5 U.N.C.L.E. TV stories new fans should see before the movie

The original U.N.C.L.E.s

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. hasn’t gotten a lot of exposure since its last broadcast on Jan. 15, 1968. Yet, seemingly against long odds, a big-screen version comes out on Aug. 14.

There are a lot of new fans — particularly those who are fans of actors Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer — who haven’t had a lot of opportunity to catch the original show. With that in mind, here are five U.N.C.L.E. stories from the 1964-68 series that may enhance the experience of new fans ahead of the film.

These aren’t necessarily the very best episodes. But some have elements in common with the movie. Also, this list is intended to include examples from all four seasons of the show. Stories told over two episodes are listed as a single entry here.

The Quadripartite Affair/The Giuoco Piano Affair: These two episodes were filmed together but presented as separate, but related episodes.

Solo verbally jousts with Harold Bufferton (John Van Dreelen) in The Giuoco Piano Affair

Quadripartite was the third episode broadcast. It’s also the first episode where Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) function as a team. There’s plenty of good “bits of business” for both characters.

The story involves a power-hungry woman, Gervaise Ravel (Anne Francis), whose lover, Harold Bufferton (John Van Dreelen), is one of the world’s richest men and who’s more than willing to finance her plans. That’s not unlike the new film, where Elizabeth Debicki, is the lead villain.

Giuoco Piano (the seventh episode broadcast) is even better than Quadripartite, showing how manipulative Solo can be. The title comes from a chess gambit that symbolizes Solo’s plan. If James Bond is the blunt instrument, this story demonstrates how Solo is the sharp operator.

Both episodes were written by Alan Caillou, who did intelligence work for the British in World War II. Think an Ian Fleming, who actually went out into the field. Caillou’s two scripts helped define the Kuryakin character. Sam Rolfe, who wrote the pilot, envisioned Kuryakin as a large, massive man. Caillou provided McCallum with the material so the actor could make Illya his own.

Also, the two episodes were directed by Richard Donner, who’d become an A-list film director in the 1970s.

The Never-Never Affair: Through the first season, the show tried to find the right balance of drama and humor. Never-Never, aired late in the season, became the model for future episodes.

Solo and Illya during the theater shootout in The Never-Never Affair

In the story, Solo feels sorry for U.N.C.L.E. translator Mandy Stevenson (Barbara Feldon), who yearns for an adventure. He sends her to get pipe tobacco for U.N.C.L.E. chief Waverly (Leo G. Carroll), while telling her she’s acting as a courier. However, she accidentally is given a valuable microdot covered by the villainous organization, Thrush.

The episode includes a memorable set piece, where a Thrush assassin is firing through a movie theater screen at Solo and Kuryakin, who are having to deal with other Thrush operatives. A high percentage of the jokes work, and writer Dean Hargrove would become one of the main scribes of the series. It was the second episode of show helmed by Joseph Sargent, one of the best directors on the series.

The Foxes and Hounds Affair: A breezy episode that aired early in the show’s second season. The new movie’s tone is supposed to be similar to the second season and Foxes and Hounds is one of the season’s better entries.

U.N.C.L.E. and Thrush are both after a mind-reading machine. That’s pretty fantastic, but no more so than what can be seen in a Marvel Studios film of the 21st century. Both Solo and Kuryakin get chances to shine. We also see that Waverly is perfectly capable of being cold blooded. On top of everything else, Vincent Price is a very good villain who has to watch his back for attacks from a rival in Thrush (Patricia Medina).

The Concrete Overcoat Affair: This two-part episode was edited into a movie for international audiences called The Spy in the Green Hat. Thrush has another ambitious plan that U.N.C.L.E. is trying to foil. But some retired gangsters end up becoming involved and act as a wild card.

This ran during the third season, when the drama-humor balance got out of whack in favor of humor. This Joseph Sargent-directed story reins that in to an extent. There’s also a good scene early in Part II where Solo wants to go save Kuryakin but Waverly disapproves. The U.N.C.L.E. chief relents, but only reluctantly. It’s an unusual moment of drama in a season where that was in short supply.

The Test Tube Killer Affair: In the fourth season, new producer Anthony Spinner wanted to dial the humor way back. This episode, early in the season, is one of the better entries produced by Spinner.

Christopher Jones, center, as Greg Martin, in The Test Tube Killer Affair.

Thrush’s Dr. Stoller (Paul Lukas) has been raising young men from childhood to be the perfect killing machines, able to turn their emotions on and off as needed. Stoller’s prize pupil, Greg Martin (Christopher Jones), has been chosen to blow up a dam in Greece. It’s strictly an exercise and the dam has no strategic importance but many will die if Martin succeeds.

Meanwhile, the young killer is highly intelligent — intelligent enough where it appears Solo and Kuryakin may have met their match. The episode has a less-than-happy ending, something not common on the show.

Oscar update III: John Barry leads off “In Memoriam”

John Barry, the 11-time 007 composer who established the musical sound of James Bond movies (and won five Oscars for four non-Bond movies), was the first person included in the “In Memoriam” segment of the Oscars telecast. But there were a number of others included that contributed to 007 and other spy related entertainment.

They included: Alan Hume, director of photography on three Bond movies in the 1980s; Irvin Kershner, director of the 1983 Bond film Never Say Never Again, who is probably best known for directing 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back; Tom Mankiewicz, credited as a screenwriter on three 1970s 007 films and an uncredited writer on two others.

Also included were Robert Culp, the star of television’s I Spy; Anne Francis, the star of television’s Honey West; and Leslie Nielsen, who made a late-career switch to comedy that included a 007 parody, Spy Hard. All three did extensive film work in movies and television.

Anne Francis, ‘Honey West’ star, dies at 80

Actress Anne Francis has died at age 80. Most obituaries, such as the one in the Los Angeles Times, begin with how she starred in Forbidden Planet. But for our audience, she’s likely to be remembered as the star of Honey West, a one-season show on ABC.

Here’s some details from the Times obit:

Based on the title character in G.G. Fickling’s series of Honey West paperback mysteries launched in 1957, Francis’ Honey West was introduced to TV viewers in an episode of “Burke’s Law” in the spring of 1965.
(snip)
In what Francis later described as “a tongue-in-cheek, female James Bond,” her karate-chopping private eye drove a custom-built Cobra convertible sports car and, when necessary, worked out of a specially equipped mobile surveillance van that masqueraded as a TV service vehicle.

Also in her long-career, she was also a memorable villain in two first-season episodes of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (The Quadripartite Affair and The Giuoco Piano Affair) as a power-hungry woman with a rich lover (played by John Van Dreelan) financing her schemes. The two shows were written by Alan Caillou and directed by Richard Donner.

RIP, Ms. Francis. Here’s a look at the main titles of the Aaron Spelling-produced Honey West:

UPDATE: Here’s the opening of The Giuoco Piano Affair, with Anne Francis billed as the special guest star. It was the last episode of U.N.C.L.E. featuring a longer, “documentary” style main titles.

Richard Donner reflects on directing ’60s spy shows

Richard Donner directed more than his share of episodic television shows before hitting it big as a feature film director in 1976’s The Omen. That work included putting his imprint on 1960s spy shows.

In a 2006 Archive of American television interview, Donner discussed his work on The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Get Smart. He also did some episodes of The Wild, Wild West. The segment where he talks about U.N.C.L.E. and Get Smart occurs roughly during the 21:50 to 26:38 of this video:

A few notes: Donner’s memory is a tad faulty in places. He refers to David McCallum having been married to Jill St. John when he meant Jill Ireland. Still, that kind of thing is easy to overlook. With U.N.C.L.E., Donner had a big impact; he directed four of the series’ first 14 episodes including the first (The Quadripartite Affair) that included an expanded presence for McCallum’s Illya Kuryakin and one of the few episodes (The Terbuf Affair) that provided much in the way of backstory for Robert Vaughn’s Napoleon Solo.

You can see part of the finished product here. That’s Jill Ireland with McCallum (except in the long shots); a brunette Anne Francis as the lead villain; future Emmy-awarding winning director (for The Monkees) James Frawley as a treacherous policeman; executive producer Norman Felton as an irate chess player at a party; and Donner himself as a drunk at the same party: