Un espía de más

The "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." TV-adaptations-into-movies are never off British TV rotation for long, although nostalgists like myself would be far happier if the rights to the complete original TV series could be picked up and shown the same way that classic British-made ABC shows like "The Champions", "The Avengers" and "Department S" more frequently are. I for that matter would love the chance to see other classic US fantasy / spy series like "The Wild Wild West", "I Spy", "The Green Hornet" and even "Get Smart" which somehow seem to have been permanently mothballed since their 60's heyday, certainly as far as British TV is concerned.

This U.N.C.L.E. composite shows its soldering too easily despite professional enough titles front and back-ending it. It doesn't strike me as one of the more memorable adventures Agents Solo and Kuryakin enjoyed, although it has its, albeit minor, moments. David McCallum gets most of the action here, neck deep in a marshy swamp, stripped to his shorts (no doubt his myriad teenybop fans of the time would have appreciated this) and suspended from a ceiling to be made into a modern-day mummy (it sounds strange just typing that never mind witnessing it), while Robert Vaughn does his usual debonair bit, courting the ladies, although here Yvonne Craig (later to become the leather-clad Batgirl in the "Batman" TV series) as his minor Miss Moneypenny interest, seems absurdly, as she was 30 at the time, almost too young for our hero. Another oddity is the crude insertion, at the end of master-villain Alexander's plane exploding mid-air in vintage black and white - talk about regurgitating your old stock footage!

The story is run of the mill spy-caper fare with Rip Torn (looking at times a ringer for Ralph Fiennes!) getting off on an Alexander the Great(er) global domination kick and coming unstuck at the hands of Solo and Kuryakin with the usual token meddlesome tag-along female in tow, played here with relish by Dorothy Provine.

To be truthful there are few real thrilling and suspenseful moments and even the stars' quips seldom raise a smile but Vaughn and McCallum look the part in their suits and haircuts and that great Jerry Goldsmith theme music is never far away.

Probably for 60's kids like me only, although, not unnaturally the child in me remembers TV series like this and the above-mentioned with rose-tinted glasses probably lacking today. Not that that will stop me watching the others in the series!

The first theatrical spinoff from "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." to come from two RELATED episodes ("To Trap A Spy" was "The Vulcan Affair" + extra footage, and "The Spy With My Face" was "The Double Affair" + extra footage*, but this movie was first shown on American TV as the show's two-parter "The Alexander The Greater Affair"), "One Spy Too Many" has Solo and Kuryakin go up against evil millionaire industrialist (aren't they all?) Alexander, who as part of his plan to take over the world by breaking all of the Ten Commandments has stolen a will gas, which our heroes have to get back.

This is often and misleadingly called a spoof by people who can't understand the difference between an espionage show with a sense of humour (which "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." was in the beginning) and an out-and-out comedy (which is what it became in its third year, giving the show a very misguided "Batman" feel - I defy anybody to watch Solo dancing with a man in a gorilla suit in "The My Friend The Gorilla Affair" without screaming). Though it's pretty tongue-in-cheek, the danger our heroes are in is real more often than not; it does betray its TV roots more than any of the other "movies," with several of the show's trademark going-out-of-focus-at-the-end-of-an-act shots preserved, an all-too-obvious "To be continued" moment and at least one really bad use of stock footage.

But with Messrs. Vaughn and McCallum in fine fettle, and Rip Torn having a high old time as the evil madman (and he wasn't even Larry Sanders' producer then), this is as entertaining today as it must have been when it debuted on TV nearly forty years ago. Would I be lynched if I said I actually like these more than Bond?

*Said extra footage was eventually turned into "The Four Steps Affair." That episode has never been shown on British TV, and indeed neither have most of the other episodes that became movies - except for "The Five Daughters Affair" (i.e. "The Karate Killers"), shown in its original two-part format on the UK answer to TV Land, Granada Plus.

It's 2 TV episodes spliced together so why am I even bothering to review it?

The intrepid U. N. C. L. E. Agents are assigned to recover a specimen of lethal BG30 gas which has been stolen from the US army. In a race against time and the villainous Alexander, Solo and Kuryakin battle to avert world disaster - a task that takes them to the remote Greek island of Minos.

Out of all the UNCLE films, this one doesn't stand out much, lacks something distinguishing, or the usual humorous quips from our heroes, but it has an interesting villain played by Rip Torn and his main henchman is quite menacing. There are some good scenes: the human chess piece, Solo almost getting sliced by a saw blade, Kuriyakin chases by farm tractors. Dorothy Provine plays a dizzy character. It's not a standout UNCLE film, and it is close to average, but it's still fun.

The series Man From Uncle ran from 1964 through 1968. this film, also with Robert Vaughn, came out in 1966. "directed" by joe sargent, who had done a lot of television, including.. Man from Uncle. and the first Taking of Pelham 1,2,3. it's kind of like a long episode of Get Smart. or Man from Uncle, which it is! some spy tricks and gadgets. when the opposition steals a secret nerve gas, it's up to Solo to track them down. It's actually footage from the original tv show, stapled together with added material by Yvonne Craig (Batgirl!) they are invited to a party hosted by Alexander (Rip Torn). a fun outdoor chess game, using live people. and then we're off to explore a tomb, with a whole lot of trick photography. it kind of goes on and on. like a usual spy flick, the good guys and bad guys take turns winning the battles. it's okay. just okay. two demerits for mostly reusing television footage. watch the Taking of Pelham 1,2,3. That one is really quite good.