erickson
All Movie Guide
Switching from black-and-white to color for its second season, the popular espionage series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. also lightens up its attitude a bit. Whereas the season-one episodes tended to be played straight, the season-two installments are less serious and more frivolous in nature, replete with overacting villains espousing overbaked conquer-the-world schemes, outlandish Bond-like gadgetry and doomsday weapons, eccentric and sometimes downright addlepated leading ladies, and a plethora of decidedly offbeat casting choices. Where else but The Man From U.N.C.L.E. would such comic actors as Charlie Ruggles and John McGiver be tapped to play homicidal criminals? And where else would Broadway musical-comedy headliner and perennial game-show contestant Phyllis Newman appear in the role of an Arabian princess? The season begins with the series' first two-part episode, "The Alexander the Greater Affair, in which U.N.C.L.E. agents Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) cross swords with a loony industrialist (Rip Torn) bent on breaking all Ten Commandments as part of a master scheme to rule the world! Expanded with a bit of additional footage, this two-parter would later be released as the theatrical movie One Spy Too Many -- just as another multipart episode, "The Bridge of Lions Affair, would be retooled into the ready-made "feature film" One of Our Spies Is Missing. Perhaps the most noteworthy second-season entry is "The Moonglow Affair, featuring Mary Ann Mobley as novice U.N.C.L.E. agent April Dancer and Norman Fell as her veteran partner, Mark Slade. This episode would serve as the pilot for the spin-off series The Girl From U.N.C..L.E., in which Stefanie Powers played April and Noel Harrison was seen as Mark. As a footnote, two of this season's Man From U.N.C.L.E. installments proved to be springboards for movie stardom. On the strength of her performance in "The Foxes and Hounds Affair, guest star Julie Sommers was cast as the leading lady in the 1966 feature film The Pad and How to Use It. And as result of her work in "The Discotheque Affair, Judi West was hired by Billy Wilder to appear opposite Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in another 1966 release, The Fortune Cookie. Hal Erickson
All Movie Guide
Though not the first of TV's international-espionage series, NBC's The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was one of the most successful -- and, by virtue of its September 22, 1964, debut date, the first series of its kind to directly benefit from the popularity of the earliest James Bond films starring Sean Connery. Indeed, series producer Norman Felton had approached Bond creator Ian Fleming to help with the development of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., but when the producers of the Bond films found this out, they obliged Fleming to withdraw from the project (as it turned out, Fleming died before the NBC series ever saw the light of day). The series was originally titled Solo, in honor of its protagonist, American secret agent Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn). The story goes that the James Bond movie producers nixed this as well, citing the fact that one of the secondary villains in the 1964 Bond flick Goldfinger was also named Solo. However, one suspects that producer Felton decided on the title change when it became clear that "his" Solo wasn't going to be the "solo" star of the series: sharing billing with Vaughn was David McCallum as Russian-born spy Illya Kuryakin, who had initially been conceived as a minor character but whose importance grew apace as filming on the first season progressed.
Both Illya and Napoleon Solo worked for the top-secret organization U.N.C.L.E., which stood for The United Network Command for Law and Enforcement. (Although entirely fictional, U.N.C.L.E. was given a special "acknowledgement" at the end of each episode, with the series' producers puckishly declaring that "without [U.N.C.L.E.]'s assistance this program would not be possible.") The headquarters for this international counterespionage agency were located in New York City, just behind a dry-cleaning shop (Della Floria's) which served as the agency's cover. Taking their orders from their superior officer Alexander Waverly (Leo G. Carroll), armed with the latest in Bond-like gadgetry and weaponry, and maintaining communication with the home office by way of a tiny radio disguised as a fountain pen ("Open Channel D"), Solo and Illya traveled all over the world to fight the good fight against a wide variety of colorful villains, most of whom were in the employ of the international crime-and-terrorism organization THRUSH.
After a lukewarm start in a Tuesday-evening slot, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. enjoyed a huge ratings surge when it moved to Mondays halfway through season one. The first 29 hour-long episodes, filmed in black-and-white, were fairly straightforward and serious, albeit with a slyly satirical undercurrent. In many of the earliest episodes, the U.N.C.L.E. agents would enlist the aid of an "average citizen" to do battle against the forces of THRUSH. Not surprisingly, a number of these "civilians" were attractive young ladies, though there were a few middle-aged spinsters and gormless young men in the mixture as well. The series switched to color and a Friday-night slot for its second season, at which time the plots became less sober and more humorous, and many of the "normal" people temporarily engaged to help the good guys were decidedly on the eccentric side. The influence of the campy adventure series Batman pervaded The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'s third season, with the villains more flamboyant and the plots more outrageous than ever. (Also this season, the series spawned a spin-off, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., which was often so over the top that it looked like a spoof of a spoof!)
Suffering from ever-diminishing ratings, Man From U.N.C.L.E. dropped its campiness and radically lowered its laugh quotient for its fourth season, reverting to the seriousness and (comparative) realism of the series' first season. Also, in keeping up to date with recent real-life developments in the world of espionage, the U.N.C.L.E. headquarters were totally redesigned and equipped with the latest of computer technology. Unfortunately, the series' viewership had dropped to an all-time low, and on January 15, 1968, it was canceled, replaced by NBC's new comedy-variety series Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. For the theatrical-movie market, a number of the Man From U.N.C.L.E. episodes were combined and/or expanded into ersatz feature films, bearing such titles as To Trap a Spy, The Spy With My Face, One Spy Too Many, One of Our Spies Is Missing, The Spy in the Green Hat, The Karate Killers, The Helicopter Spies, and How to Steal the World. And in 1983, Robert Vaughn and David McCallum were reunited in the made-for-TV movie The Return of the Man From U.N.C.L.E.: Fifteen Years Later. Hal Erickson
All Movie Guide
In its efforts to emulate the campy hyperbole of the Batman series during its third season on NBC, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. overplayed its hand disastrously, losing many of its longtime fans who had preferred the series when it was a relatively straightforward espionage series with a subtle inner lining of satire. Small wonder, then, that The Man From U.N.C.L.E. returns to its basics for its fourth season, eschewing the ridiculous and outrageous elements that had been inflicted upon its previous season, and focusing more on serious, hard-hitting storylines, with thoroughly credible villains and believable gadgetry. Better still, secret agents Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) have for the most part abandoned their clever bon mots, and in some cases are questioning and even challenging the "dirty" assignments handed them by their taciturn superior Alexander Waverly (Leo G. Carroll). Less flippant and more cynical than ever before, Solo and Illya have completely forsaken the "comic-book" elements that had weakened their characters during the past season. And in another marked improvement -- albeit a superficial one -- the traditionally drab New York headquarters of U.N.C.L.E. have been given a complete face-lift, with the walls now "decorated" with state-of-the-art computer equipment (much of its recently purchased from NASA by the series' producers). One of the few artistic carryovers from seasons past is the "recycling" of certain multipart episodes as ready-made theatrical feature films. Examples during season four include the two-part "The Prince of Darkness Affair, which would be seen in theaters as The Helicopter Spies, and the series' two-part finale "The Seven Wonders of the World Affair, soon to be released theatrically as How to Steal the World. Despite the aforementioned improvements and upgrades in its content, the fourth season of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was scuttled by two unforeseen developments. The first was the TV industry's overall toning down of violence, meaning that shows of the U.N.C.L.E. ilk would be denied the huge advertising revenues necessary for long-term survival. The other was NBC's decision to move the series from Friday evenings to Mondays, a move made on the assumption that U.N.C.L.E.'s CBS competition, Gunsmoke, was on its last legs. Unfortunately for NBC, Gunsmoke unexpectedly enjoyed a resurgence of popularity -- and this, coupled with already flagging ratings and a lack of sponsor support, doomed The Man From U.N.C.L.E. to an ignominious mid-season cancellation on January 15, 1968. Hal Erickson
All Movie Guide
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. launches its first season with "The Vulcan Affair, which uses broad but entertaining strokes to quickly establish the series' premise: Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn), top secret agent for the international counterespionage organization U.N.C.L.E., enlists the aid of an "average" citizen -- in this case a mousy housewife, played by Patricia Crowley -- to thwart the evil machinations of a colorful master villain (here played by Fritz Weaver) in the employ of the sinister crime agency THRUSH. Although telecast in black-and-white (as was the rest of season one), the opening episode was actually filmed in color -- and, combined with footage from another first-season episode, The Four Steps Affair, it would soon be expanded into the ersatz feature film To Trap a Spy for the domestic movie market. Similarly, another "expanded" Man From U.N.C.L.E. installment from this season, "The Double Affair, would receive theatrical play under the title The Spy With My Face. Originally, Robert Vaughn was to be the series' sole (or "Solo") star, with Leo G. Carroll providing support as his U.N.C.L.E. superior Alexander Waverly. However, the character of Russian-born U.N.C.L.E. agent Illya Kuryakin, played by David McCallum, scored such an excellent impression in his first fleeting appearances that the character expanded to full co-star status. Rumors still persist that Robert Vaughn was a bit miffed at sharing the spotlight, which may explain the kidding-on-the-square rivalry between Solo and Illya that dominates their scenes together. Although most of the other secondary characters are one-shots during the first season, Jill Ireland (then the wife of David McCallum) is seen as wide-eyed "civilian" Marion Raven and Anne Francis is cast as cold-blooded THRUSH agent Gervaise Ravel in two different episodes, "The Quadripartite Affair" and "The Giuoco Piano Affair." In the same vein, George Sanders appears in "The Gazebo in the Maze Affair" as criminal mastermind G. Emory Partridge, a role he would reprise in the following season's "The Yukon Affair." Other season-one guest performers include a brace of future spy show stars, Robert Culp (I Spy) and Barbara Feldon (Get Smart), as well as such pop-culture icons as Carroll O'Connor, Leslie Nielsen, Yvonne Craig, Eddie Albert, Kurt Russell, William Shatner, and Leonard Nimoy -- the latter two in the same episode! Although the initial season of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. has its chucklesome and satirical moments, many of the episodes tackled their subject matter with deadly seriousness -- even in such outlandish outings wherein THRUSH surgically creates an exact double of Napoleon Solo, and a mad scientist develops a process to bring Adolf Hitler back to life. Hal Erickson
Loading...
© 2009 All Media Guide, LLC