L'espion au chapeau vert

I'm a huge fan of "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.", both the classic TV-show and the movies. None of the U.N.C.L.E. movies are bad, but there's a couple of them which could have been a lot better. For example the last movie "How to Steal the World (1968)" which was basically just a couple of TV-episodes thrown together. It was terribly unfunny and the Robert Vaughn and David McCallum just seem embarrassed to be there. Then there's "Karate Killers, The (1967)" which was one of the funniest but with a very weak plot, it seemed as though they came up with a plot in five minutes which was merely content with laughable scenes and quirky situations.

"Spy in the Green Hat, The (1966)" on the other hand, is both exciting AND funny. Especially the scene where Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) hides from THRUSH agents under a young woman's (the incredibly cute Letícia Román) bed and is caught by the woman's grandmother (Penny Santon), who is forcing Solo to marry the young woman. He successfully escapes, but is hunted by a legion of stereotyped Italian gangsters. Now that's comedy.

All the actors, including among others Janet Leigh and Jack Palance, give wonderful perfomances. Particularly Palance who probably is the only actor in the movie business who can overact in a good way.

The 60's in a nutshell, don't miss it for the world.

Watched this on TCM movies 50 years after enjoying the man from U. N. C. L. E as a child in the 1960s. It's packed with really good actors keeping their faces straight in what I appreciate now is a comedy or spoof. In the 60s we had some brilliant TV like this, Batman and Robin, Get Smart, My favourite Martian etc etc And like the James Bond films of the time their was no PC when it came to ladies being drawn to attractive men like Napoleon Solo. We have lost something now that PC or woke dominates what we watch these days. Thank goodness there are films like this that accurately reflect the era in which they were made. Love the fashion especially Janet Leigh's wardrobe.

Others here have covered the storyline most adequately, I'm just going to pose a question about 'The Spy in the Green Hat'! In a 1967 Australian movie magazine, which has a 2 page spread on this film, it states that unlike the other U.N.C.L.E. films, this one was made specifically for a theatrical release, therefore had a bigger budget than usual ,and may also account for it being a bit more 'risque' than the others? If this is so, was it filmed in widescreen? Although the IMDb states the films were in 1.85 aspect, this is clearly not so for the ones made up from 2 part television episodes, and the five that have been put out on DVD, are only in 4.3 aspect! If this film was indeed made for a cinema release, could it be the only U.N.C.L.E. film actually filmed in widescreen? Guess we wont know until they see fit to release it on DVD? Perhaps the mooted big screen remake of 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.' starring George Clooney, will renew interest in the originals? Here's hoping!

The dauntless U. N. C. L. E. Duo, Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin (Robert Vaughn and David McCallum) are caught in the crossfire between enemy THRUSH agents and retired gangland mobsters when they are despatched to Sicily.

Their efforts to thwart a fiendish plot to divert the Gulf Stream, turning Greenland from a barren wasteland into a lush island for their new Headquarters when Solo is pursued by a lady with marriage in mind ...

There's more tongue-in-cheek spy shenanigans in store in this entertaining The Man from U. N. C. L. E. Film, and what makes it so entertaining is the humour, thanks to the actors playing the Stilletto brothers who might be OAP but they haven't changed their "gangster" ways (1930's style) and Penny Santon as Grandma Monteri - they kidnap Solo so he could marry their niece ( Letitia Roman) or else he will die; this is because Grandma Monteri caught Solo under her granddaughter's bed. Quite hilarious- had me chuckling right throughout. There's a very good performance by Janet Leigh and an atypical one as I never saw her play a sadistic bad girl who likes to use her dagger to a great effect. And there's Jack Palance as the villainous Strago, the king of overacting! The title "The Spy in a green Hat" refers to Strago's boss who is known as the Man in the green Hat!

As a kid I absolutely loved "The Man From Uncle." Well, the first couple of seasons anyway. Like any of these type of shows, the plots tend to get more and more preposterous. But I recently caught this TMFU movie on TCM and enjoyed it. Vaughn and McCallum were great as the partners who worked for "UNCLE" never playing it too seriously. I'm not sure if this was a seperate movie or two episodes combined with a bit of original footage. Good cast-Jack Palance seems to have a blast overacting as the THRUSH villian, Drago as does the incredibly hot Janet Leigh as his villianous assistant, Miss Diketon. Great name, eh! Another very hot actress, Leticia Roman plays a prominent role as a Sicilian maiden who Vaughn, AKA Napolean Solo, is going to have to marry in a literal shotgun wedding. Had all the elements I remember enjoying in a TMFU episode, action, explosions, comedy and sexy women. Plot was really unimportant, although they could have cut out at least .10-.15. BTW, I have no idea who The Spy in the Green Hat was. I guess they needed something for a title.