Posted on November 29, 2009 by The HMSS Editors
We came across an excellent documentary on The Adventures of Jonny Quest, the Hanna-Barbera prime time cartoon that debuted in September 1964. There’s a lot of fascinating behind-the-scenes information, including some James Bond ties to the series.
Producers William Hanna and Joseph Barbera hired cartoonist Doug Wildey to spearhead the project. It was originally intended to [...]
Filed under: James Bond Films, The Other Spies | Tagged: Doug Wildey, James Bond's influence on Jonny Quest, Jonny Quest, Joseph Barbera, Race Bannon, The Adventures of Jonny Quest, TV spy shows, William Hanna | 1 Comment »
Posted on November 23, 2009 by The HMSS Editors
Over at Cinema Retro’s Web site, Lee Pfeiffer describes Robert Vaughn’s 77th birthday party.
A brief excerpt:
The black tie affair began with a cocktail hour attended by the likes of Ben Gazzara, Dick Cavett and Joe Sirola, who had played a villain in several episodes of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. As with all Players events, the [...]
Filed under: The Other Spies | Tagged: David McCallum, Lee Pfeiffer, Robert Vaughn, Robert Vaughn's 77th birthday, The Man From U.N.C.L.E, TV spy shows | Leave a Comment »
Posted on October 18, 2009 by The HMSS Editors
That blueprint, of course, would be the director’s North by Northwest, which marked its 50th anniversary this year.
The film is normally written about its use of themes such as mistaken identity or use of familiar landmarks as settings that Hitchock employed in his prior films. Still, it’s also striking how the movie also seemed to [...]
Filed under: James Bond Films, The Other Spies | Tagged: James Bond Films, TV spy shows, Alfred Hitchcock, The Man From U.N.C.L.E, North by Northwest, Cary Grant, Ernest Lehman, Hitchcock's crop duster sequence, North by Northwest as blueprint for 1960s spy entertainment | 2 Comments »
Posted on September 19, 2009 by The HMSS Editors
It’s a few days before The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’s 45th anniversary. So here’s are variations on a theme — namely the Jerry Goldsmith-composed theme.
There were five different versions of the opening theme (two in the first season), and four different end title versions. Here’s an first-season end title, using an edited version of Goldsmith’s original. [...]
Filed under: The Other Spies | Tagged: TV spy shows, Jerry Goldsmith, Lalo Schifrin, Gerald Fried, The Man From U.N.C.L.E, Lalo Schifrin's take on The Man From U.N.C.L.E Theme, The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'s 45th anniversary, Robert Armbruster | 2 Comments »
Posted on September 16, 2009 by The HMSS Editors
Next week, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., the spy show with just a teeny bit of Ian Fleming influence, celebrates its 45th anniversary. To whet your appetite, here’s a special commercial.
It runs five minutes or so and features the casts of shows sponsored by Chevrolet — Bonanza, Bewitched and The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
In this case, Robert [...]
Filed under: The Other Spies | Tagged: TV spy shows, Robert Vaughn, The Man From U.N.C.L.E, Chevrolet, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. selling Corvairs, The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'s 45th anniversary, Agnes Moorehead, Dan Blocker, Special 1964 Chevrolet commercial on The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Bonanza and Bewitched | 1 Comment »
Posted on September 13, 2009 by The HMSS Editors
This week marks the 45th anniversry of Goldfinger’s U.K. premier. What’s the film’s legacy? Try these on for size:
1. Most obvious, it was the first 007 mega-hit.
Dr. No and From Russia With Love had been successful, but Goldfinger turned 007 into a worldwide phenomenon. It set a record at the time for recouping its costs [...]
Filed under: James Bond Films | Tagged: 007 creative personnel working on "anti-Bond" films, 20th Century-Fox, Albert R. Broccoli, Columbia Pictures, Derek Flint, Goldfinger's 45th anniversary, Goldfinger's impact on 1960s spy entertainment, Goldfinger's legacy, Goldfinger's twin brother?, How Goldfinger created demand for "anti-Bonds.", John Barry, John Le Carre, Ken Adam, Len Deighton, Matt Helm, Paul Dehn, Peter Hunt, Richard Maibuam, The Man From U.N.C.L.E, TV spy shows, United Artists | Leave a Comment »
Posted on September 6, 2009 by The HMSS Editors
We’ve noted some of these and skipped others. In any case, this is proving to be quite the year for notable James Bond and/or Ian Fleming-related anniversaries. Here’s a recap:
April: 100th anniversary of the birth of 007 producer Albert R. “Cubby Broccoli.
May: 100th anniversary of the birth of 007 screenwriter Richard Maibuam
June: 30th anniversary of [...]
Filed under: James Bond Films, The Other Spies | Tagged: James Bond Films, Goldfinger, TV spy shows, Albert R. Broccoli, The World Is Not Enough, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Moonraker, Richard Maibuam, The Man with the Golden Gun, Licence to Kill, Napoleon Solo, The Man From U.N.C.L.E, Notable James Bond/Ian Fleming anniversaries in 2009, Ian Fleming's brief involvement in U.N.C.L.E. | Leave a Comment »
Posted on May 21, 2009 by The HMSS Editors
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 [...]
Filed under: James Bond Films, The Other Spies | Tagged: David McCallum, Illya Kuryakin, James Bond Films, Luciana Paluzzi, Napoleon Solo, Robert Vaughn, The Incredible World of James Bond, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Other Spies, To Trap A Spy, TV spy shows | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 29, 2009 by The HMSS Editors
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. [...]
Filed under: The Other Spies | Tagged: Edgar Solo, Happy birthday, Ian Fleming, Napoleon Solo, Norman Felton, Renamed TV spies, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., TV spy shows | 3 Comments »
Posted on April 19, 2009 by The HMSS Editors
YouTube recently cut a deal with Hollywood studios that is enabling complete episodes of some old TV shows to be on YouTube. One of the shows is I Spy, the groundbreaking 1965-1968 series that featured white and black agents paired together. It also helped make a star of Bill Cosby.
So far, only five episodes of [...]
Filed under: The Other Spies | Tagged: Bill Cosby, David Friedkin, Earle Hagen, I Spy, Morton Friedman, Robert Culp, Sheldon Leonard, TV spy shows, YouTube | 2 Comments »