DISCOVER--the Man from UNCLE movies
If you've got to the point where you know the dialogue of all the Sean Connery Bond films off by heart, and you cringe at the thought of Flint and Helm, it might be time to reacquaint yourself with the dialogue (and plots, and performances) of the Man from UNCLE films. And if you've yet to see them, why wait? There's two from each season, eight in all, and they represent the best of the series, and the era, perfectly. Warners have released all eight on disc. And the good news is that all four seasons of the show itself are out there on DVD as well... So if you enjoy these...
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- DirectorDon MedfordStarsRobert VaughnLuciana PaluzziPat CrowleyThe pilot for the TV series "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," re-edited and released to theaters as a feature.This is the best and most complete version of the pilot film for the series, which can also be found as the shorter Solo and the black and white episode "The Vulcan Affair". This is the one to see, as it properly introduces the concept of UNCLE, which despite its obvious influences, is much, much more than the Bond rip-off or parody the less informed might suggest.
- DirectorJohn NewlandStarsRobert VaughnSenta BergerDavid McCallumU.N.C.L.E. agents Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin are sent to the Swiss Alps to find a secret nuclear weapon design but T.H.R.U.S.H. agents kidnap Solo and replace him with a look-alike double.This is an extended and vastly superior version of the black and white episode "The Double Affair". Some of the extra footage for the film turns up in the first season episode "The Four Steps Affair".
- DirectorJoseph SargentStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumRip TornU.N.C.L.E. agents Solo and Kuryakin try to stop a megalomaniac who thinks he's like Alexander The Great, commits offenses against the ten commandments and steals chemical weapons from the army in order to achieve world domination.This is the best version of the fun and frothy second season opener "The Alexander the Greater Affair" with Rip Torn and Dorothy Provine. Great supporting cast includes prolific heavy David Sheiner on top form.
- DirectorE. Darrell HallenbeckStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollU.N.C.L.E. agents Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin are sent to Europe where a scientist's age-reversing machine is in danger of being seized by T.H.R.U.S.H. spies.This is the only UNCLE film that varies wildly from the TV version, "The Bridge of Lions Affair". The film has more action, the TV version more extrapolation, and the order of events and some details are different. Good in both versions; Leo G. Carroll is great.
- DirectorJoseph SargentStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumJack PalanceU.N.C.L.E. agents Napoleon Solo and Ilyia Kuryakin are sent to stop a T.H.R.U.S.H. employed ex-Nazi scientist from diverting the Gulf Stream.This is "The Concrete Overcoat Affair", one of the more deliberately comedic stories from the much maligned third season. Janet Leigh and Leticia Roman catfight. Me-owww. Jack Palance camps it up as the obsequious host of a THRUSH dignitary. There's good, there's bad, it's okay, just don't make it your first encounter with UNCLE.
- DirectorBarry ShearStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumJoan CrawfordU.N.C.L.E. agents Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin battle T.H.R.U.S.H. spies to seize Dr. True's secret chemical formula used in extracting gold from sea water.Groovy time capsule as the UNCLE agents jet round the world looking for the dolly bird daughters of a deceased scientist... It aired as "The Four Daughters Affair", but this is the version to see. Watch for Terry Thomas as a bumbling British police constable... So Sixties.
- DirectorBoris SagalStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumCarol LynleyAn African village is nearly exterminated by a deadly weapon - The Thermal Prism. Napoleon and Ilya must find it first before it can be used again for the conquest of the world.Campy nonsense with a sinister cult of silver-haired space cadets. Quintessential UNCLE. The virtually identical TV version is "The Prince of Darkness Affair". Great fun from start to finish and never a dull moment, especially when Solo infiltrates the organisation. Carol Lynley and John Dehner are superb.
- DirectorSutton RoleyStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumBarry SullivanThe agents of U.N.C.L.E. must stop mad general Harmon and his Seven Intellectual Wonders of the World, as well as THRUSH agents, from taking over the world.Dour yarn about a cabal of mad scientists trying to 'improve' the world with a mind-controlling obedience gas. The last and least of the UNCLE films, and--as "The Seven Wonders of the World Affair"--the final two episodes of the TV series.
Jon is not on Facebook, but can reply to comments here, at the base of this list.
Hi Nick, thanks for your comments on my lists. Nothing against Flint or Helm, they're all in my collection! I was just making the point that UNCLE was not in the same category. A lot of people still lump UNCLE into the spoofs, which is unfair. In fact, they're in my best of the '60s spy-fi films list, alongside UNCLE and the early Bonds! Shagadelic!
Fair comment Shawn, but I'd rather everyone went to the originals...
Obsessed with the popular culture of the 1960s and surrounding decades, Jon Abbott has been writing about film and TV for over thirty years in around two dozen different publications, trade, populist, and specialist. He is the author of several books, including
Irwin Allen Television Productions 1964-1970,
Stephen J. Cannell Television Productions: A History of All Series and Pilots,
The Elvis Films,
Cool TV of the 1960s: Three Shows That Changed the World,
and Strange New World: Sex Films of the 1970s.
See his Amazon author's page, and his other lists on the IMDB, all under the pre-fix DISCOVER.