| The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Spy-fi |
| Format | Espionage |
| Developed by | Sam Rolfe |
| Starring | Robert Vaughn David McCallum Leo G. Carroll |
| Theme music composer | Jerry Goldsmith |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 105 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Norman Felton |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 50 min. |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Picture format | Black-and-white (1964–1965) Color (1965–1968) 4:3 |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original run | September 22, 1964 – January 15, 1968 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. |
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement agency called U.N.C.L.E.. Originally co-creator Sam Rolfe wanted to leave the meaning of UNCLE ambiguous so it could be viewed as either referring to "Uncle Sam" or the United Nations.[1] Concerns by the MGM Legal department about possible New York law violations for using the abbreviation "U.N." for commercial purposes resulted in the producers clarifying that U.N.C.L.E. was an acronym for the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement.[2] Each episode of the television show had an "acknowledgement" credit to the U.N.C.L.E. on the end titles.
The series consisted of 105 episodes screened between 1964 and 1968 produced by Arena Productions using the studio facilities of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The first season was broadcast in black-and-white.[3]
When approached by the co-creator Norman Felton, Ian Fleming contributed to the show's origins.[4] The book The James Bond Films reveals Fleming's concept had two characters, Napoleon Solo and April Dancer (The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.). Robert Towne, Sherman Yellen and Harlan Ellison wrote scripts for the series, which was originally to have been titled Solo. Author Michael Avallone, who wrote the first original novelisation based upon the series (see below), is sometimes incorrectly cited as the show's creator (such as in the January 1967 issue of The Saint Magazine). At one point, Fleming's name was to have been connected more directly with the series. The cover of the original proposal for the series showed the title Ian Fleming's Solo.[5]
Solo was originally slated to be the sole star of the series, but a small scene by a Russian agent named Illya Kuryakin caught fire with the fans, and the two were permanently paired.[6]
The series centered on a two-man troubleshooting team working for U.N.C.L.E.: American Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn), and Russian Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum). Leo G. Carroll played Alexander Waverly, the British head of the organization (Number One of Section One). Lisa Rogers (Barbara Moore) joined the cast as a female regular in the fourth season.
The series, though fictional, achieved such a high status as to have artifacts (props, costumes and documents, and a video clip) from the show included in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library's exhibit on spies and counterspies. Similar exhibits can be found in the museums of the Central Intelligence Agency and other agencies and organizations involved with intelligence gathering.
U.N.C.L.E.'s archenemy was a vast organization known as THRUSH (originally named WASP in the series pilot movie). The original series never explained what the acronym THRUSH stood for, but in several of the U.N.C.L.E. novels written by David McDaniel, it was expanded as the Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity, and described by him as having been founded by Col. Sebastian Moran after the death of Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls in the Sherlock Holmes story "The Final Problem." Later, an alternate—and more plausible—explanation was offered, with THRUSH rising out of the fall of Nazism and founded by high-ranking Nazi officials—including Martin Bormann--who fled to Argentina when defeat was seen as inevitable, taking with them enormous financial wealth, including gold and precious works of art.
THRUSH's aim was to conquer the world. Napoleon Solo said, in "The Green Opal Affair," "THRUSH believes in the two-party system: the masters and the slaves,", adding in another episode ("The Vulcan Affair") that THRUSH will "kill people the way people kill flies: a reflex action. A flick of the wrist." So dangerous was the threat from THRUSH that governments, even those most ideologically opposed such as the United States and the USSR, cooperated in the formation and operation of U.N.C.L.E. Similarly, if Solo and Kuryakin held opposing political views, the writers allowed little to show in their interactions.
Though executive producer Norman Felton and Ian Fleming had developed the character of Napoleon Solo, it was producer Sam Rolfe who created the organization of U.N.C.L.E. Unlike the nationalistic organizations of the CIA and James Bond's MI.6, U.N.C.L.E. was a worldwide organization composed of agents from all corners of the globe. The character of Illya Kuryakin was created by Rolfe as a Russian U.N.C.L.E. agent.
The creators of the series decided that the involvement of an innocent character would be part of each episode, giving the audience someone with whom it could identify.[4] Through all the changes in series in the course of four seasons, this element remained a factor—from a suburban housewife in the pilot, "The Vulcan Affair" (film version: "To Trap a Spy"), to the various people kidnapped in the final episode, "The Seven Wonders of the World Affair."
Filmed in color from late November to early December 1963 with locations at a Lever Brothers soap factory in California, the show was originally titled Ian Fleming's Solo and later just Solo. However, in February 1964 a law firm representing James Bond movie producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding an immediate end to the use of Fleming’s name in connection with the planned Solo series, and an end to all use of the name and character "Solo," "Napoleon Solo" and "Mr. Solo". At that time filming was underway for the Bond movie Goldfinger, where Martin Benson was playing a supporting character named "Mr. Solo". The claim was the name "Solo" had already been sold to them by Fleming, and Fleming could not again use it. Within five days Fleming had signed an affidavit that nothing in the Solo pilot infringed on any of his Bond characters, but the threat of continued legal action resulted in a settlement where the character name of Napoleon Solo could be kept, but the title of the show had to change.
The role of the head of UNCLE in the pilot was Mr. Allison played by Will Kuluva rather than Mr. Waverley played by Leo G. Carroll, and David McCallum's Illya Kuryakin only had a brief role. Revisions to some scenes were shot for television, including those needed to feature Leo G. Carroll. The pilot episode was thereafter re-edited to fit a one hour time slot, converted to black and white, and shown on televison as The Vulcan Affair.
Additional color sequences with Luciana Paluzzi were shot in April 1964 and added to the pilot in order for MGM to release it outside the United States as a second feature titled To Trap a Spy.[7] It premiered in Hong Kong in November 1964. The extra scenes were further reedited (including to tone down the overt sexuality) and later used in the regular series of the episode "The Four-Steps Affair".
Beyond the extra scenes for the feature film, and the revised scenes shot and edits made for the television episode, there are other differences among the three versions of the story. Before the show went into full production there was concern from the MGM legal department that the name of THRUSH for the pilot's international criminal organization sounded too much like SMERSH, the international criminal organization in Fleming's Bond series. The studio instead suggested names such as Raven, Shark, Squid, Vulture, Tarantula, Snipe, Sphinx, Dooom [sic], and Maggot (the latter used in some early first draft scripts). Although no formal legal action took place, the organization's name was redubbed as "WASP" in the feature version "To Trap a Spy". The original pilot itself was not modified and kept THRUSH (presumably as it was not intended to be released to the public in that version). By May, 1964 the issue had been cleared up, and THRUSH was retained for the television episode edit of the pilot. Despite this, the name WASP was used in the feature film when released in Japan in late 1964 and left as WASP in the U.S. release in 1966. Another change among the three versions of the pilot story was the cover name for the character of Elaine May Donaldson. In the original pilot it was Elaine Van Nessen; in the television version as well as the feature version it was redubbed to Elaine Van Every. Illya Kuryakin's badge number is 17 in the pilot rather than his typical number 2 during the run of the series. And one more difference was Solo's hair style, which after new footage was added changed back and forth from a slicked back style to the less severe style he wore throughout the series.
With the popularity of the show and the spy craze, To Trap a Spy and the second UNCLE feature The Spy with My Face were released in the USA as an MGM double feature in early 1966.
The show's first season was in black and white. Rolfe created a kind of Alice's Adventures In Wonderland world, where mundane everyday life would intermittently intersect with the looking-glass fantasy of international espionage which lay just beyond. The U.N.C.L.E. universe was one where the weekly "innocent" would get caught up in a series of fantastic adventures, in a battle of good and evil. Rolfe also blended deadly suspense with a light touch, reminiscent of Hitchcock. In fact, U.N.C.L.E. owes just as much to Alfred Hitchcock as it does to Ian Fleming, the touchstone being North by Northwest, where an innocent man is mistaken for an agent of a top-secret organization, one of whose top members is played by Leo G. Carroll. This role led directly to Carroll being cast as Mr. Waverly in the show.[4]
U.N.C.L.E. headquarters in New York City was most frequently entered by a secret entrance in Del Floria's Tailor Shop. Another entrance was through The Masque Club. Mr. Waverly had his own secret entrance. Unlike the competing TV series I Spy however, the shows were overwhelmingly shot on the MGM back lot.[8] The same building with an imposing exterior staircase was used for episodes set throughout the Mediterranean and Latin America, and the same dirt road lined with eucalyptus trees on the back lot in Culver City stood in for virtually every continent of the globe. The episodes followed a naming convention where each title was in the form of "The ***** Affair", such as "The Vulcan Affair," "The Mad, Mad, Tea Party Affair," and "The Waverly Ring Affair." The only exceptions being, "Alexander the Greater Affair," parts 1 & 2. The first season episode "The Green Opal Affair" establishes that U.N.C.L.E. itself uses the term "Affair" to refer to its different missions.
Rolfe endeavored to make the implausibility of it all seem not only feasible but entertaining. In the series, frogmen emerge from wells in Iowa, shootouts occur between U.N.C.L.E. and THRUSH agents in a crowded Manhattan movie theater, and top-secret organizations are hidden behind innocuous brownstone facades.
The series also began to dabble in science fiction-based plots, beginning with "The Double Affair" in which a THRUSH agent, made to look like Solo through plastic surgery, infiltrates a secret U.N.C.L.E. facility where an immensely powerful weapon called "Project Earthsave" is stored; according to the dialogue, the weapon was developed to protect against a potential alien threat to Earth. The Spy with My Face was the film version of this episode (see following).
In its first season The Man from U.N.C.L.E. competed against The Red Skelton Show on CBS and Walter Brennan's short-lived The Tycoon on ABC. During this time producer Norman Felton told Alan Caillou and several of the series writers to make the show more tongue in cheek.[9]
Switching to color, U.N.C.L.E. continued to enjoy huge popularity, but succeeding Rolfe, who left the show at the conclusion of the first season, David Victor, the new producer, read articles that called the show a spoof and that is what it became. Over the next three seasons, five different show runners would supervise the U.N.C.L.E. franchise, and each one took the show in a direction that differed considerably from that of the first season. Furthermore, U.N.C.L.E. had spawned a swarm of imitators. In 1964, it was the only American spy show on U.S. TV; by 1966, there were nearly a dozen. In an attempt to emulate the success of ABC's mid-season hit, Batman, which had proven hugely popular on its debut in early 1966, U.N.C.L.E. moved swiftly towards self-parody and slapstick.[6]
This campiness was most in evidence during the third season, when the producers made a conscious decision to increase the level of humor, though season two had moved in this direction in episodes such as "The Yukon Affair" and "The Indian Affairs Affair."[6] With episodes like "The My Friend the Gorilla Affair" (which featured a scene in which Solo is shown dancing with a gorilla) the show tested the loyalties of its followers and this new direction resulted in a severe ratings drop, and nearly resulted in the show's cancellation. It was renewed for a fourth season and an attempt was made to go back to serious storytelling, but the ratings never recovered and U.N.C.L.E. was cancelled midway through the season.[6]
The theme music, written by Jerry Goldsmith, changed slightly each season.[10] Goldsmith only provided three original scores and was replaced by Morton Stevens, who composed four scores for the series. After Stevens, Walter Scharf did six scores, and Lalo Schifrin (who later wrote the Mission: Impossible theme) did two. Gerald Fried was composer from season two through the beginning of season four. The final composers were Robert Drasnin (who also scored episodes of Mission: Impossible, as did Schifrin, Scharf and Fried), Nelson Riddle and Richard Shores. The music reflected the show's changing seasons—Goldsmith, Stevens and Scharf composed dramatic scores in the first season using brass, unusual time signatures and martial rhythms, Gerald Fried and Robert Drasnin opted for a lighter approach in the second, employing harpsichords and bongos and by the third season, the music, like the show, had become more camp, exemplified by an R&B organ and saxophone version of the theme. The fourth season's attempt at seriousness was duly echoed by Richard Shores' somber scores.
Although album recordings of the series had been made by Hugo Montenegro (ironically, Montenegro never worked on the series itself but did score an episode of Mission: Impossible), and many orchestras did cover versions of the title theme, it wouldn't be until 2002 that the first of three double-disc albums of original music from the series would be released through Film Score Monthly.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Disc 1:
Disc 2:
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Volume 2
Disc 1:
Disc 2:
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Volume 3: Featuring The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.
Disc 1:
Disc 2:
Tracks 9–13 Jerry Goldsmith, ad. and arr. Robert Armbruster:
FSM also released The Spy With My Face: Music From The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Movies, a disc of music specifically written for the feature film versions culled from episodes of the series (One Of Our Spies Is Missing and The Karate Killers are particularly strongly represented, due to the original TV episodes – "The Bridge Of Lions Affair" and "The Five Daughters Affair" respectively – having been tracked with music written for other episodes).
To Trap A Spy (Jerry Goldsmith):
1. Main Title/Solo Strikes Again (Main Title) (1:19)
2. The Kiss Off/Main Title (Meet Mr. Solo/End Title) (1:54)
The Spy With My Face (Morton Stevens):
3. Main Title (4:09)
4. Phase Two/Sub Male/Bugged Bobo (3:09)
5. New Alps/Impostor's First Test/Cyanide Cigarette (2:52)
6. Incarcerated Swinging (5:01)
7. The Real McCoy/End Title (2:17)
One Spy Too Many (Gerald Fried):
8. Dog Fight on Wheels (Main Title) – Goldsmith, arr. Fried (2:56)
9. Briefcase/Follow That Spy (:55)
10. The Three Alexanders/The Great Design (2:45)
11. Farm/Skip Loader/Wrong Driver (2:28)
12. End Title – Goldsmith, arr. Schifrin (:31)
One Of Our Spies Is Missing (Gerald Fried):
13. Main Title – Goldsmith, arr. Fried (3:08)
14. Go-Go in Soho/Cat Jam (1:46)
15. Duel by Flashlight/Fat Vat/Bridge of Lions (3:36)
16. Love With the Proper Mannequin/Thrush Cycle (1:29)
17. Thrush Guards/The Sacrifice/Jordin's Demise (2:31)
18. Hot Tie (1:58)
19. End Title – Goldsmith, arr. Fried (:37)
The Spy In The Green Hat (Nelson Riddle):
20. Main Title – Goldsmith, arr. Fried/Robert Armbruster (2:09)
21. Sicilian Style/Sacre! (1:22)
22. Stilletto Tango/Wrong Uncle (1:52)
23. Von Kronen/Kit Kat Klub (1:29)
24. Mr. Impeccable/I Sure Do/Right! (1:38)
25. End Title – Goldsmith, arr. Fried/Armbruster (:32)
The Karate Killers (Gerald Fried):
26. Main Title – Goldsmith, arr. Fried/Search Party (2:46)
27. Coliseum a Go Go/Arrivederci/Drain Pipe (3:08)
28. Along the Seine/Anyone for Venice (2:45)
29. Snow Goons/Touchdown (02:30)
30. Sidewalks of Japan (1:40)
31. Karate & Stick Game (1:24)
32. Mod Wedding/End Cast (1:03)
The Helicopter Spies (Jerry Goldsmith, arr. Armbruster):
33. Main Title (2:01)
34. End Title (:25)
How To Steal The World (Richard Shores):
35. Crazy Airport (Main Title) (2:08)
36. Trouble in Hong Kong (End Title) (:37)
Apart from Solo, Kuryakin and Waverly, very few characters appeared on the show with any regularity. As a result, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. featured a large number of high-profile guest performers during its three and a half year run.
William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy appeared together in a 1964 episode, "The Project Strigas Affair," a full two years before Star Trek aired for the first time. Shatner played a heroic civilian recruited for an U.N.C.L.E. mission, and Nimoy played a rival of the villain's henchman. The villain is played by Werner Klemperer.[11] James Doohan appeared in multiple episodes, each time as a different character.
Barbara Feldon played an U.N.C.L.E. translator eager for field work in "The Never-Never Affair," one year before becoming one of the stars of the very different spy series Get Smart. Robert Culp played the villain in 1964's "The Shark Affair."
Woodrow Parfrey appeared five times as a guest performer, although he never received an opening-title credit. Usually cast as a scientist, he played the primary villain in only one episode, "The Cherry Blossom Affair." Another five-time guest star was Jill Ireland, who at the time was married to David McCallum. "The Five Daughters Affair" featured a cameo appearance by Joan Crawford. Janet Leigh and Jack Palance appeared in "The Concrete Overcoat Affair" and Sonny and Cher made an appearance in the third season episode "The Hot Number Affair".[11] Other notable guest stars included: Richard Anderson, Joan Blondell, Roger C. Carmel, Joan Collins, Walter Coy, Yvonne Craig, Kim Darby, Ivan Dixon, Anne Francis, Allen Jenkins, Richard Kiel, Angela Lansbury, Julie London, Leslie Nielsen, William Marshall, Carroll O'Connor, Eleanor Parker, Slim Pickens, Vincent Price, Dorothy Provine, Cesar Romero, Kurt Russell, Nancy Sinatra, Terry-Thomas and Fritz Weaver.
Solo and Kuryakin, trained in martial arts, also had a range of useful spy equipment, including handheld satellite communicators to keep in contact with UNCLE headquarters. A catchphrase often heard was "Open Channel D" when agents used their pocket radios; these were originally disguised as cigarette packs, later as a cigarette case, and in following seasons, as pens.[12] One of the original pen communicators now resides in the museum of the Central Intelligence Agency.[13] The museum is not accessible to the public. Replicas have been made over the years for other displays, and this is the second-most-identifiable prop from the series (closely following the U.N.C.L.E. Special pistol).[12]
One prop, often referred to as "The Gun," drew so much attention that it actually spurred considerable fan mail, often so addressed. Internally designated the "U.N.C.L.E. Special,"[14] it featured a modular semi-automatic weapon, originally based on the Mauser Model 1934 Pocket Pistol, but it was unreliable, jamming constantly, and considered so small that it was dwarfed by the carbine accessories. It was soon replaced by the larger and more reliable Walther P38 pistol. The basic pistol could still be converted into a longer-range carbine by attaching a long barrel, extendable shoulder stock, Bushnell telescopic sight, and extended magazine. In its carbine mode, the pistol could fire on full automatic. This capability brought authorities to the set early on to investigate reports that the studio was manufacturing machine guns illegally. They threatened to confiscate the prop guns. It took a tour of the prop room to convince them that these were actually "dummy" pistols incapable of firing live ammunition.
The long magazine was actually a standard magazine with a dummy extension on it, but it inspired several manufacturers to begin making long magazines for various pistols. While many of these continue to be available 40 years later, long magazines were not available for the P-38 for some years. However, they are now being custom made, as are reproduction parts for the U.N.C.L.E. carbine, and sold at "TheUncleGun.com."[15] Pictures of their U.N.C.L.E. gun reproductions[16] can also be seen on the official "Man From U.N.C.L.E. DVD set."[17] The "U.N.C.L.E. Special"-configured Walther P38 would later become the distinctive alternate mode for the Transformers character Megatron, the evil leader of the Decepticons.
The P-38 fired the standard 9 mm bullet, although sometimes it was loaded with a special dart tipped with a fast-acting tranquilizer when it was preferable to have a live prisoner. The drug lasted, according to Solo, about two hours. THRUSH never bothered. As Solo commented in the pilot, "...THRUSH kills people like people kill flies. A careless gesture. A flick of the wrist...."
THRUSH had a range of weaponry, much of it only in development before being destroyed by the heroes; a notable item was the infra-red sniperscope, enabling them to target gunfire in darkness. A major design defect of the sniperscope (in the TV series) was that its image tube's power supply emitted a distinctive whining sound when operating and (in reality) relied on a searchlight to illuminate the target. It also required a heavy battery and cable arrangement to power the scope. This weapon was built around a U.S. Army-surplus M1 carbine with a vertical foregrip and barrel compensator, and using real Army surplus infrared scopes. The fully equipped carbines were seen only once, in "The Iowa Scuba Affair." After that, a mock-up of the scope was used to make handling easier.
A few of the third-and fourth-season episodes featured an "U.N.C.L.E. car," which was a modified "Piranha Coupe," a Chevrolet Corvair-based plastic-bodied car built in limited numbers by custom car designer Gene Winfield.[18]
German small arms were well-represented in the series. Not only were P-38s popular (both as basis for the U.N.C.L.E. Special and in standard configuration), but also the Luger P-08 pistol. In the pilot episode "The Vulcan Affair," Illya Kuryakin is carrying a standard Army .45 pistol. The "Broomhandle" Mauser carbines and MP40 machine pistols were favored by opponents, both THRUSH and non-THRUSH. U.N.C.L.E. also used the MP-40. Beginning in the third season, both U.N.C.L.E and THRUSH used rifles which were either the Spanish CETME or the Heckler & Koch G3, which was based on the CETME.
There were also an assortment of other weapons, ranging from sniper and military rifles to pistols of various caliber, plus swords, knives, bludgeons, staffs, chains, and the like.
The series was popular enough to generate a spin-off series, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. The "girl" was first introduced during "The Moonglow Affair" (February 25, 1966) an episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and was then played by Mary Ann Mobley. The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. spin-off series ran for one season, starring Stefanie Powers as agent "April Dancer," a character name credited to Ian Fleming. There was some crossover between the two shows, and Leo G. Carroll played Mr. Waverly in both programs, becoming the second actor in American television to star as the same character in two separate series. (The first had been Frank Cady, who played General Store owner Sam Drucker on Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, and The Beverly Hillbillies.)
Spin-offs included a Man from U.N.C.L.E. digest sized story magazine, board games, action-figures, and toy weapons.[20]
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. rated so highly in America and the UK that MGM and the producers decided to film extra footage (often more adult to evoke Bond films) for two of the first season episodes and release them to theaters after they had aired on TV. The episodes with the extra footage that made it to theaters were the original pilot, "The Vulcan Affair," retitled To Trap a Spy and also from the first season, "The Double Affair" retitled as The Spy with My Face. Both had added sex and violence, new sub-plots and guest stars not in the original TV episodes. They were released in early 1966 as an U.N.C.L.E. double-feature program first run in neighborhood theaters, bypassing the customary downtown movie palaces which were still thriving in the mid-'60s and where new movies usually played for weeks and even months before coming to outlying screens.
A selling point to seeing these films on the big screen back then was that they were being shown in color, at a time when most people had only black and white TVs (and indeed the two first-season episodes that were expanded to feature length, while filmed in color, were only broadcast in black and white). The words IN COLOR featured prominently on the trailers, TV spots, and posters for the film releases. The episodes used to make UNCLE films were not included in the episodes in the packages of television episodes screened outside the United States.[21]
Subsequent two-part episodes, beginning with the second season premiere, "Alexander The Greater Affair," retitled One Spy Too Many for its theatrical release, were developed into one complete feature film with only occasional extra sexy and violent footage added to them, sometimes as just inserts. In the case of One Spy Too Many, a subplot featuring Yvonne Craig as an U.N.C.L.E. operative carrying on a flirtatious relationship with Solo was also added to the film; Craig does not appear in the television episodes.
All of the films were successful in many parts of the world, even those where the TV show did not air, sometimes surpassing box office receipts of the most recent Bond film. The later films were not released in America, only overseas, but the first few did well in American theaters and remain one of the rare examples of a television show released in paid theatrical engagements. With the exception of the two-part episode "The Five Daughters Affair," shown as part of Granada Plus's run of the series, the episodes which became movies have never aired on British television.
Among the films in this series:
Several comic strips based on the series were published. In the US, there was a Gold Key Comics comic book series (one based on the show), which ran for about a dozen issues. Entertainment Publishing released an eleven issue series of one- and two-part stories from January 1987 to September 1988 that updated U.N.C.L.E. to the Eighties, while largely ignoring the reunion TV-movie. A two-part comics story, "The Birds of Prey Affair," was put out by Millennium Publications in 1993, which showcased the return of a smaller, much more streamlined version of THRUSH, controlled by Dr. Egret, who had melded with the Ultimate Computer. The script was written by Mark Ellis and Terry Collins with artwork by Nick Choles, and transplanted the characters into the present day.
Two Man from U.N.C.L.E. strips were originated for the British market in the 1960s (some Gold Key material was also reprinted), the most notable for Lady Penelope comic, which launched in January 1966. This was replaced by a Girl from U.N.C.L.E. strip in January 1967. Man from U.N.C.L.E. also featured in the short-lived title Solo (published between February and September 1967) and some text stories appeared in TV Tornado.
Two dozen novels were based upon Man from U.N.C.L.E. and published between 1965 and 1968. (For a time, this was the most of any American-produced television series except for Star Trek and Dark Shadows with its 30 or so novels published between 1966 and 1971, though there have now been more original novels published based upon Alias and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.) Freed from the limitations of network television, these novels were generally grittier and more violent than the televised episodes. The series sold in the millions, and was the largest TV-novel tie-in franchise until surpassed by Dark Shadows and later by Star Trek.
Another volume, The Final Affair, also by David McDaniel, was completed but not published. Copies of the manuscript have circulated among fans for decades. Written after the series was cancelled, it was intended to provide a definitive conclusion to Solo and Illya's adventures. At one time there were plans to publish The Final Affair in a limited deluxe edition, but the project failed. Another book, The Catacombs and Dogma Affair, has been mentioned in some sources, but it is not listed as one of the official U.N.C.L.E. novels. (It is possible that it may be one of the above volumes, retitled, or it may be the unpublished second U.N.C.L.E. novel by J. Hunter Holly, which has been circulated in mimeographed form among fans.) Volumes 10–15 and 17 of the series were only published in the United States.
Two science-fiction novels – Genius Unlimited by John Rackham (a pseudonym used by Phillifent) and The Arsenal Out of Time by McDaniel – appear to be rewrites of "orphaned" U.N.C.L.E novel outlines or manuscripts.
The Rainbow Affair is notable for its thinly disguised cameo appearances by The Saint, Miss Marple, John Steed, Emma Peel, Tommy Hambledon (at whose flat Solo and Ilya encounter Steed and Peel), Neddie Seagoon, Father Brown, a retired, elderly Sherlock Holmes, and Dr. Fu Manchu. The novel uses the same chapter title format that Leslie Charteris used in his Saint novels. (The title of one of the theatrical versions of U.N.C.L.E. episodes, The Spy in the Green Hat, is very close to the title of The Man in the Green Hat, one of the "Hambledon" novels by "Manning Coles.")
Whitman Books also published three hardcover novels aimed at young readers and based upon the series. The first two books break the naming convention "The .... Affair" used by all other U.N.C.L.E. fiction and episodes:
A children's storybook written by Walter Gibson entitled The Coin of El Diablo Affair was also published.
The aforementioned digest magazine based upon Man from U.N.C.L.E. and often featured original novellas that were not published anywhere else. These novellas, published under the house name "Robert Hart Davis," were actually written by such authors as John Jakes, Dennis Lynds, and Bill Pronzini. There were 24 issues running monthly from February 1966 till January 1968, inclusive.
Science fiction writer Jack Jardine (writing as Larry Maddock) originally came up with an idea for a "Man From U.N.C.L.E." novel called "The Flying Saucer Affair," but it was A) deemed too sci-fi for the series' concept, and B) written shortly before the series' cancellation. He later adapted this novel into his "Agent of T.E.R.R.A." series, which enjoyed a brief run of four titles altogether, and were published by ACE Books. They are:
A reunion telefilm, The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E., subtitled The Fifteen Years Later Affair, was broadcast on CBS in America on April 5, 1983, with Vaughn and McCallum reprising their roles, and Patrick Macnee replacing Leo G. Carroll as the head of U.N.C.L.E. A framed picture of Carroll appeared on his desk. The movie included a tribute to Ian Fleming via a cameo appearance by an unidentified secret agent with the initials "J.B." The part was played by one-time James Bond George Lazenby who was shown driving Bond's trademark vehicle, an Aston Martin DB5. One character, identifying him, says that it is "just like On Her Majesty's Secret Service", which was Lazenby's only Bond film.
The movie, written by Michael Sloan and directed by Ray Austin, briefly filled in the missing years. THRUSH has been put out of business, and the remaining leader was in prison. (His escape begins the story.) Illya, who quit U.N.C.L.E. after a mission went sour and an innocent woman was killed, now designs women's clothing at Vanya's in New York, whilst Napoleon was pushed out of U.N.C.L.E. now is employed selling computers. However he still carries his U.N.C.L.E. pen radio for sentimental reasons and this is how the organization is able to contact him after so many years.
Solo and Kuryakin are recalled to recapture the escapee and defeat THRUSH once and for all, but the movie misfired on a key point: instead of reuniting the agents on the mission and showcasing their witty interaction, the agents were separated and paired with younger agents. Like most similar reunion films, this production was considered a trial balloon for a possible new series.
Although some personnel from the original series were involved (like composer Gerald Fried and director of photography Fred Koenekamp), the movie was not produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer but by Michael Sloan Productions in association with Viacom Productions - Sloan, Vaughn and McCallum are pictured in the Michael Sloan Productions logo at the end of the movie.
Director Steven Soderbergh is currently in discussion to possibly remake the Man from U.N.C.L.E. TV series as a movie, to which George Clooney was attached. As of August 30, 2011, Clooney has dropped out of the project. Soderbergh is the man behind the "Oceans" series of films starring Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and George Clooney. Reports are saying that Soderbergh is interested with actor Channing Tatum who directed Tatum in Magic Mike for the role.[22]
---UPDATE--- Steven Soderbergh has dropped out of the project, though Warner Bros. remains interested in making a new Man from U.N.C.L.E. movie. They would like to franchise it as a trilogy.[23]
---UPDATE--- Guy Ritchie is now confirmed as the director of the feature film, which could begin pre-production as early as January, 2012.[24]
In November 2007, after coming to an agreement with Warner Home Video, Time-Life released a 41 DVD set (region 1) for direct order, with sales through stores scheduled for fall 2008.[25] An earlier release by Anchor Bay, allegedly set for 2006, was apparently scuttled because of a dispute over the rights to the series with Warner Brothers.[26][27]
A region 2 DVD (PAL for Europe) release of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. movies was released on September 8, 2003. The DVD contains five of the eight movies, missing the following: To Trap a Spy (1964), The Spy in the Green Hat (1966) and One of Our Spies is Missing (1966).
On Oct. 21, 2008, the Time-Life set was released to retail outlets in Region 1 (North America) in a special all-seasons box set contained within a small briefcase. The complete-series set consists of 41 DVDs, including two discs of special features included exclusively with the box set. Included in the set was the Solo pilot episode, as well as one of the films, One Spy Too Many.
Paramount Pictures and CBS Home Entertainment released The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. to DVD in Region 1 on March 3, 2009.[28][29]
On August 23, 2011, Warner Archive Collection made The Man from U.N.C.L.E. 8-Movie Collection available from their "manufacture on demand" service.[30]
During the show's original run, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was parodied in an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, fittingly titled "The Man from My Uncle." In this episode, Rob Petrie (Van Dyke) allows his suburban house to be used as a stakeout for an unnamed government agency. They want to spy on one of his neighbors who has a deported nephew that may be back in the country illegally. Comedian Godfrey Cambridge guest stars as an agent whose name is Mr. Bond, a recurring joke in the episode. In the show's final scene, referred to in sitcom circles as the "tag," Rob is playing with the agent's walkie talkie and fantasizes that he is negotiating a hostage exchange with THRUSH. The show was also parodied by MGM itself on "The Mouse from H.U.N.G.E.R.", an episode of Tom and Jerry. The British TV series The Avengers featured an episode titled "The Girl from AUNTIE," a double in-joke in the UK, where "Auntie" was a nickname for the BBC.
An episode of "Get Smart" connects to "The Man From U.N.C.L.E". In "The Reluctant Redhead", an agent named Gruvnik, the Spoiler, had worked for THRUSH before joining KAOS.
The fourth season of Angry Beavers has an episode entitled "The Mom From U.N.C.L.E" in which the main character's mother is a secret agent.
Robert Vaughn makes an uncredited cameo appearance as Napoleon Solo in a dinner party scene in the Doris Day film, The Glass Bottom Boat. Solo is shown at the bar (complete with U.N.C.L.E. theme music), operating his pen radio and giving Paul Lynde (as Homer Cripps) a smiling, almost lecherous look as he walks by in drag. Day's film plot is about an Earth-based secret zero-gravity test laboratory built to train astronauts.
Both Vaughn and David McCallum made brief appearances in character in a Please Don't Eat the Daisies TV episode titled "Cry UNCLE." The star of the show Patricia Crowley had costarred in the original UNCLE pilot The Vulcan Affair. The end credits of the episode, like The Man from U.N.C.L.E., thanked the United Network Command for its co-operation. McCallum also hosted an episode of the popular 1960's TV variety show Hullabaloo as Illya Kuryakin.
Maxwell Smart of "Get Smart" was once paired with Israel's Agent 498, The Man from YENTA
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the makers of Glad brand plastic bags released a series of commercials starring the "Man from GLAD", a trench coat wearing agent who flew around in his combination boat/helicopter demonstrating Glad products to suburban housewives and saving the day. (Not to mention, leftover food.)
Leo G. Carroll had a cameo on the first episode of Laugh-In broadcast on Jan. 22, 1968, in which he spoofed U.N.C.L.E. Ironically, that was the show that took over U.N.C.L.E.'s timeslot when it was cancelled. A bartender at one of Laugh-In's standing comedy sketch locations, a go-go party scene, he suddenly turns as he pulls out an U.N.C.L.E. pen radio and intones into it, "Kuryakin, Get over here fast, I think I’ve found THRUSH Headquarters at last!"
A British secret agent who always survived through ingenuity despite being ineffectual-looking and short-sighted appeared as 'The Man From B.U.N.G.L.E.' in the 1964 UK comic Wham!.
A season five episode of the 1980s adventure series The A-Team was entitled "The Say U.N.C.L.E. Affair" and featured both Vaughn and McCallum. Vaughn had a recurring role as a member of The A-Team's cast at this point, playing Hunt Stockwell, presumably a United States Army G-2 general officer, while McCallum appeared as Stockwell's former espionage partner, Ivan. The episode was loaded with in-jokes referencing the 1960s series. The signature bongo drums & pan from The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was used whenever scenes changed in that episode. McCallum played one of the few characters ever to have been killed in an A-Team episode.[31]
In an episode of Tales from the Darkside titled "The Impressionist," a government organization named U.N.C.L.E. hires an impersonator to talk with an alien.
A few brief references to U.N.C.L.E. are made in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier, along with appearances by characters from The Avengers, Danger Man, and The Prisoner. U.N.C.L.E. is never referred to by name in the story, although Waverly is mentioned, albeit by his last name only, as a schoolmate of Billy Bunter's at Greyfriars and also a member of a Cambridge Five.
In the audiobook Judgement of the Judoon, a main character is a crime lord known as "Uncle" to enemies and underlings alike. Towards the end of the story, a rival crime lord orders her communication technician to "Open Channel D and get me Uncle!"
In his 1980 album Get Happy!!, Elvis Costello wrote the track "Man Called Uncle". Although the lyrics do not make any references to the show, the song has a Sixties upbeat feel connected with the original "Man from U.N.C.L.E" soundtrack. An Argentinian Funk duo was named Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas honoring the fictitious spy. Alma Cogan paid a similar tribute to the Russian agent in her single "Love Ya Illya," released in 1966 under the pseudonym "Angela and the Fans." In the 1980s, Cleaners From Venus penned "Ilya Kuryakin Looked at Me;" the song was later covered by The Jennifers. The English 2 Tone band The Specials made an instrumental song called "Napoleon Solo." It was also the name of a Danish 2 Tone band. Space–surf band Man or Astro-man? covered the theme song for their 1994 EP Astro Launch. The Pet Shop Boys song "Building A Wall," from their 2009 album Yes, contains the lyric "Jesus and the Man From U.N.C.L.E."
In the video game Duke Nukem 3D, there is a secret military base, and hidden on a telephone booth it says "U.N.C.L.E." rather than the typical "PHONE." Using this phone leads to a hidden area.
In the Randall Garrett novel Too Many Magicians, character Tia Einzig's father's brother Neapeler is said to come from the Isle of Mann, and thus is the Uncle from Mann. "Neapeler Einzig" is recognizably a variant of "Napoleon Solo;" "Neapel" is the German name for Naples; "einzig" is German for "only" or "unique." And Tia's Uncle has a friend, "Colin MacDavid," whose name is recognizably a variant of the actor's name "David McCallum."
The British comedian Ben Elton starred in two series of his own stand-up comedy and sketch show entitled The Man from Auntie, in 1990 and 1994. The title of the show was a play on the title of The Man from UNCLE and the fact that "Auntie" is a nickname for the BBC.
Forty years after the debut of this series, its stars appeared on TV, Vaughn in the British caper series Hustle and McCallum as the in-house forensic pathologist Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard in the American military crime investigation series NCIS. In the season two NCIS episode "The Meat Puzzle," 30-something Kate asks Leroy Gibbs what Ducky Mallard looked like when he was younger. To this, Gibbs responds, "Illya Kuryakin."
In an interview for a retrospective television special, David McCallum told of a visit to the White House during which, while he was being escorted to meet the President, a Secret Service agent told him, "You're the reason I got this job." [32]
On the popular morning drive time radio show Bob and Brian morning show, out of Milwaukee WI, Brian has made himself the Man from U.N.C.L.E regarding sports. In his case he "rules" on all sports Uniforms Nicknames Colors Logos and Emblems and deems them appropriate or not.
In the video game Team Fortress 2, one of the achievements for the Spy, The Man from P.U.N.C.T.U.R.E, is a reference to the show.
In a fourth-season episode of Mad Men, "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword," Sally Draper masturbates while watching a scene involving Illya Kuryakin on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. episode "The Hong Kong Shilling Affair" (broadcast on March 15, 1965) at a sleepover.
In the HBO movie Temple Grandin, a film biography of Dr. Temple Grandin in which actress Claire Danes impersonated her, the title character is a big fan of the show, and she refers to it several times. In the opening sequence, Temple describes for her Aunt a scene in the show where a man with a shotgun says to Illya Kuryakin, "Would you like for me to open the gate?" Temple finds the line to be hilarious. Later, while she is in college, she joins other students in her dorm in the common room to watch the show. Short clips from the show are shown.
In the film Restless Natives a highly serious, bossy, American detective is thought to share similarities with "The Man From U.N.C.L.E."
|
|||||||||||
