Mitternacht - Canale Grande

Robert Vaughn was so great as a spy in Man from U.N.C.L.E. that he got a starring role in the full length film Venetian Affair. Vaughn is Fenner, retired CIA, but now working as a reporter (really ?). after the bombing of diplomats in venice, he is sent to get whatever information he can for the wire services. Some other fun names here. the awesome Boris Karloff, taking a break from his horror films. Ed Asner, WAY before MTM or Lou Grant. he had done lots of tv work, but this appears to be his third film role. Elke Sommer did a bunch of projects with Dean Martin. in this film, she's Sandra, who may be involved in the bombing. Karloff is Dr. Vaugiroud, who may or may not be helpful to Fenner. the first half moves pretty slowly.. it's all setup. there's kind of a showdown scene at the end, and things are explained, but it's just so-so. it's entertaining enough, but nothing new and exciting. some fun scenery of Venice, as imdb claims that it actually was filmed there. directed by Jerry Thorp, his first of only two film projects; done in the middle of so many television shows. story by Helen MacInnes, who had a couple novels made into film.

Being in high school at the time my friends and I read all the spy novels we could get our hands on. I had read 'The Spy Who Came in From The Cold'. The book and movie were both first class. Then I read 'The Venitian Affair' and it was also top notch, a first class suspense novel with all the twists and turns, very dark. When they announced that Robert Vaunghn was going to play the lead we were ecstatic. Unfortunately, the movie, while not bad, just didn't live up to the billing. Why, well the book was almost 500 pages and the movie was 89 minutes. The movie skips a lot of details and worse, it tries to rush to fit as much as possible in. James Bond thrillers are non-stop action, but most realist spy movies are slower and paced, as is most real spying. It feels like they tried to do this on a budget and use TV pacing. Hiring Vaughn was probably due in part to his television background, thinking he would be more acceptable to this approach. He wasn't and it shows. Being a real actor with the chops to really shine in a great role, he must have been very disappointed when he got the final script. It lacked much of the character development and brooding pace. As I said, it's not a bad movie, just far short of it's potential. And, there is the classic line from the airport scene when he first lands in Veinna. Read the book after seeing the movie, it's a classic spy novel with tension that crackles.

In 1967, when the spy genre became well and truly a parody of itself, there were only some spy films that were serious attempts in the genre. "The Venetian Affair" is one such film. It's a very well made, suspenseful and dramatic work, based on Helen MacInnes' novel of the same name. Still TV's super-spy Napoleon Solo, Robert Vaughn plays the anti-hero, antithesis of Solo/Bond/Flint etc, as former-CIA man, now downtrodden journalist Bill Fenner. He plays Fenner extremely well, a perfect role for Vaughn's sensibilities as a thoughtful, intellectual man. Aided magnificently is a strong European cast - Elke Sommer, Boris Karloff, Luciana Paluzzi and Karl Boehm to name just a few. Also prominent is Edward Asner as the tough CIA chief Rosenfeld.

Overall, this is an excellent and often misunderstood film. Most people and critics alike, expected the any spy film from this era to be more glamorous and fun a la "In Like Flint" or "You Only Live Twice" which came out the same year. However, looking in retrospect some thirty-years on, one can appreciate a fine dramatic work, one which stands up to the test of time much better than any of its more outrageous competitors.

1966's "The Venetian Affair" is often thought of as just another theatrical feature derived from television's THE MAN FROM U. N. C. L. E. Due to the presence of Robert Vaughn in the lead, actually turning out to be a rather low key and underdeveloped adaptation of Helen MacInnes' 1963 best seller of the same name, the big screen debut of director Jerry Thorpe. Much of its cast also contributes to that small screen sheen, such as Edward Asner, Roger C. Carmel and Felicia Farr, while international starlets like Elke Sommer and Luciana Paluzzi are totally wasted in throwaway roles. A peace conference in Venice concludes abruptly with 13 people blown up, Asner's security chief requiring the presence of former CIA operative Vaughn because of his ex-wife's suspected involvement, the marriage dissolving when she opted to become a Communist agent. He's no Napoleon Solo, a battered, world weary alcoholic seemingly moving in a daze, reduced to being a wire services correspondent who manages to escape the numerous traps devised for his demise. Only by the one hour mark do we see the actual culprit and his method of mind control, a drug that can make a cat afraid of a mouse, or a peace loving American diplomat become a suicide bomber with the flick of a pen. Shooting began Apr. 13 on location in Italy, while the surprise appearance of Boris Karloff preceded a flurry of activity in the fall of 1966 on episodes of THE WILD, WILD WEST, THE GIRL FROM U. N. C. L. E., I SPY, and especially Chuck Jones's half hour rendition of Dr. Seuss' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (already in the can were animated characters in a pair of Rankin/Bass titles, "The Daydreamer" and "Mad Monster Party?"). Confined to only three scenes totaling nearly 7 minutes screen time as political scientist Dr. Pierre Vaugiroud, the actor first pops up for a full 5 minute sequence opposite Vaughn to reveal knowledge of the recent bombing, then in the latter stages to urge Vaughn to work with the villains, and finally in full hypnotic mode, frantically insisting that he be allowed to offer up his own report to a room filled with vulnerable diplomats, unaware of the bomb secreted in his briefcase. It's a rare straight role during a horror filled decade and one of the more noteworthy performances in a film lacking much intrigue despite the exotic Venetian locations (at least Luciana Paluzzi actually speaks Italian). Robert Vaughn was already an Oscar-nominated actor, and would succeed with his next role in Steve McQueen's "Bullitt," later playing Lord Byron Orlock opposite Roger Corman-shot Karloff footage in the 1989 "Transylvania Twist."

Two things are noteworthy about The Venetian Affair. One was that Robert Vaughn tried to break out into the big screen like such television contemporaries as James Garner and Steve McQueen without the success that they had. The second was that this was the last film Boris Karloff did that was not related to the horror genre.

The film begins with a bang. An American diplomat is given a bomb and it detonates in a disarmament conference in Venice. No one can figure out why, but you can bet the USA does not want to be held responsible when forensics prove it was our guy who was the suicide bomber.

Our man in Venice for the CIA Edward Asner sends for former agent Robert Vaughn who is now an alcoholic newspaperman working for a wire service. They suspect his ex-wife Elke Sommer has something to do with it and he's the best at finding her. She's also the reason that he's no longer with the CIA.

Boris Karloff plays an elderly man of geopolitical mystery. He knows what's going on, but some sinister folks are controlling him.

The Venetian Affair is a pedestrian affair moving at a paint drying pace and Vaughn after being television's urbane Napoleon Solo in The Man From UNCLE never quite got his teeth in this part. Karl Boehm is a good villain and only at the very end do we find out who he is working for. As for the reason why the diplomat did the foul deed, that you watch The Venetian Affair for.