Back when very few DANGER MANs were available on videotape, I rented the ones I could (5 in all), and this was #4. Shows you how little research went into the packaging, when I find out this was the very FIRST episode of the series! This really sums up what I like about Drake. He's single-minded, he doesn't allow distractions, he doesn't give up, and he's polite, even when others in his position might not be.
A man who's stolen gold is murdered, and his girlfriend just happened to witness the murder. Drake is trying to find the gold, and figures she's his best lead. But of course, she's in hiding.
Along the way, Drake has an amusing encounter in a lady's apartment when she invites him to chat with her and have a drink sitting on the edge of her BED. The amusing way he manages to extricate himself from this situation proves he's no James Bond! (Any other 60's TV hero would have probably taken advantage of the opportunity-- but NOT Patrick McGoohan!) Later in an outdoor café he meets an artist who, in turn, was sketched BY the very woman he's looking for. I found it funny when the man, after saying how much sentimental attachment he had, "gave" it to Drake as "a gift" (at the same moment Drake was slipping him some money for it).
Drake's search leads to a tiny, out-of-the-way village on the coast of Italy... which was actually filmed on location at Portmerion in Wales. The Tom Baker-Lis Slade DOCTOR WHO story "THE MASQUE OF MANDRAGORA" pulled the same stunt, the funny thing was, in that case it somehow went right by me without realizing it (until I read about it later). McGoohan, inspired, later decided to film an entire TV series there.
The object of his search turns out to be Barbara Shelley (with a very convincing Italian accent), who may be one of my favorite ladies to appear on this series. Apart from the charm her character radiates, there's also her playing a character named "Gina" which added a personal thing for me, as that was the name of someone I knew in art school (and in the story, "Gina" is an artist).
The murdered man, whom she was engaged to, was played by Philip Latham. By some odd coincidence (?) both Shelly & Latham later turned up in the Chris Lee Hammer Film, Dracula PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1966)! But the first time I really took notice of Latham was when he played Cardinal Borusa in the DOCTOR WHO story, "THE FIVE DOCTORS" (1983). Meanwhile, the villain of the piece was played by John Lee, who was one of the friendly "Thals" in the early DOCTOR WHO story, "THE DALEKS".
All in all, a very nice start to this series. I only wish I had the entire run. My PBS station made a very big deal about how their viewers had requested, over and over, SECRET AGENT, and when they finally got it, insisted on running it Saturday nights at 12:30 AM. (And they want people to PAY to that!) They said if it proved popular enough, they might go after the earlier half-hour DANGER MANs... but they never did. So to date, I've only ever seen 5 of the half-hour shows. One of these years...
A man who's stolen gold is murdered, and his girlfriend just happened to witness the murder. Drake is trying to find the gold, and figures she's his best lead. But of course, she's in hiding.
Along the way, Drake has an amusing encounter in a lady's apartment when she invites him to chat with her and have a drink sitting on the edge of her BED. The amusing way he manages to extricate himself from this situation proves he's no James Bond! (Any other 60's TV hero would have probably taken advantage of the opportunity-- but NOT Patrick McGoohan!) Later in an outdoor café he meets an artist who, in turn, was sketched BY the very woman he's looking for. I found it funny when the man, after saying how much sentimental attachment he had, "gave" it to Drake as "a gift" (at the same moment Drake was slipping him some money for it).
Drake's search leads to a tiny, out-of-the-way village on the coast of Italy... which was actually filmed on location at Portmerion in Wales. The Tom Baker-Lis Slade DOCTOR WHO story "THE MASQUE OF MANDRAGORA" pulled the same stunt, the funny thing was, in that case it somehow went right by me without realizing it (until I read about it later). McGoohan, inspired, later decided to film an entire TV series there.
The object of his search turns out to be Barbara Shelley (with a very convincing Italian accent), who may be one of my favorite ladies to appear on this series. Apart from the charm her character radiates, there's also her playing a character named "Gina" which added a personal thing for me, as that was the name of someone I knew in art school (and in the story, "Gina" is an artist).
The murdered man, whom she was engaged to, was played by Philip Latham. By some odd coincidence (?) both Shelly & Latham later turned up in the Chris Lee Hammer Film, Dracula PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1966)! But the first time I really took notice of Latham was when he played Cardinal Borusa in the DOCTOR WHO story, "THE FIVE DOCTORS" (1983). Meanwhile, the villain of the piece was played by John Lee, who was one of the friendly "Thals" in the early DOCTOR WHO story, "THE DALEKS".
All in all, a very nice start to this series. I only wish I had the entire run. My PBS station made a very big deal about how their viewers had requested, over and over, SECRET AGENT, and when they finally got it, insisted on running it Saturday nights at 12:30 AM. (And they want people to PAY to that!) They said if it proved popular enough, they might go after the earlier half-hour DANGER MANs... but they never did. So to date, I've only ever seen 5 of the half-hour shows. One of these years...
