R.I.P. Robert Vaughn

We have lost another pillar of Sixties spydom. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. himself, Robert Vaughn, has passed away at 83.

While no one would deny that it was the partnership of Napoleon Solo (Vaughn) and Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) that made the show special, Man From U.N.C.L.E. fans tend to be divided on their favorite agent. I've always been a Solo man. Initially conceived by Ian Fleming, Solo was intended to be a TV version of James Bond. That's easy enough on paper, but as we've seen in countless Eurospy movies (as well as various TV attempts at the formula), in practice, it's easier said than done. Really only a handful of actors successfully managed to imbue their superspy characters with the suave charm that defined Sean Connery's 007: James Coburn... Richard Johnson... and, of course, Robert Vaughn. While producers Sam Rolfe and Norman Felton undoubtedly contributed to Solo's character, it was really Vaughn who made him so likable. Let's face it: the spy genre is full of suave charmers. Ultimately, it comes down to the actors to make that charm real. And Robert Vaughn had charm in spades! In short, he was cool. Thinking of this coolness, what leaps immediately to my mind is not one of his many genuinely clever witticisms. It's a line that would be cringe-worthy on the tongue of... really, just about anyone! In the U.N.C.L.E. movie To Trap a Spy, the beautiful Lucianna Paluzzi (Thunderball) seductively asks Napoleon, "What would you like me to change into?" To which the debonair secret agent replies, "Anything... but a boy." (Surely part of the success of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. among children was that it sometimes served up the very same scenarios and lines that they came up with while playing James Bond with their spy toys and costumes!) You simply had to be cool to deliver a line as corny that... and even make it sound sophisticated. Iconic as the character became, audiences didn't tune into The Man From U.N.C.L.E. for Napoleon Solo. They tuned in for Robert Vaughn.

While The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is Vaughn's towering legacy, it wasn't his only brush with espionage. His half-hour Gerry Anderson-created ITC series The Protectors (1972-1974) also carries my high recommendation for spy fans. At the time, Lew Grade was importing a lot of American stars from the previous decade to headline his trademark adventure shows, and Vaughn acquits himself far more admirably in this context than some of his colleagues! (Cough, Gene Barry, cough.) While the character remains a bit of a cypher owing to the half-hour runtime, his jetsetting detective Harry Rule embodies all of that Vaughn charm and coolness that gave life to Napoleon Solo. And I suspect that Vaughn is probably the only actor to fight fully kitted-out scuba divers on dry land (or deck) in two separate series! (The Protectors actually takes the prize in that category, because the fight involves swordplay.) In my book, that's an honor worth noting. Vaughn also orbited the spy world in the shows Washington: Behind Closed Doors (giving an Emmy-winning performance as the Bob Haldeman character opposite former Girl From U.N.C.L.E. Stefanie Powers in a miniseries based on John Erlichman's roman a clef about Watergate) and The A-Team.

On the big screen, his best spy role came in the 1966 Helen MacInnes adaptation The Venetian Affair opposite Elke Sommer. Though its evocative title (which actually came from the novel, despite sounding like an U.N.C.L.E. episode name) and lurid marketing ("Enjoy the Fine Arts of Venice... Murder! Spies! Women!") clearly aimed to capitalize on Vaughn's television success, the film is actually far more serious and downbeat than the fanciful Man From U.N.C.L.E. Like its atmospheric, harpsichord-heavy Lalo Schifrin score, it has far more in common with The Ipcress File and The Quiller Memorandum. Vaughn's most famous film roles came outside the genre in movies like The Magnificent Seven, Bullitt, The Mind of Mr. Soames, The Towering Inferno, Battle Beyond the Stars (in an homage to his Magnificent Seven roots) and Superman III, but he continued to make spy movies of varying quality throughout his career, including Brass Target (with Patrick McGoohan), Cuba Crossing, Hour of the Assassin, Skeleton Coast, and, of course, the 1983 telefilm The Return of the Man From U.N.C.L.E. 

Off screen, Vaughn was known for his liberal politics. A lifelong Democrat, he continued his education after wrapping The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and wrote his doctoral dissertation on the Hollywood blacklist. A former Army drill instructor himself, he was active in the antiwar movement, campaigning for Eugene McCarthy and memorably locking horns (and more than holding his own) with conservative talk show host (and spy author) William F. Buckley, Jr. (Their articulate debate on Buckley's Firing Line is well worth watching, epitomizing the late Sixties political schism in America.) 

In the late period of his career, Vaughn riffed on his U.N.C.L.E. persona in a fun, nostalgia-driven guest appearance on Diagnosis Murder before creating one more indelible role on the highly entertaining U.K. con artist series Hustle. As Albert Stroller, he still conveyed all the charm and charisma that made Napoleon Solo a household name four decades earlier.

Robert Vaughn was a class act and an icon of the spy genre. To say he will be missed is a gross understatement. We have lost one of the titans of popular culture espionage.

Rare U.N.C.L.E. and Vaughn Screenings in Los Angeles

Los Angeles spy fans can look forward to seeing some exciting, rarely screened Sixties spy movies on the big screen this weekend! Quentin Tarantino's New Beverly Theater will show a double feature of two Man From U.N.C.L.E. movies, The Spy With My Face and One Spy Too Many, on Friday, November 21 and Saturday, November 22. The first film starts at 7:30, the second plays at 9:25. On Saturday there will also be a matinee program beginning at 3:15. Best of all, both films will be shown in 35mm IB Technicolor prints! The prints come from Tarantino's personal collection, and I doubt either one has played in L.A. since the Sixties.

The Spy With My Face (1965) is the feature version of the Season 1 episode "The Double Affair" padded out with newly shot material that eventually ended up (used differently) in other episodes. Eurospy vixen Senta Berger (The Quiller Memorandum, Our Man in Marrakesh, Peau d'espion) brings the va-va-va-voom. One Spy Too Many (1966) is the re-edited feature version of the 2-part Season 2 opener "The Alexander the Greater Affair," co-starring Rip Torn, Dorothy Provine (Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die) and Yvonne Craig (In Like Flint). Like The Spy With My Face, One Spy Too Many features some footage not seen on TV, mostly involving Craig. It also excises the worst subplot from the TV episodes, featuring Alexander's parents.

Perhaps even more exciting than the U.N.C.L.E. movies is another Robert Vaughn spy flick of that era (also an IB Technicolor 35mm print!), The Venetian Affair (1967), which plays on Sunday, November 23 and Monday, November 24 at 7:30pm. (There's also a Sunday matinee at 3:15.) Why is that more exciting? Well, if you read this blog regularly, then you'll probably know why I think so. Because it co-stars my favorite Eurospy babe of all, Elke Sommer (Deadlier Than the Male, The Prize)! And Luciana Paluzzi (Thunderball, OSS 117: Murder For Sale) and Boris Karloff (Black Sabbath) don't hurt either. It would have been great if that had been paired with the David McCallum vehicle Sol Madrid to continue the U.N.C.L.E. theme, but I guess Tarantino doesn't have that one in his collection. There is a Sixties spy show connection though, as it's paired with Hickey and Boggs (1972), the private eye movie that reunited the I Spy duo of Robert Culp and Bill Cosby. I guess the timing on that one isn't ideal (especially the promise of a "special bonus after [the] feature"), but it's still a good movie worth watching. Speaking of bonuses, the New Bev always plays a selection of themed trailers from Tarantino's collection accompanying the feautres, so these shows probably promise loads of cool Sixties spy trailers. All in all, it's an excellent weekend ahead for spy fans! Personally, I plan on hitting both screenings.

As always at The New Bev, the cost of one $8 ticket covers both features. Tickets are available for pre-order from Brown Paper Tickets, or at the door the night of the show.

Tradecraft: Tom Cruise Circles U.N.C.L.E.

Will Ethan Hunt open Channel D? The Hollywood Reporter reports that Tom Cruise is "in early talks" to star in Warner Bros.' looooong-in-the-works feature remake of the classic Sixties spy show The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Following a lengthy period of development by Steven Soderbergh (in which many actors were approached, from George Clooney to Channing Tatum), director Guy Ritchie and producer Lionel Wigram (the duo behind Robert Downey Jr.'s Sherlock Holmes franchise) are attached to the current incarnation. Like Soderbergh before them, they've already been through a long list of actors, none of whom have stuck. (Most notably, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were approached to play series heroes Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin.) According to the trade, "Sources have said that if the Cruise casting doesn't gel, Ritchie would be forced to move on to a new movie project." (His name frequently comes up as a directorial candidate for the next James Bond movie, but only in rumors.) On the one hand, I really want to see this movie made, so I'd like to see Cruise accept this mission if that's the only way it can happen. On the other, though, Cruise already has a popular movie franchise based on a Sixties spy series! Should the same guy topline both Mission: Impossible and Man From U.N.C.L.E. film franchises? He can't be all the spies! Or can he? One thing I find encouraging about this prospect is that it might indicate that Ritchie's U.N.C.L.E. movie, like Soderbergh's, remains a Sixties period piece. I didn't think that anyone else but Soderbergh would attempt a Cold War action spy franchise. The OSS 117 movies have recreated that era of filmmaking so well as parody, but we have yet to see a serious contemporary action spy movie set then (though X-Men: First Class did it very successfully with superheroes), and, personally, I'd love to see that. I have no knowledge that this is actually the case (I don't even know who's writing Ritchie's version; Scott Z. Burns penned the Soderbergh script), but it just seems unlikely that Cruise would pursue two franchises so potentially alike unless there were a big difference between them... like the period in which they were set. And I could actually see Cruise looking good decked out in Mad Men attire. But I can't quite see him as Napoleon Solo. Like George Clooney when he was attached in 2010 (early in the Soderbergh process), Cruise is now closer in age to Robert Vaughn when he reprised the role in the reunion telefilm Return of the Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair than when he originated it in the Sixties!

Upcoming Spy DVDs: Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977)

This is cool! On June 5, Acorn Media will release a 1977 spy miniseries that earned man from U.N.C.L.E. Robert Vaughn an Emmy that I'd never heard of before. Washington: Behind Closed Doors is based on the 1977 Roman à clef The Company by former Nixon aid and Watergate figure John Ehrlichman. The novel is Erlichman's fictionalized account of the events leading up to the Watergate scandal, and follows veteran CIA agent turned Director of Central Intelligence Bill Martin (loosely based on real-life DCI Richard Helms) as he attempts to keep secret a report exposing the Agency's past misdeeds. To do that, he crosses paths with figures based on Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, J. Edgar Hoover, Henry Kissinger, Hubert Humphrey and Nixon aide H.R. Haldeman. As far as I can tell, the miniseries downplays some of the novel's Kennedy-era spy intrigue (revolving around an event based on the Bay of Pigs) in favor of the then white-hot-relevant Watergate stuff, but it still sounds fascinating! Cliff Robertson stars as Martin, Jason Robards plays the Nixon-like President Richard Monckton, and Vaughn plays the Haldeman figure. Andy Griffith co-stars along with spy vets Stefanie Powers (The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.) and Barry Nelson (the original James Bond in the '54 Casino Royale). Here's the studio's official description:

CIA director Bill Martin (Cliff Robertson) knows that an incoming president means a new direction for the country—and another set of eyes on the top secret Primula Report. Martin tries to build a rapport with his new boss, but President Richard Monckton (Jason Robards) is more interested in settling old scores and cleaning house with the help of the FBI. Against the backdrop of a war in Southeast Asia and antiwar protests at home, this high-intensity political drama tells the story of an increasingly paranoid president, an administration under siege, and a reckless group of White House aides desperate to hold on to power.

This sounds great! I can't wait to see it. The 3-disc, 6-episode set will retail for $59.99 (though it will no doubt be less on Amazon), and includes an 8-page bonus booklet "with articles on the historical background of the program, the Vietnam War, peace movements in America, Nixon’s visit to China, and the Watergate scandal; plus brief biographies of the political figures of the period." Due to music rights issues, alterations have been made to the original soundtrack. Oh well. That's a small price to pay to have this well-regarded all-star miniseries on home video for the first time in any format!

America's Next Top Man From U.N.C.L.E.: This Week it's Channing Tatum

America's Next Top Man From U.N.C.L.E.: This Week it's Channing Tatum

The unending Solo Sweepstakes continues this week with a new Napoleon Solo candidate du jour, and, honestly, I'm surprised it's taken this long to come around to this particular contender: Channing Tatum. The reason I would have expected his name to come up earlier is not because I think he'd be perfect for the part (though I have to admit, I can't really grasp what, exactly, the part is, since it's clear by this weird list of candidates that their Napoleon Solo is not the Napoleon Solo I know and love from the TV series), but because Tatum has become something of a regular for director Steven Soderbergh, who's helming the big screen remake of the classic series. So he seemed like something of a logical choice, and now Deadline reports that he's in line for the job. Tatum has a supporting role in Soderbergh's upcoming all-star spy thriller Haywire (read my review here), and he co-stars in the director's next project, Magic Mike, a male stripper drama based on Tatum's own experiences in that profession starring former Alex Rider star Alex Pettyfer. If Tatum is indeed cast as Solo, I wouldn't be terribly surprised to see blond Pettyfer's name come up as a potential Illya Kuryakin—provided he can manage a Russian accent.

At 31, Channing Tatum is at least the same age that Robert Vaughn was when he originated the role of U.N.C.L.E. superspy Napoleon Solo. His biggest action role to date was in G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra. I haven't seen that, and I haven't seen either of his Step Up dance movies. He impressed me, however, with his brief appearance in Michael Mann's Public Enemies, and I think the trailer for 21 Jump Street looks pretty funny. Frankly, I'm less bothered by the notion of him in the role than Bradley Cooper. What he lacks, however, is marquee value. With Channing Tatum toplining and a brand name that means nothing to most under-30 cinemagoers, the pressure will really be on Soderbergh to deliver the goods. And that's not a bad thing, either.

Bradley Cooper Refuses U.N.C.L.E.

Bradley Cooper Refuses U.N.C.L.E.

If TheWrap is to be believed (via Dark Horizons), then Bradley Cooper has passed on Steven Soderbergh's Sixties-set feature film remake of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. He had recently been rumored as a frontrunner for the role of Napoleon Solo, the part made famous by Robert Vaughn on the classic 1960s TV series. Contrary to some reports on the net, Cooper is not exiting the project as George Clooney did previously, as he was never officially attached; he's simply passing. Reportedly, Johnny Depp and Matt Damon have also passed. It's odd to me that so many actors are shying away from what should be a great role for a great director. I hope that's not indicative of the script. I suspect it may instead be indicative that these guys are simply not right for the part, and that they (or their agents) realize that. None of these choices scream "Napoleon Solo" to me, and I won't shed any tears over Bradley Cooper. In fact, all of these other candidates have made me a lot more supportive of the originally attached star, Clooney, who I had at first dismissed as too old! He's still got more Soloesque savoir-faire than any of these other guys. Perhaps it's time for Soderbergh to listen to the voices of fans online and arrange meetings with Jon Hamm and Micheal Fassbender (who he recently worked with in Haywire). We know both of these guys can fill a tailored Sixties suit pretty well...

Tradecraft: Is Bradley Cooper the New Napoleon Solo?

Tradecraft: Is Bradley Cooper the New Napoleon Solo?

Variety reports that Bradley Cooper is the new frontrunner to play Napoleon Solo in Steven Soderbergh's Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie. The trade reports that Matt Damon and Johnny Depp both passed on the part (to which George Clooney was originally attached), and Cooper's agents worked hard to position him for the part of U.N.C.L.E.'s top agent. The offer is now out to him and he's expected to accept, with shooting set to commence in March before Soderbergh helms his Liberace biopic for HBO. The spy role would bring Cooper's career full-circle, since he first rose to stardom on a spy series playing Will on J.J. Abrams' Alias. I really liked him on Alias, and I was sorry when Will left the show... but, honestly, I can't picture the Hangover star filling Robert Vaughn's shoes as Napoleon Solo. Hm...

New Spy DVDs Out This Week: Sand and Surf

New Spy DVDs Out This Week: Sand and Surf

I love these Rank Organization releases VCI have been quietly churning out this year. Following their Hot Enough For June (aka Agent 8 3/4) DVD and Blu-ray last moth, this week they give us the Region 1 DVD debut of the 1979 movie The Riddle of the Sands, adapted from Erskine Childers' 1903 novel of the same name that's widely considered the first modern spy novel. I've never seen the movie, though I did write a paper on the book back in 9th grade comparing it to modern techno-thrillers, particularly those by Tom Clancy. Childers' book fetishized military strategy and technology just as much as Clancy's novels, but the technology in question was mostly sailing-related. Page after page of nautical jargon and navigational minutiae can frankly get a little boring, but the actual plot, when it finally materializes, about a secret German plan to invade England, is cracking. Therefore, I imagine that a film, which isn't too likely ton include all that navigational stuff, could be quite fun, and I'm looking forward to finally seeing this one, which I've been curious about ever since reading the book. The movie stars Simon MacCorkindale (Counterstrike) and Michael York (Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery) as the intrepid English adventurers who set out to thwart the Kaiser's plot, and Jenny Agutter (Spooks) as the girl, a requisite ingredient of the spy novel plot even at the genre's advent. The DVD is presented in the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ration, and includes a photo gallery. Retail is $19.99, though it's cheaper on Amazon.

From the same time period ('78-'79), CBS/Paramount finally brings us Hawaii Five-O: The Eleventh Season after a lengthy delay following Season 10. While the penultimate eleventh season is generally considered to show decline in the series' quality, it's especially of note for spy fans because it guest stars a trio of Sixties spy superstars: Man From U.N.C.L.E. Robert Vaughn ("The Spirit is Willie"), Wild Wild West's Ross Martin (making his debut as McGarrett's new recurring nemesis crime boss Tony Alika) and one-time 007 himself George Lazenby in "Year of the Horse." Other notable guest stars this season include Rory Calhoun (Our Men in Bagdad), Barbara Anderson (Mission: Impossible), Robert Loggia (T.H.E. Cat) and John Saxon (The Girl Who Knew Too Much). Also out this week, in a the sort of synergy that studios like, but which I suspect was responsible for the lengthy delay between seasons of the real series, is Hawaii Five-0: The First Season, the guilty pleasure revival series starring a charmless McGarrett that currently airs on CBS. There's also a Blu-ray of that, but like Archer: The First Season, it's annoyingly exclusive to Best Buy right now.

Clooney Ankles U.N.C.L.E.; U.N.C.L.E. Incorporates Real World Events

Clooney Ankles U.N.C.L.E.; U.N.C.L.E. Incorporates Real World Events

As previously reported, George Clooney was expected to star in Steven Soderbergh's upcoming big-screen version of the classic Sixties spy series The Man From U.N.C.L.E.–presumably as ace U.N.C.L.E. agent Napoleon Solo, the character originated by Robert Vaughn. As fit as Clooney undeniably is, by the time filming starts next year he will be the same age that Vaughn was when he reprised the role in the reunion telefilm The Return of the Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair (review here)! So perhaps it's for the better that Deadline is reporting today that Clooney "is in the process of withdrawing as the star of Steven Soderbergh’s The Man From U.N.C.L.E." Of course, the big danger in losing Clooney is the risk that the film will fall apart without a bankable lead. Luckily, Soderbergh has good relationships with a lot of actors, so hopefully he can line up someone just as good and maybe a little more age-appropriate. So who else could be Napoleon Solo? Matt Damon? Michael Fassbender? Both have recently worked with Soderbergh. Then there are the stars of Soderbergh's current movie to consider, Channing Tatum and Alex Rider star Alex Pettyfer. They'd sort of fit as Napoleon and Illya... if the script were rewritten to accommodate much younger stars. (Who are actually closer age matches for Vaughn and David McCallum.)

Meanwhile, Cinema Blend reports that this version of U.N.C.L.E. will utilise its previously revealed Sixties setting to incorporate actual historical events into the story. Writer Scott Z. Burns told the website, "All those shows are called, like, 'The Terbuf Affair' or whatever." (Other good examples include "The Moonglow Affair," "The Iowa Scuba Affair" and of course "The My Friend the Gorilla Affair.") "Our affair comes from something that was actually going on in the world at the time." That's intriguing, but I sure hope it's not the Cuban missile crisis, yet again, so soon after it was done in the excellent period spy movie X-Men: First Class! (Also, I would hope that a Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie would be set a few years later than that.) When asked if the film version would pay homage to specific episodes of the series, all Burns could promise was, "I think if people know the show they’ll recognize tiny little things." He also said that the script is done, and was hopeful that casting will begin soon and production could start in the spring. (That was before Clooney dropped his bombshell, though.)

More New Spy DVDs Out Today: The Venetian Affair (1966)

More New Spy DVDs Out Today: The Venetian Affair (1966)

Yesterday I speculated that Warner Bros. might slip another spy title in with today's exciting Warner Arvhive U.N.C.L.E. explosion (read about that here), and sure enough, they did. Appropriately, they're also releasing the Robert Vaughn Eurospy movie The Venetian Affair, co-starring the awesome combination of Elke Sommer and Luciana Paluzzi! (Too bad they couldn't co-ordinate with MGM to get David McCallum's Sol Madrid out at the same time, too.) Regular readers will doubtlessly be aware that Elke Sommer spy movies tend to be my favorites of all spy movies, so I'm personally thrilled to see The Venetian Affair on DVD at last. Despite its colorful, action-packed poster and purposefully resonant title, however, U.N.C.L.E. fans should be warned that The Venetian Affair, based on a novel by Helen MacInnes, is an altogether more down-to-earth sort of spy movie, and Vaughn's character of drunk, disgraced former CIA agent Bill Fenner is pretty far from Napoleon Solo. It's still a must for fans of Sixties spy movies, though, and Venice and Ms. Sommer both look great! Right now, The Venetian Affair is only available through the Warner Archive website for $19.95, but soon it will pop up on Oldies.com, Deep Discount and Amazon for less than that, so keep your eyes open.

New Spy DVDs Out This Week: A Girl and More Men From U.N.C.L.E.!

New Spy DVDs Out This Week: A Girl and More Men From U.N.C.L.E.!

Here's a nice surprise! TV Shows On DVD first sounded the alert this weekend that the 1966-67 spoofy spin-off series The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. is at last coming to DVD... tomorrow! The show will be available in two 4-disc, made on-demand sets comprising its entire run from the Warner Archive. At the height of the show's popularity, NBC decided to do a spin-off from its blockbuster spy series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. The result was The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., starring Stefanie Powers and Noel Harrison (son of Rex and sometime Eurospy dabbler) as U.N.C.L.E. agents April Dancer and Mark Slate. (Like "Napoleon Solo," the name "April Dancer" was actually dreamed up by James Bond creator Ian Fleming in a memo that amounted to his sole contribution to the series he was hired to develop.) Unfortunately, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. ended up debuting in the 1966 TV season, the same year that its parent show succumbed to high camp in an effort to emulate mega-hit Batman. That meant that The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. shared the sillier tone of Man's third season rather than that of its more serious (and better) first season. In my opinion, however, Girl managed to wear it better; camp seemed an appropriate match for April's fabulously mod Carnaby Street fashions.

Like The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. attracted some first-rate guest stars, including Thunderball's Luciana Paluzzi (in the series premiere), Boris Karloff (in drag, no less!), Ed Asner, Gena Rowlands, Stan Freberg, Yvonne De Carlo and John Carradine. Robert Vaughn turned up as well, appearing as Napoleon Solo in the crossover episode "The Mother Muffin Affair" (with Karloff). Harrison also appeared on a Man episode, and Leo G. Carroll played U.N.C.L.E. boss Alexander Waverly on both series. (Girl was spun out of an episode of Man's previous season, in which Mary Ann Mobley and Norman Fell played Dancer and a very different Slate.)

Tomorrow, The Warner Archive will release all 29 episodes of Girl's sole season in two sets, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Series - Part One and The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Series - Part 2. Both are available to pre-order from Warners' website now at $39.95 apiece, or together in a bundle as The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Pack for $59.95. (Right now the individual sets are listed on the Pre-Orders page discounted to $35.95 and the pack discounted to $53.95, but when you then click the linke to order, the prices revert to their full amount. I'm not sure what's going on with that.) For now you can only get them directly through The Warner Archive, but I suspect they'll pop up on Oldies.com (probably at a discount) by the end of the week and Amazon a month or so later. It's a little disappointing that Girl won't get the full, feature-laden Special Edition treatment like Man did a few years ago from Time-Life, but mainly I'm just glad it will finally be available! Between this and It Takes A Thief coming out this fall (something I keep meaning to do a post about), by the end of 2011 we should finally have most of the major Sixties spy shows on DVD! (Still waiting on T.H.E. Cat...) That's very exciting.

But April Dancer isn't the only U.N.C.L.E. agent The Warner Archive is unleashing tomorrow. Additionally, they'll release The Man From U.N.C.L.E 8 Movie Collection, which collects all eight theatrical U.N.C.L.E. films on Region 1 DVD for the first time in a 4-disc set. (Only one was included in the Time-Life box set.) While it's true that the U.N.C.L.E. features were created by combining two episodes of the show into a feature for overseas markets, they're still worth having for U.N.C.L.E. completists who already own the whole series because they add some extra footage (mostly sexy stuff to make them more Bond-like) and boast new (and, in my opinion, often better) score music. The episodes from the show's black-and-white first season are also viewable in color in the films. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. 8 Movie Collection is available to pre-order from The Warner Archive for $39.95. I wonder if The Warner Archive will announce any more spy titles tomorrow to tie in with these major releases? Here's hoping!

Deal Alert: The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Series is 57% off for one day only on Amazon as the Gold Box Deal of the Day. That puts the total price at $84.99 instead of $199.92. That's a good bargain for the amazing Time-Life collection of all four seasons of the classic Sixties spy series plus about a billion great extras in an attache case package. It's also the only way that the show has been issued on DVD to date; individual seasons were never released. (Though you can find a few on their own through second-hand sellers on Amazon.) Read more about the features in this fantastic set here. Act fast; this special price expires tonight.

Tradecraft: The U.N.C.L.E. Rights Affair

Remember just a few scant years ago when The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was still conspicuously absent on DVD?  Fans clamored for it forever, it seemed, before we finally got word that it would come out in season sets from Anchor Bay, and that Robert Vaughn and David McCallum had recorded new commentary tracks for the release.  It was very exciting.  Then that excitement was quickly dashed when Warner Bros. took the wind out of Anchor Bay's sails by issuing a cease-and-desist on the project, and asserting that they owned the rights to the classic spy series.  (It was particularly frustrating at the time, because then they didn't seem to have any plans to actually do anything with those rights.  Obviously that situation changed when they put out a really excellent and feature-laden collection through Time-Life a few years later.)  Well, all's well that ends well, and we all kind of forgot about that Anchor Bay situation when the official release happened.  But I always kind of wondered what went on there, and how a major distributor could be duped into thinking they had the rights to such a major license when they didn't.  (And what happened to those commentaries!)  Now we have some of those answers, thanks to a story in yesterday's Hollywood Reporter. 

According to the trade, "a Los Angeles jury has awarded $7.3 million to Anchor Bay Entertainment from a woman who was accused of selling rights to the classic TV series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. that she didn't own. Lindsay Dunlap and her Ember Entertainment were on trial for fraud and breaching a 2005 contract with Anchor Bay."  Apparently the fact that she could produce the masters and "footage for DVD extras" was enough to convince Anchor Bay she was on the level, and the company paid her $625,000.  Obviously, they've now been recompensated and then some.  But my biggest question remains: what happened to those commentaries that Anchor Bay recorded, and will they ever see the ligh of day?

More Extras For Network's Protectors

Network's recently announced UK release of The Protectors has been delayed by a few weeks... but it's for a good reason: so that the company can add some extra features.  Now don't get too excited; it's nothing huge, but the point is it's something.  The Protectors: The Complete Series will now come out in the UK on August 23, and feature French and Spanish title sequences in addition to the previously announced photo galleries and PDF features.  I don't know if that means Tony Christie singing in other languages or not, but I'd be curious to see...  It's still not a slew of bonus material, but I'm happy the company is so dedicated to putting on whatever they've got, even if it means a delay.  Read all about Network's Region 2 Protectors release here.

Upcoming Spy DVDs: The Protectors

Speaking of Robert Vaughn, his other spy-ish series is headed back to DVD. Network has announced The Protectors: The Complete Series for release in the UK on August 9. I really enjoy The Protectors (particularly the second season, which is far superior to the first one), but I'd be hard-pressed to actually describe the premise.  So I'll let Network handle that one:

Each of the world’s major cities has its best detective agency, and each of these has its best agents; super-agents like The Protectors. The most sensitive, baffling, dangerous assignments are handled by this trio of adventurers with no equal among private eyes. In their nerve-tingling assignments, they function as a highly trained team, but they know that the next mission might mean death – and they live as if each moment were their last. Robert Vaughn stars as Harry Rule, the suave American who leads their operations and works from a London office; Nyree Dawn Porter is the elegant, Rome-based Contessa di Contini, and Tony Anholt is Paul Buchet, a French agent operating out of a Paris apartment.

Okay, so that's the set-up?  Hm, I'm not sure the series itself, which aired from 1972-1974, ever made it totally clear.  (In fact, I always thought they all worked for Harry Rule's detective agency, not separate ones.) But that doesn't matter, because what it really amounts to (like just about any ITC series) is cool people (well, a cool boss, anyway, and a fairly attractive woman and a pretty useless "third guy" who's basically just a clothes horse for wonderfully horrible Seventies fashions–you know, par for the course!) travelling to exotic locations solving crimes and spying and fighting drug dealers and fencing frogmen and whatnot.  The very impressive actual location filming gives it the edge over many of ITC's more studio-bound series, and the music and theme song are incredible.  It's kind of tough to jam a wholly satisfying adventure plot into just a half an hour (or at least it was by this point; for some reason that art was lost after the original Danger Man series did it so well–and has yet to be rediscovered), but those stylistic elements overcome that minor fault.  The Protectors is very much style over substance, and that's fine by me.  Unlike most other live-action ITC adventure series, this one comes from the puppet-addled mind of the great Gerry Anderson, for once dabbling outside the realm of science fiction.  (And there are no puppets on The Protectors!) 

Since they've offered the superb soundtrack to the series (arguably its best feature, and possibly the best of all the ITC soundtracks yet available) for a year now I was actually surprised to realize that Network hadn't already issued The Protectors on DVD!  But they hadn't.  It was previously issued in the format (with a much less cool cover) by ITV Studios back in 2002, but has been long out of print in Britain.  In America, it's still available from A&E in two volumes (much, much cheaper used on Amazon than new!), and the first season is also included in their wonderful ITC sampler, The Spy Collection Megaset (also cheaper used).  Network's new release–sporting a cover stylish enough to befit this stylish show–is a 7-disc set containing all 52 half-hour episodes. Bonus materials are limited to PDF material (original brochure and press information) and a very extensive stills gallery. It will be available on August 9 and retail for £59.99, but can currently be pre-ordered through Network's website for just £38.99.

Bargain Alert: One Day Super Sale On The Man From U.N.C.L.E.!

Amazon is offering The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Series for less than half price as their Deal of the Day today!  Today's price is just $85.49 for the complete series–57% off the list price of $199.92 and half of what it was yesterday–the regular Amazon price of $170.99.  But if you're missing this crucial piece of any complete spy collection, and have been patiently waiting for the price to drop this low, you better strike quickly!  This offer is good only today, July 15.  Tomorrow it will be regular price again.  And, yes, what we're talking about here is the awesome attache case-shaped box originally offered as an even costlier Time-Life exclusive, containing all four seasons of the seminal Robert Vaughn/David McCallum series along with copious, copious extras.  It's a really good set.  Get it, and watch it before the dubious Hollywood movie version comes out!  Hurry!

More Spy Music From Network: The Protectors

Network has announced the next title in their amazing line of soundtracks to Sixties and Seventies ITC shows: The Protectors. The Protectors saw man from U.N.C.L.E. Robert Vaughn return to the world of international intrigue (circa 1972) as globetrotting private detective Harry Rule. Rule was assisted by the Contessa Caroline di Contini (The House That Dripped Blood's Nyree Dawn Porter) and "the other protector" (the one everybody always forgets about), Paul Buchet (Tony Anholt, who did his best to stand out by adorning himself in the gaudiest costumes on ITC's whole gaudy Seventies costume rack–well, the ones Gene Barry couldn't squeeze into, anyway). The Protectors was one of several forays into the live action realm by prolific supermarionation maestro Gerry Anderson, and (thanks also to a reliable stable of ITC writers like Brian Clemens and Donald James) more successful with its half-hour format than its contemporary, The Adventurer. (Er, even though that was pretty much the same stable of writers!)

Musically, The Protectors is best remembered for its catchy, moody theme song, "Avenues and Alleyways," which was performed by pop crooner Tony Christie and penned by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander. An instrumental version played over the opening credits (which were audacious enough to include scenes of the helicopter chase in From Russia With Love as exciting "stock footage" amidst slightly more mundane new material, like shots of Vaughn making an egg for breakfast!) and the vocal closed things out. Presumably the Network soundtrack will include both and more, as it promises "versions" (plural) of the vocal theme, as well as a song by Ertha Kitt. However, the majority of the music spread across this five-disc(!) set–all compiled from the original master tapes and never before released–is by composer John Cameron. According to Network, the nearly 400 pieces of music(!) included were all "especially composed for the series" and incorporate genres as varied as "jazz, disco, funk, blues, lounge core, country, comedy and suspense." As always with these releases, extensive (and most likely impressive) liner notes from author, expert and all-around know-it-all Andrew Pixley round out the collection. Whew! This should be quite a set. It will be available to order from Network on July 27 and retail for £39.13 .

DVD Review: Return Of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair (1983)

DVD Review: Return Of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair (1983)

Return of the Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair isn’t a particularly good reunion movie. It’s full of very standard-issue 80s made-for-TV sub-James Bond spy antics. The show and the characters certainly deserved better. I recognize all of that. So why, then, did I enjoy it? That’s easy to answer. 1) It is a reunion movie, and reunion movies by their very nature are fun, even though they’re rarely good. I’m automatically attracted to them, and generally go into them with a lot of good will thanks to my love of the original show. Just watching Robert Vaughn and David McCallum together again on screen brought a smile to my face–even if an aggressively generic 80s synth score (by veteran series composer Gerald Fried, no less!) sometimes threatened to take it away. 2) Um, I happen to like standard-issue 80s made-for-TV sub-James Bond spy antics! (Despite their generally aggressively generic 80s synth scores.)

None of the major writers, directors or producers the original Man From U.N.C.L.E. series worked on this CBS TV movie (although Avengers vet Ray Austin directed), and it certainly shows. Instead of some of the more original plotlines the series delivered, we’re treated to a recycled Thunderball nuclear blackmail plot–which must have seemed particularly tired in 1983, the year that Thunderball itself was remade as Never Say Never Again! THRUSH, after apparently being dormant for a decade and a half, has emerged anew to steal an A-Bomb. (They do it over desert instead of water.) Now they want to hold U.N.C.L.E. and the United States at ransom. Actually, the Bond plot (hackneyed though it may be by this point) seems kind of appropriate, as the show’s producers treat this reunion movie as more of a general celebration of Sixties secret agents than U.N.C.L.E. in particular. And, as an avowed admirer of many Sixties secret agents, that’s fine by me.

Patrick Macnee shows up not as John Steed, but as new U.N.C.L.E. boss Sir John Raleigh, just taking the reins from the recently deceased Mr. Waverly. And the producers make the most of what was probably just a single day’s shooting with George Lazenby as James Bond. Oh, I’m sorry! I suppose I should say "JB." That’s how he’s credited (prominently)–and that’s what his license plate says. (Smooth, 007!) But from the moment his character shows up to aid Napoleon Solo in his familiar Silverbirch Aston Martin DB5, the movie forgets about Solo altogether and becomes a low-budget James Bond movie for a few minutes. Lazenby gets all the iconic Bond moments he was denied in his single official outing. He gets to drive a fully equipped DB5, participate in a gadget-laden chase (front-mounted rockets; rear-mounted water sprayers) and wear a white dinner jacket. He even gets to awkwardly cram in the line, "Shaken, not stirred" without ever leaving his car. And just in case we don’t get the reference, Gayle Hunnicutt (riding shotgun in Solo’s car) utters the words "On Her Majesty’s Secret Service." So there’s more to celebrate here than just The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (One suspects that writer Michael Sloan may have been more familiar with Bond than U.N.C.L.E. anyway, and just assumed they were exactly the same.) In what I like to think is another clever reference–but might in fact be just a happy accident–Lazenby drives past an orange Mach 1 Mustang fastback on the Vegas strip–the same car that Connery drove in that location in Diamonds Are Forever.



Anyway, getting back to the story, the first U.N.C.L.E. man on hand when the bomb goes missing is young 1980s hotshot Benjamin Kowalski. (See what happens when you don’t have Ian Fleming on hand to name your main characters, as he was for U.N.C.L.E. producers back in the 1960s?) Kowalski is rather transparent as a potential lead in a new U.N.C.L.E. series–and it’s just as well that didn’t happen because he lacks all the charm and charisma of the original series’ leads–as the villain of the piece is quick to point out! Kowalski shows initiative by interrogating former THRUSH agent Anthony Zerbe in a prison, and Zerbe takes him to task for his lack of style. He doesn’t like the new breed of U.N.C.L.E. agent, and tells him that Napoleon Solo would have asked the same questions, but with more panache–and Illya Kuryakin would have chilled his blood without saying a word. One can’t help but agree–and hunger for the movie to move on to their promised return!

Zerbe, of course, is perfect, as he always is in these roles. The only problem is that he’s playing someone with a history with Solo and Kuryakin (and a serious ax to grind with Solo)... so why cast one of the few ubiquitous Sixties guest stars who wasn't on the original series? It would have definitely been cooler if they’d gone with one of the actual masterminds Solo tackled with on the show. (What about Anne Francis? That would have been something!) No sooner is Kowalski done questioning him than Zerbe is busted out in a classic 80s TV prison break: a Hughes 500 helicopter buzzes into the rec yard and he clings to the runner.

Back at U.N.C.L.E., Sir John is having a bad first day. A ransom demand has turned up, and part of the demand is that it must be delivered by ex-U.N.C.L.E. agent Napoleon Solo. "Who is this guy?" asks Kowalski, incredulous, which naturally cues a reintroduction to the noticeably older but still undeniably suave Robert Vaughn. Once again exposing the writer’s preferences, Vaughn’s first shot is an homage to 007's introduction in Dr. No rather than a nod to any classic U.N.C.L.E. moment: he’s wearing a tux (even though he’s in gaudy Las Vegas, not an upscale London club) and playing poker.

"Care to raise your bet, Mr....?" inquires his opponent. Of course, we know who it is: Solo. Napoleon Solo. In a frilly tux. I know it’s supposed to be cool, but I kind of hate the notion that a retired Napoleon Solo would hang out in Vegas like every other retiree! It would have been classier to put him in Monte Carlo. Oh well. The movie makes up for that with a great nod to the original series, the sort that I imagine brought tears to the eyes of men who’d grown up on U.N.C.L.E. when it originally aired. When all attempts to reach Solo have failed, Macnee gets a thoughtful look and says, "I wonder... try Channel D" as he handles some familiar old technology. The message goes through, and Napoleon (who’s apparently hung onto his pen radio for sentimental reasons) gets it in the back room at Caesar’s Palace where he excuses the alarm as being a new battery in his pacemaker. (Come on; he’s not that old!) It’s great to see Napoleon Solo talking on the old communicator again–and just as awesome to see John Steed using U.N.C.L.E. technology!

Return of the Man From U.N.C.L.E. works best when alluding directly to the classic series, and there’s a humorous (if overlong) scene where Solo tries to enter U.N.C.L.E. Headquarters through the old entrance from Del Floria’s Tailor Shop. Needless to say, the new owner thinks he’s crazy.

But where’s Illya Kuryakin? For some reason, Napoleon and Ilya haven’t kept in touch since leaving U.N.C.L.E. as soon as the show ended, fifteen years prior. This seems odd to me. Raleigh informs Napoleon that Illya left under a cloud: he was betrayed, and a woman died. None of that seems very U.N.C.L.E., but it doesn’t matter too much because Napoleon tracks him down soon enough anyway. Illya’s become a fashion designer. Napoleon catches up with him in a restaurant, but the KGB catch up with Napoleon at the same time, mad about a ballerina he helped defect (Hunnicutt, familiar from multiple incarnations of The Saint, among other things). Ilya helps out his old partner in a predictable fight punctuated by some lame comedy. It then takes Napoleon a surprising amount of coaxing to lure Illya back into the fray, but he succeeds eventually. "For the sake of the world."

"Don’t throw the world at me," counters Illya, incredulous. "How many times did we save it?"

"Constantly, as I recall," says Napoleon. And it needs saving again, so the pair reunite long enough for a quick tour of headquarters ("What happened to all the beautiful women who used to work at U.N.C.L.E.?" wonders Illya) and a trip to Q Branch. (I did mention that Return owes more to Bond than U.N.C.L.E., didn’t I?) A bespectacled female Q named Z runs this low-rent lab, and she owes a lot to John Gardner’s slightly embarrassing "Q’ute" character from his Bond continuation novels of the time. She gives them grenade bullets and new guns (the old ones are in the Smithsonian now, much to Napoleon’s regret) and sends them on their way. Halfway through the running time of their reunion movie, Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakan are finally reunited on a mission... only to split up for the remainder of the movie. In the script’s biggest mistake, each of them is paired with a potential new lead (for the new series that never materialized out of this backdoor pilot) instead of with each other.

It seems strange that the original men from U.N.C.L.E. have been retired all this time, when they’re still perfectly capable agents. It’s also strange, and not very much in keeping with the original show, that Illya left the service in utter disillusionment. But those conceits allow for the expected reunion, however brief it turns out to be. David McCallum still looks great, but the years have been less kind to Robert Vaughn. Somehow, he manages to have aged more than all the other Sixties spies surrounding him, including Lazenby and Macnee–and also including Sean Connery and Roger Moore, both of whom were still capering around on the big screen as 007 at roughly the same age as him! Luckily, age suits Vaughn (he looks his career best in the current UK series Hustle), who remains as dignified as ever. Whatever age they are, and whatever contrivances it took to get them reunited, it’s definitely a treat to see Vaughn and McCallum back together. But The Fifteen Years Later Affair still amounts to a sub-par U.N.C.L.E. outing. It works much better as a tribute to all the spies of the Sixties, complete with a shoestring Bondian finale with U.N.C.L.E. commandos versus THRUSH henchmen, each in their own color-coordinated jumpsuits. As such, it's undeniably enjoyable. While it’s a must for U.N.C.L.E. fans, Return of the Man From U.N.C.L.E. also belongs on the shelves of James Bond fans, Avengers fans and spy fans in general. It’s a fascinating curiosity, and a portrait of a unique time in spy media history–the first pangs of nostalgia for the heyday of the 1960s.

New Spy DVDs Out This Week: Say U.N.C.L.E.!

Today is the day that the man from U.N.C.L.E. returns... in the 1983 CBS TV movie The Return of the Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The 15 Years Later Affair! And it's not just Napoleon Solo and Iyla Kuryakin returning. Notable former spies Patrick Macnee and George Lazenby also show up, with Macnee stepping in as Sir John Raleigh, a replacement for U.N.C.L.E. boss Mr. Waverly (owing to Leo G. Carroll's death in 1972) and Lazenby as a tuxedoed, Aston Martin-driving secret agent identified only as "JB". (Who could that be?) The TV movie, directed by Avengers stalwart Ray Austin, is naturally presented in its original fullscreen aspect ration, and the only extra is a trailer. Of course, U.N.C.L.E. fans don't need any extras for this disc to be a must-own. It's a requisite supplement to the fantastic box set Time-Life released of the series. Now all we need is the Sixties theatrical movies in Region 1, as they do differ slightly from the episodes from which they're cobbled...

New Spy DVDs Out This Week: A&E Sampler

This week brings the perfect box set for American spy enthusiasts looking to dip their feet into the vast pool of ITC adventure series, eager to expand their cult TV horizons beyond The Avengers and The Saint. A&E's The Spy Collection Megaset features the first sets (of two total each) of The Protectors, starring the man from U.N.C.L.E. himself, Robert Vaughn, and The Persuaders!, starring Tony Curtis and an immediately pre-Bond Roger Moore, along with half of The Champions (the cult show about secret agents with superpowers that’s currently being remade for the big screen with a script by Guillermo Del Toro)–which is all that A&E has released of that show to date, unfortunately. In addition to all that, you also get a taste of the ultimate cult spy series, The Prisoner with the first two discs of the renowned Patrick McGoohan vehicle (amounting to just three episodes). The whole bundle is a tad pricey... but much cheaper than what the individual volumes of these series originally retailed for. It's really the ideal sampler for discovering the wonderful world of ITC series. And if you like what you see of The Prisoner or The Persuaders! (which you will) or The Protectors (which you might), you can still go out and buy the rest separately. If you like what you see of The Champions (which you will), well then you're kind of out of luck (at least until the movie gets made) because that's all that's available from A&E so far. But at least you'll have it all! If you've already got these, then obviously there's no reason to get this set. But if you don't... then, trust me, this the coolest release imaginable, and a must-have!

While that's the only major spy release out this week, as long as I'm talking about new discs I'm compelled to also point out that my favorite Dario Argento movie, the ultra-rare, previously near impossible to see Four Flies on Grey Velvet makes its American DVD debut today! There's nothing spy about it, but if you're into gialli, make sure you pick this one up. You won't regret it!