Salute to Jerry Goldsmith

It doesn’t seem possible, but it has been five years since the death of film and television composer Jerry Goldsmith, who would have celebrated his 80th birthday in February if he were still with us. Arguably, Goldsmith is second only to John Barry in musical influence of 1960s spy entertainment. (Lalo Schifrin would also be [...]

Unlikely ’60s spies, or Ward Cleaver, secret agent

Spy stories were big on television in the 1960s, thanks to James Bond. Even non-espionage shows incorporated spy-oriented stories. But there were a few where the actors cast come across as a bit unlikely. A few examples:
Hugh Beaumont, Mannix: In the second-season episode, “To The Swiftest, Death,” private eye Joe Mannix has taken up amateur [...]

Salute to Luciana Paluzzi

One of our favorite 007 femme fatales, Luciana Paluzzi, turned 72 last month. So we figured that was as good an excuse to honor her here.
Of course, most Bond fans remember her as Fiona, member of SPECTRE’s execution branch, in Thunderball. Here’s the trailer:

Here she is in a similar role in [...]

007’s intersections with U.N.C.L.E.

We were watching some DVDs and kept getting reminded about how the world of James Bond intersects with The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Those intersections go beyond the basic category of spy-related entertainment.
A few examples:
Luciana Paluzzi. The Italian actress was hired to pad out the pilot of U.N.C.L.E. in case the series didn’t sell and a [...]

Happy birthday (No. 96!) Norman Felton, the real Man From U.N.C.L.E.

We just wanted to wish Mr. Norman Felton a happy 96th birthday. It was Felton, looking for a change of pace from producing TV dramas, who spearheaded the project that would become The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Felton had a notion about a character he dubbed Edgar Solo, who seemed ordinary but worked for a special agency. [...]

Ian Fleming’s fascination with bowties

Ian Fleming, besides being the creator of James Bond, also had a thing for bowties.
Fleming (1908-1964) was photographed more than once sporting a bowtie. Once he finally had a deal to sell the film rights to 007, he felt bowties ought to be part of the proceedings. For example, he wrote in a memo to [...]

Return of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. out on DVD

The Return of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., the 1983 made-for-TV movie, came out on DVD this week. It wasn’t included when the original series came out on DVD in 2007. So here’s a look, starting with the main titles:

Gerald Fried, the veteran composer who did more MFU episodes than any other [...]

1964: U.N.C.L.E.’s crew hams it up, aka Richard Donner, ACTOR

No matter how much a writer or a director or a producer accomplishes, some cannot resist the allure of appearing before the camera. Alfred Hitchcock certainly couldn’t and his cameos in his movies probably egged others on.
In its first season, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. took the concept further. Four crew members went before the cameras [...]

1983: ABC attempts a TV spy revival

The year 1983 was a big year for spy entertainment. Two James Bond moves, Octopussy and Never Say Never Again came out, prompting an outburst of Bondmania.
ABC, looking to cash in, gave the goahead to a new series, Masquerade, in which spymaster Lavender (Rod Taylor) recruits people who’ve never done intelligence work to perform missions.
Series [...]

1972: 007 makes his U.S. television debut; Sam Rolfe revisits the spy genre

In the early 1970s, ABC would run long-form promos where it would spend a half-hour to highlight its programming for the upcoming television season. For 1972-73, that included a segment on the movies that would be shown. Top on the list was Goldfinger, the first 007 movie to appear on U.S. television. The first 35 [...]