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Once Upon a Spy

  • TV Movie
  • 1980
  • 1h 31m
IMDb RATING
4.9/10
332
YOUR RATING
Christopher Lee, Ted Danson, and Mary Louise Weller in Once Upon a Spy (1980)
ActionDramaThriller

Ted Danson plays a computer genius who gets involved in the theft of an important N.A.S.A. computer, then thrust into the world of espionage with Sir Christopher Lee.Ted Danson plays a computer genius who gets involved in the theft of an important N.A.S.A. computer, then thrust into the world of espionage with Sir Christopher Lee.Ted Danson plays a computer genius who gets involved in the theft of an important N.A.S.A. computer, then thrust into the world of espionage with Sir Christopher Lee.

  • Director
    • Ivan Nagy
  • Writers
    • Jimmy Sangster
    • Lemuel Pitkin
  • Stars
    • Ted Danson
    • Mary Louise Weller
    • Christopher Lee
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    4.9/10
    332
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Ivan Nagy
    • Writers
      • Jimmy Sangster
      • Lemuel Pitkin
    • Stars
      • Ted Danson
      • Mary Louise Weller
      • Christopher Lee
    • 11User reviews
    • 8Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos47

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    Top cast20

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    Ted Danson
    Ted Danson
    • Jack Chenault
    Mary Louise Weller
    Mary Louise Weller
    • Paige Tannehill
    Christopher Lee
    Christopher Lee
    • Marcus Valorium
    Eleanor Parker
    Eleanor Parker
    • The Lady
    Leonard Stone
    Leonard Stone
    • Dr. Webster
    Terry Lester
    Terry Lester
    • Rudy
    Jo McDonnell
    Jo McDonnell
    • Susan
    Lillian Müller
    Lillian Müller
    • Christine
    • (as Yuliis Ruval)
    Irena Ferris
    • Greta
    Burke Byrnes
    • Burkle
    Gary Dontzig
    • Klaus
    Bobb Hopkins
    Bobb Hopkins
    • Hans
    Vicky Perry
    • The Cashier
    John Hostetter
    John Hostetter
    • Chief
    • (as John R. Hostetter)
    William Wintersole
    William Wintersole
    • Commander
    Denise Hayes
    • Co-Pilot
    George Planco
    • Gate Guard
    Fil Formicola
    • Security Man
    • Director
      • Ivan Nagy
    • Writers
      • Jimmy Sangster
      • Lemuel Pitkin
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews11

    4.9332
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    Featured reviews

    3Leofwine_draca

    Quite horrible...

    ONCE UPON A SPY is a deservedly unknown 1980 TV movie that stars up-and-coming Ted Danson as a computer programmer who unwittingly gets drawn into a spy plot that's straight out of a James Bond movie. And indeed this turns out to be a Bond spoof through-and-through, with the unfortunate added side-effect that it's also quite horrible.

    Rarely have I seen a film in which the acting is so stilted or the narrative so predictable and boring at the same time. Danson displays none of the charisma that would make him a household name in time, and his attempts at flirting and romance with token blonde Mary Louise Weller are, to be frank, excruciating. ONCE UPON A SPY is truly a movie of its era, with cod attempts at feminism (think CHARLIE'S ANGELS style tough fighting women) mixed in with the normal "saving the girl" routines and some quite appalling jump suits that make the female cast look both fat and frumpy (although they're neither).

    Bizarrely, Hammer scribe Jimmy Sangster had a hand in the screenplay, although quite what he was thinking I don't know. Keeping on the Hammer theme, we get Christopher Lee as the villain, riffing on his MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN persona. I felt sorry for him, soiled by his appearance in this; I remember his comments about breaking free of Hammer and making it in Hollywood, but even latter-day Hammer efforts like THE SATANIC RITES OF Dracula are a hundred times better than this trash. Definitely a film to be consigned to obscurity, and for good reason.
    heedarmy

    Worth a view

    Neat little TV movie, in the spirit of "The Men From U.N.C.L.E." A pre-Cheers Ted Danson is partnered with an athletic female lead, and Christopher Lee is always good value as the villain. Former Hammer scribe Jimmy Sangster had a hand in the story.
    Poseidon-3

    Once is Enough!

    John Cacavas' idea of a James Bond theme plays over the opening credits of this TV-movie spy flick which even features silhouetted buxom women posing in various contortions the same way the Bond films have done for decades. (The film also features a certain musical motif that is exceedingly close to what is found in all the Bond films.) Danson plays a computer expert who is coerced by the government into rescuing a super-computer from the clutches of evil, wheelchair-bound Lee, who intends to rule the world with it. The agent assigned to brief Danson is curvy, smart-mouthed Weller who reports to the authoritative and no-nonsense Parker. Retrieving the computer is only part of the job. Danson also hopes to rescue his doctor friend (Stone) and the doctor's daughter who are being held against their will, a task Parker is only mildly concerned about accomplishing. There is a lot of pseudo-witty banter and quasi-dangerous espionage as the film plays out with Danson and Weller straining for romantic chemistry while carrying out various aspects of a mission in which no one is ever killed. It's James Bond Lite, almost for kids. The whole enterprise reeks of "unsold pilot" with the credits even playing like a TV show opening and the ending setting the scene for possible future escapades. Danson is fairly solid throughout and manages to balance his character's brains and lack of experience pretty well. Weller is often very annoying, chirping Danson's character's name frequently ("Chenault!") and trotting around in foolish skirts, shoes and hairdos, acting like she's some big deal when really she's rather a lightweight herself. Lee is somewhat interesting at times, but could play this role in his sleep and sometimes seems like he's doing so. Parker (an unjustly forgotten actress who graced the silver screen with many wonderful, powerful performances in the 40's, 50's and beyond) is on her last legs here. She looks okay, but does all her scenes seated behind a large table and rattles out loud orders with very little timing or finesse. It's a sloppily done production with many continuity errors (notably in the costuming) and cheap sets. One notably intriguing sequence involves an elaborate maze in which Weller must fight for her life, but it is undercut by the fact that she is really in the same old section over and over with just angle and lighting changes tossed in occasionally. Lester, who plays a henchman here, would soon begin a memorable nine-year stay on "The Young and the Restless".
    8TheFearmakers

    Mary-Louise Weller & Ted Danson

    One of those failed TV-pilots that then became a standalone TV-movie, ONCE UPON A SPY takes the James Bond aesthetic to the small screen, from formidable (and colorful) technical set pieces to a flaunting trumpet score to a former Bond villain in Christopher Lee, a brilliant computer mogul who, brain-wise, is second to none...

    Well except for Ted Danson, turning in one of those "befuddled geeks who's really a handsome diamond-in-the rough/anti-leading-man" types... and it's no surprise, given his near-future turn in CHEERS, he has great comedic timing...

    Perfectly paired with (and counterbalanced by) sublime ANIMAL HOUSE beauty Mary-Louise Weller, an Alpha Male-like female operative and, after getting Danson's Jack Chenault out of a stuffy office shared with his only friend, a computer the size of a wall, the action is pretty much non-stop...

    So the peripheral world-dominating plot doesn't matters since it's the nifty Odd Couple duo... whether ripping around in a hot-rod on the ground or jumping out of planes in the air... that really matters, and this SPY would have made a genuinely good series (as the creators of REMINGTON STEELE would soon-after prove).
    3Prismark10

    Before the Mac

    I guess this television Movie of the Week planned to be back-door series pilot. A hokum version of The Man from Uncle with the James Bond like theme after the opening titles.

    It stars a young Ted Danson as a government computer expert called in by a mysterious American intelligence service to track down a supercomputer stolen by dastardly Christopher Lee.

    The reluctant Danson is paired up with attractive, blonde agent Mary Louise Weller and they make a good pair and Danson does well with the comedy and drama and has some literate lines although the plot is tosh. The final challenge set by Lee is called the Cat and the Canary with some Pacman type graphics.

    As it was shown in 1980 a few years before films like Wargames and just before the Home Computer boom of the early 1980s, you have big computers the size of several walls that play a nifty game of chess just like the supercomputer in Wargames.

    Danson shows talent which would make him a star a few years later in Cheers, but the the film was rather flimsy. It lacked the spark of the Man from from Uncle and I could not take seriously the secret entrance to the agency's office via a Tunnel of Love ride. From the short of the big wooden roller coaster, it looked like Knott's Berry Park!

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Joan Fontaine was originally cast as the head of the spy agency.
    • Goofs
      Watch for a mysterious costume change near the end of the film. One minute, Paige is wearing a rather sexy skintight yellow catsuit, the next she's wearing a top and stretch pants, with the pants in a slightly different shade of yellow.
    • Quotes

      Jack Chenault: You're leaving?

      Paige Tannehill: Chenault, I fondly hope that I never have to set eyes on you again.

    • Connections
      References You Only Live Twice (1967)

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 19, 1980 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Agent wider Willen
    • Filming locations
      • Houston, Texas, USA(Location)
    • Production companies
      • David Gerber Productions
      • Columbia Pictures Television
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 31 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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