User Reviews

The men from UNCLE and Steve Garrow (played by Tony Bill) have tracked down former agent turned megalomaniac Robert Kingsley (played by Barry Sullivan) to his hideout in the Himalayas. Here, aided by Dr. Erickson (played by Albert Paulsen) and the kidnapped scientists, he plans to launch a docility gas by radio control, which will enable him to control the minds of everyone on Earth. He tries and fails to persuade Solo that his motives are for the good of mankind. As a result, Solo, Kuriyakin and Steve only narrowly avoid execution at the hands of General Harmon's firing squad because Professor Garrow (played by Dan O' Herlihy) intervenes at the cost of his own life. Kingsley and Dr. Erickson decide to bring forward the launch of the gas and General Harmon (played by Leslie Nielsen) suggests that Solo and Kuriyakin should be the guinea pigs to which they agree. Meanwhile, Kingsley's double crossing wife, Margitta (played by Eleanor Parker) and her new lover, THRUSH chief Mr. Webb (played by Mark Richman) are about to strike and take over the evil project for themselves. Steve, reconciled with his girlfriend Anna Erickson (played by Inger Stratton), escape from captivity and try to break into the operations room in order to sabotage the equipment. But will they be in time to free Solo and Kuriyakin and save the world?

The concluding part of this two-part adventure and the last ever episode of the classic Man From UNCLE spy series. It doesn't represent the show at its peak despite the best efforts of talented director Sutton Roley. Check out the season four opener The Summit Five Affair, which shows that he was one of the better latecomers to the series. Here the audience is invited to ask whether Kingsley deserves any sympathy due to the fact his experiences as a spy in which he had to kill on the orders of his government was what led him to turn to world domination - supposedly with good intentions - or is he simply insane? There is a memorable scene where Kingsley asks Solo to consider: "You and I have fought the seemingly endless battle against evil, don't you see it this way, my way? The battle ends once and for all in favour of good?" But, Solo fights back by trying to persuade the kidnapped experts to walk out saying that the plan is a "blasphemy" and "denies humanity its freedom to find its own way to better times", but to no avail. Without doubt Barry Sullivan gets the most memorable line in the film, but the plot is too daft for the audience to take this more serious thought provoking angle and the collision between the good guy and the bad guy seriously. But, neither is it to the demerit of the players and the director for trying. The most amusing part of the film is the pre-credits prologue staged in the form of a mock news broadcast where the reporter informs us that the disappearances of the scientists has sparked worldwide panic, but reassuring us that the UNCLE men are working flat out to get to the bottom of the mystery. Aside from Sullivan who does his best in the role of a rather dull mastermind, Leslie Nielsen is excellent as the renegade military man while Eleanor Parker does well as the former's treacherous wife. Tony Bill and Inger Stratton are adequate as the young couple whose relationship is almost wrecked as a result of their respective fathers' involvement in Sullivan's plan. Sadly, though, the chemistry between Robert Vaughn and David McCallam's super heroes, Solo and Kuriyakin, is no longer there.

All in all, fans of the series will enjoy it but only as a reminder that the show had achieved much better before. For those watching it for the first time, this isn't a great starting point.

The final episode of the series. Solo is taken before Kingsley and his 'seven wonders' and the plan is spelt out to him. He is appalled. As he stands in front of a firing squad - with the newly-captured Illya and Steve - Dr.Garrow tries to save them, only to lose his own life in the process. It is then decided to use the docility gas on the UNCLE men. Margitta drops her bombshell - the entire project is THRUSH-funded. Whereas Kingsley is a devout believer in the essential goodness of Man, Webb thinks Humanity is dirt, and only respects the firm hand of authority. A race against time ensues to stop THRUSH finally taking over the world - without so much as firing a single shot...

It is interesting to note how much much this story resembles the plot of 'In Like Flint' released in cinemas the year before. Hal Fimberg's script also focuses on a group of well-meaning people ( in that case, Fabulous Face ) attempting to change the world for what they think is the better, only for an outside force to try to subvert it to their own ends. The climax sees Solo and Kuryakin escaping from the base amidst Kingsley's men collapsing ( they've been drugged by THRUSH ) like puppets whose strings have been cut. No love interest for either Solo or Kuryakin, which is odd for an UNCLE adventure. Again dear Leslie Nielsen provides a moment of unintentional comedy as General Harmon struggles to escape from Kingsley's gas chamber. As the devious 'Margitta', Eleanor Parker enjoys herself hugely, while Inger Stratton is good enough to eat as 'Anna'. The final scene sees Solo, Waverly, and Illya watching as a coffin is loaded aboard an UNCLE jet. Many see it as symbolic of the end of the show itself. Bad scheduling certainly hastened its demise ( it was up against 'Here's Lucy' and 'Gunsmoke' ), but the demise of the spy fad should not be overlooked either. Only 'Mission: Impossible' survived, and that was by reinventing itself as a crime show. The Gold Key comics continued beyond the show's cancellation, as did the Ace novels. In 1983, 'The Return Of The Man From UNCLE: The Fifteen Years Later Affair' was screened on U.S. television, but was only a one-off. Talk of a new movie seems to have stalled. One week after UNCLE left the airwaves, Leo G.Carroll made a surprise appearance as 'Waverly' in an edition of 'Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'. Dressed as a waiter at a party, he calls Solo and Kuryakin on a communicator pen: "Come quickly! I think I've found THRUSH Headquarters at last!". A nice gag, and sadly the last time he played the role.

After four seasons, THE MAN FROM UNCLE called it quits in January of 1968 and went out with their biggest and most ambitious two part epic of the whole series. At a time when most shows just came to end, Napoleon and Illya wrapped things up with a story and cast equal to a great B movie.

It seems that one of UNCLE's top men in Hong Kong, Robert Kingsley, has disappeared and it is up to Solo and Kuryakin to find him. They soon discover that Kingsley has gone rogue and intends to literally zap the world into eternal obedience by way of a docility gas that destroys the free will. Kingsley has built himself a swanky hideout in the Himalayas (which resembles a 60's era airport terminal) and assembled a team of scientists to build the technology to make his plan to resolve the battle between good and evil forever a reality. What Kingsley does not know is that his double dealing wife, Margita, got the financing for his mad dream from THRUSH operative, Webb, who plans to step in at the last moment and take control of the operation; thus giving THRUSH their ultimate victory.

The big name guest stars for this two part episode: Barry Sullivan as Kingsley; Eleanor Parker as Margita; Leslie Nielsen as Gen. Harmon and Peter Mark Richman as Webb. But the huge supporting cast is filled with names and faces very familiar to television audiences of the day: Dan O'Herlihy,Albert Paulson, Hugh Marlowe, Richard Bull, Ruth Warrick, Logan Ramsey, George Fenneman, Edgar Stehli, and a young Tony Bill, who would go on to be a successful movie producer.

And lets not forget Robert Vaughn and David McCallum as Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, who again face danger with the professionalism and resourcefulness that endeared them to fans like myself for four years. This time they dodge bullets, escape from crashing airplanes and punch their way out of tight spots one last time with the fate of humanity hanging in the balance. But it does seem a little unfair they weren't given some hot babes to romance along the way of their final adventure.

This last bow does boast some of the series most memorable moments: Nielsen's desperate struggle to escape a sealed chamber when he becomes an unwitting Guinea pig to the docility gas; the way Kingsley's drugged henchmen totter and fall to the ground; Solo and Kingsley's first encounter where he lays out his ambitious scheme; the scenes that clearly imply that Margita and Webb are getting it on hot and heavy; the shot from beneath a glass table where a distraught Kingsley holds his dead wife. Parker is clearly having a high old time of it and delivers such lines as "Humanity is dirt and always will be." Sullivan is one of the series most surprisingly sympathetic villains, but he is offset by an oily and smug Richman. This was years before Leslie Nielsen reinvented himself as a comedy star and seeing these episodes now, you keep waiting for him to say something outrageous.

In the final scene of this final episode, which aired on Jan. 15, 1968, Mr. Waverly and company watch as a coffin in loaded aboard a plane, an image that suggests a battle won in a war that will go on, but for us fans it was the end of the road. Times were changing rapidly (the Tet Offensive would begin two weeks later) and so was the popular culture (LAUGH IN would replace UNCLE); mindless escapism, like spy shows and westerns, would give way to topical sitcoms, cop shows and doctor dramas. THE MAN FROM UNCLE would continue for awhile as a Gold Key comic and an occasional novel, and there would be a made for TV reunion movie of sorts in 1983. But many of us fans never lost our affection for the original, years after the show went off the air, I'd imagine that Napoleon and Illya were still out there, battling THRUSH and picking up lovely ladies. When Leo G. Carroll died in 1972, I couldn't help but think of it as Mr. Waverly passing. Some UNCLE fanatics insist that David McCallum's character on NCIS is really Illya Kuryakin in retirement and living under an assumed identity. There is a reason why THE MAN FROM UNCLE was the source for some of the original fan fiction.

Will there ever be an UNCLE movie? It's a real possibility; Tom Cruise's name has been attached to the project, but if they don't have Vaughn and McCallum in it, I won't go see it.