Pathfiner
Second Unit
The almost 'forgotten' first season produced by Sam Rolfe ('Developer' of UNCLE) - the 1964-65 first season was available in the expensive complete 'Man From UNCLE' set (in the security case) but at last in August the rarely screened black & white original version of the show is getting an individual season release
forget those episodes full of absurd 'exploding apples', 'hiccup gas', Illya riding down a giant stink bomb, Solo dancing with a guy dressed up as a gorilla, illya fighting a guy dressed up as a yeti, giant (unseen) tidal wave making machines, everyday detergent foam posing as a matter disintergrator ...or Sonny & Cher acting terribly and absurdly silly 'ham acting' by guests capable of far stronger dramatic acting...
- THIS is the original version of the show that made it world famous & ensured that in 1966 UNCLE outgrossed James Bond in the UK at the box office
The UNCLE feature films; 'To Trap A Spy' & 'The Spy With My Face' (the only color versions of Sam Rolfe's era) were expanded versions of the pilot 'The Vulcan Affair' & 'The Double Affair' (both here in b/w - 'Vulcan Affair features Leo G. Carroll as Mr. Waverley in place of Will Kuluva's Mr.Allison - 'Double Affair' is a far more concise version, they added about 30 minutes extra footage including Donald Harron's aussie UNCLE agent for the film version)
Robert Vaughn shines as the more likeable and more professional agent Napoleon Solo here, yes he's a ladies man but here that is kept back somewhat, he's always the secret agent first and foremost...Solo effortlessly carries the lead here, more and more assisted by his charismatic trendier blonde Russian friend as the show goes on but he's very much "THE"... Man From UNCLE here...
David McCallum's illya is not in a handful of episodes (McCallum had only signed for an initial six episodes...then was hastily re-signed for the full season), while illya cameos in a few more segments ('Vulcan Affair', 'Neptune Affair' etc) in a few more the role of illya has been quickly built up (coming to Solo's rescue at the end etc) when producers spotted how popular he was, especially with younger viewers ...others feature Solo & illya as co-leads & 'The Bow Wow Affair', where illya is attacked by vicious Dobermans, mostly features illya
a good number of scripts are played very 'straight' ('Dove Affair', 'Green Opal Affair') while others feature touches of humour as opposed to the lighter humour of color season two and silly comedy of about half of season three episodes
'The Project Strigas Affair' (guests William Shatner & Leonard Nimoy just pre-Star Trek) and 'The Fiddlesticks Affair' clearly anticipate Bruce Geller's 'Mission: Impossible' which debuted over a year later in 1966
- 'Fiddlesticks Affair' has Solo & illya put together a small team to break into a THRUSH underground vault (beneath a casino on a carribbean island) containing 55 million dollars to destroy their cash ...while the girl team member (guest Marilyn Mason) using electronic dice 'wins' & 'loses' at the casino as required, then after losing pulls a gun and threatens to shoot herself - creating a diversion - they succeed their mission and leave the THRUSH chief & his men looking completely silly (in pure IMF style)
- this 'Mission: Impossible' style episode comes complete with it's incidental music by Lalo Schifrin !
while some other episodes (filmed in 1964) anticipate the style of the 1965 Steed/Emma Avengers shows - complete with a model aeroplane attacking UNCLE HQ in 'The Mad Mad Tea Party Affair' - an episode that takes place 90% within UNCLE HQ in New York
we see the THRUSH tracker rifles introduced and used here (with their 'negative' picture telescopic sights) plus the UNCLE guns (that transform into a mini rifle) the original cigarette case communicators (that need 'plugging in' to power points in the earliest filmed episodes) plus the UNCLE helicopter makes its debut and we see some of the other UNCLE HQ in London & Washington etc ...
some notable guest stars feature
- William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Culp, Carroll O'Connor, Ricardo Montalban, George Sanders, Cesar Romero, Ann Francis, Eddie Albert, Jill Ireland, June Lockhart, John Van Dreelin, Werner Klemperer, Henry Jones, a young Kurt Russell, Lee Merriwether, Dan O'Herlihy, Elsa Lancaster, Barbara Feldon, Yvonne Craig, Martin Balsam, Glenn Corbett, Fritz Weaver, Ivan Dixon, Patricia Crowley, Linden Chiles, Brooke Bundy, Burt Brinckerhoff, Marta Kristen, Sharon Farrell, Jeremy Slate, Ken Murray, William Marshall, David Sheiner, Slim Pickens, Richard Anderson, Senta Berger, Murray Mathieson, Peter Haskell, Richard Haydn, Alfred Ryder, Richard Kiel, Madlyn Rhue, Ralph Taeger, Lloyd Bochner....
...with a few notable bit parts by James Doohan ('Scotty') & Batman's 'Aunt Harriet' Madge Blake (as a suitably evil THRUSH agent !)
..plus the Beautiful ill fated Sharon Tate is one of the lovelies in 'The Girls of Nazerone Affair'
each enhance this definitive if not in color first season handled expertly by Sam Rolfe & Norman Felton (who even cameo as Jill Ireland's party guests in 'The Giuoco Piano Affair')
Note the 'spoken intro' where Solo, illya, & Mr.Waverley introduce themselves is featured for the first six episodes...then the memorable 'Solo behind bullet proof glass' intro features with the original (& I think best) trumpet led strident arrangement of Jerry Goldsmith's superb theme tune - and the 'freezing picture' end credits (lampooned so affectionately later in 'Police Squad..in color')
For me even minus color this is THE season of 'The Man From UNCLE' where it began and in the right spirit (note final season producer Anthony Spinner both updated the by then failing show adding computer alley and attempted to return to Sam Rolfe's original premise re the more serious toned episodes, even adding a trumpet led 'beatier' version of the theme to try to recapture the feel of this first season to try to save the show after the terrible venture into silly camp comedy in many season three episodes had ruined it)
A DVD set worth grabbing if you love the premise of a action/adventure with a touch of humour spy show
while a number of the script ideas that seemed somewhat OTT back then - like modern day pirates kidnapping people, or pilots intentionally crashing planes etc...even using a poisoned umbrella to stab someone as George Sanders does to illya (exactly anticipating the infamous 'umbrella murder' in London of a Eastern European dissident in 1976) have all since come true...
Re-Open Channel D...
forget those episodes full of absurd 'exploding apples', 'hiccup gas', Illya riding down a giant stink bomb, Solo dancing with a guy dressed up as a gorilla, illya fighting a guy dressed up as a yeti, giant (unseen) tidal wave making machines, everyday detergent foam posing as a matter disintergrator ...or Sonny & Cher acting terribly and absurdly silly 'ham acting' by guests capable of far stronger dramatic acting...
- THIS is the original version of the show that made it world famous & ensured that in 1966 UNCLE outgrossed James Bond in the UK at the box office
The UNCLE feature films; 'To Trap A Spy' & 'The Spy With My Face' (the only color versions of Sam Rolfe's era) were expanded versions of the pilot 'The Vulcan Affair' & 'The Double Affair' (both here in b/w - 'Vulcan Affair features Leo G. Carroll as Mr. Waverley in place of Will Kuluva's Mr.Allison - 'Double Affair' is a far more concise version, they added about 30 minutes extra footage including Donald Harron's aussie UNCLE agent for the film version)
Robert Vaughn shines as the more likeable and more professional agent Napoleon Solo here, yes he's a ladies man but here that is kept back somewhat, he's always the secret agent first and foremost...Solo effortlessly carries the lead here, more and more assisted by his charismatic trendier blonde Russian friend as the show goes on but he's very much "THE"... Man From UNCLE here...
David McCallum's illya is not in a handful of episodes (McCallum had only signed for an initial six episodes...then was hastily re-signed for the full season), while illya cameos in a few more segments ('Vulcan Affair', 'Neptune Affair' etc) in a few more the role of illya has been quickly built up (coming to Solo's rescue at the end etc) when producers spotted how popular he was, especially with younger viewers ...others feature Solo & illya as co-leads & 'The Bow Wow Affair', where illya is attacked by vicious Dobermans, mostly features illya
a good number of scripts are played very 'straight' ('Dove Affair', 'Green Opal Affair') while others feature touches of humour as opposed to the lighter humour of color season two and silly comedy of about half of season three episodes
'The Project Strigas Affair' (guests William Shatner & Leonard Nimoy just pre-Star Trek) and 'The Fiddlesticks Affair' clearly anticipate Bruce Geller's 'Mission: Impossible' which debuted over a year later in 1966
- 'Fiddlesticks Affair' has Solo & illya put together a small team to break into a THRUSH underground vault (beneath a casino on a carribbean island) containing 55 million dollars to destroy their cash ...while the girl team member (guest Marilyn Mason) using electronic dice 'wins' & 'loses' at the casino as required, then after losing pulls a gun and threatens to shoot herself - creating a diversion - they succeed their mission and leave the THRUSH chief & his men looking completely silly (in pure IMF style)
- this 'Mission: Impossible' style episode comes complete with it's incidental music by Lalo Schifrin !
while some other episodes (filmed in 1964) anticipate the style of the 1965 Steed/Emma Avengers shows - complete with a model aeroplane attacking UNCLE HQ in 'The Mad Mad Tea Party Affair' - an episode that takes place 90% within UNCLE HQ in New York
we see the THRUSH tracker rifles introduced and used here (with their 'negative' picture telescopic sights) plus the UNCLE guns (that transform into a mini rifle) the original cigarette case communicators (that need 'plugging in' to power points in the earliest filmed episodes) plus the UNCLE helicopter makes its debut and we see some of the other UNCLE HQ in London & Washington etc ...
some notable guest stars feature
- William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Culp, Carroll O'Connor, Ricardo Montalban, George Sanders, Cesar Romero, Ann Francis, Eddie Albert, Jill Ireland, June Lockhart, John Van Dreelin, Werner Klemperer, Henry Jones, a young Kurt Russell, Lee Merriwether, Dan O'Herlihy, Elsa Lancaster, Barbara Feldon, Yvonne Craig, Martin Balsam, Glenn Corbett, Fritz Weaver, Ivan Dixon, Patricia Crowley, Linden Chiles, Brooke Bundy, Burt Brinckerhoff, Marta Kristen, Sharon Farrell, Jeremy Slate, Ken Murray, William Marshall, David Sheiner, Slim Pickens, Richard Anderson, Senta Berger, Murray Mathieson, Peter Haskell, Richard Haydn, Alfred Ryder, Richard Kiel, Madlyn Rhue, Ralph Taeger, Lloyd Bochner....
...with a few notable bit parts by James Doohan ('Scotty') & Batman's 'Aunt Harriet' Madge Blake (as a suitably evil THRUSH agent !)
..plus the Beautiful ill fated Sharon Tate is one of the lovelies in 'The Girls of Nazerone Affair'
each enhance this definitive if not in color first season handled expertly by Sam Rolfe & Norman Felton (who even cameo as Jill Ireland's party guests in 'The Giuoco Piano Affair')
Note the 'spoken intro' where Solo, illya, & Mr.Waverley introduce themselves is featured for the first six episodes...then the memorable 'Solo behind bullet proof glass' intro features with the original (& I think best) trumpet led strident arrangement of Jerry Goldsmith's superb theme tune - and the 'freezing picture' end credits (lampooned so affectionately later in 'Police Squad..in color')
For me even minus color this is THE season of 'The Man From UNCLE' where it began and in the right spirit (note final season producer Anthony Spinner both updated the by then failing show adding computer alley and attempted to return to Sam Rolfe's original premise re the more serious toned episodes, even adding a trumpet led 'beatier' version of the theme to try to recapture the feel of this first season to try to save the show after the terrible venture into silly camp comedy in many season three episodes had ruined it)
A DVD set worth grabbing if you love the premise of a action/adventure with a touch of humour spy show
while a number of the script ideas that seemed somewhat OTT back then - like modern day pirates kidnapping people, or pilots intentionally crashing planes etc...even using a poisoned umbrella to stab someone as George Sanders does to illya (exactly anticipating the infamous 'umbrella murder' in London of a Eastern European dissident in 1976) have all since come true...
Re-Open Channel D...