Well, I got around to scanning the 1983 edition of the US magazine Starlog. ... And here's the George Lazenby interview, I think CR's Barry Nelson gets a go too!
excellent @Napoleon Plural those are nice clear scans and a fine addition to our scholarly archives
napoleon also sez:
However, my memory fails me because though some of what I've scanned re the Lazenby interview is interesting, I can find zero reference to his Return of the Man from Uncle film cameo.
no its there in the third and fourth paragraphs, he said he took the part "because they paid me!"
I gotta say he does come off as clueless all these years later, and bitter. He says he cant get work because he played Bond! His idea of getting Blood Sweat and Tears to perform the theme isn't so bad though, they were a horn-driven jazz rock group, their sound might've fit. Our pal @Higgins will appreciate the insight that James Bond is not supposed to cry!
The Barry Nelson interview is quite interesting too. he on the other hand comes across quite humble, and its interesting to get some insight to how that TV special was made because we know so little about it. That bad script he didnt like was co-written by Charles Bennett who worked on Hitchcock's 30s spy films!
napoleon if you don't mind, I think I'll link back to your post from the OHMSS and Climax Mystery Theatre threads, because people might not find it otherwise, and there's good info in both those interviews.
a nice half hour review of the UNCLE series, covering the basics of the history accompanied by a good selection of clips to give you a taste, from the Stam Fine Reviews channel
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. film No 3, made by joining together a two part edition of the regular TV show. If I remember correctly, this was shown as a cinema film outside the USA.
I won’t bore you with the plot, which is no different from other U.N.C.L.E. plots (world domination, blah blah). Rip Torn made a good villain. There were a couple of interesting moments which would turn up in later Bond films (eg Napoleon Solo fighting a musclebound henchman in a gym, both using equipment such as weights, similar to a scene in NSNA). And our own Teru Shimada (Mr Osato in YOLT) turns up as a prospective assassination victim.
I’ve bought two boxes of U.N.C.L.E. dvds so might post comments on another episode later.
The Karate Killers (1967)
Opening Channel D....
Messrs Solo and Kuryakin fly to the four corners of the studio in search of a formula developed to desalinise sea water which actually extracts the gold content from it. Along the way they meet innocent bystanders in the U.N.C.L.E. tradition including future Bond villains Curd Jurgens and Telly Savalas (with an outrageous Italian accent) who is playing a Count (!), plus a hell of a lot of rear projection and stock footage but the film is stolen by Herbert Lom as the villain.
Not a lot of karate, though (one scene towards the end).
I watched all eight movies on the Beeb back in the late 1980s. They showed them in a row, one a week, but not quite in order. I think they kicked off with One of Our Spies is Missing [No.4], went back to One Spy Too Many [No.3] and To Trap a Spy [No.1] before reconvening with The Spy with My Face [No.2] The Spy in the Green Hat [No.5], The Karate Killers [No.6] The Helicopter Spies [No.7] and How To Steal The World [No.8]. If memory serves me correct, they are all stitched together double episodes with occasional added material for the cinema market. To Trap A Spy was the original 70 minute pilot episode titled Solo, and was edited down to 50 minutes for The Man from UNCLE's opening episode The Vulcan Affair. Then the 70 minute version had extra scenes filmed for the cinema. The movie is much racier than the pilot. The Karate Killers meanwhile has a top notch cast. Unfortunately, I remember absolutely nothing about it.
I thought that the previous U.N.C.L.E. movie was badly titled- “The Karate Killers” makes the potential viewer think they’ll be watching a film heavy on karate, doesn’t it? Well, it isn’t (see above).
This one, however, beats that hands down. Our friends Napoleon and Illya do spend some time in a helicopter or two… for maybe the first five minutes of the film. That’s it, until a disguised Napoleon gets involved in the evil scheme about 75% of the way through and is in a helicopter for maybe one or two minutes.
Speaking of that sequence, it has a lot in common with a similar one (train hijack and helicopter) in the following year’s Matt Helm effort, “The Wrecking Crew”. And the main plot may sound familiar to us Bond fans- the villain is going to blackmail the planet with a laser heat beam coming from a satellite in orbit.
Spoiler- he doesn’t get that far, since the U.N.C.L.E. boys blow up the rocket shortly after take off.
Carol Lynley is the innocent caught up in the story, Bradford Dillman the villain- they were bigger names 50/60 years ago, trust me, but it’s not as starry as “The Karate Killers”. Singer Julie London turns up in a smallish part, as does John Carradine.
The last of the U.N.C.L.E. movies (or at least it’s the last in my box set), I didn’t enjoy this as much as the previous ones. Usual take-over-the-world plot, that’s okay with me but the first half of the film (presumably the first episode when it was shown on TV as a two-parter) dragged annoyingly in setting up a bunch of characters who’ll mostly be killed off not too much later as the film heads for the countdown climax.
It was pleasant to see Leslie Nielsen as a General proving that yes, he can he serious. Surely. None of the other guests stuck in my mind.
this was also the last two episodes of the teevee series where it was entitled The Seven Wonders of the World Affair
as I recall it was also mentioned in the Return of the Man from UNCLE: The Fifteen Years Later Affair, where we're told THRUSH completely collapsed after this adventure, and that was the reason Solo retired from the spy business
I was watching S2E05 The Discotheque Affair (Oct 15, 1965)
This is the one where Napoleon is reassigned to duties as property manager for the block of brownstone flats UNCLE owns as cover for their headquarters. THRUSH (whose own headquarters is behind a discotheque) already have the plans for the block and conspire to plant a listening device in the apartment backing on to Waverleys office
thing is, we get a good look at these plans, two different drawings, and I thought I should take screenshots and post them here. just in case anybody is ever trying to find their way round UNCLE headquarters, its a big place and probably easy to get lost
can anybody read the first one? the text was fuzzy even on my teevee. I can make out the word "COMMUNICATIONS", and I think I see "INTERNATIONAL LAW" but the rest I cant make out
Comments
napoleon sez:
Well, I got around to scanning the 1983 edition of the US magazine Starlog. ... And here's the George Lazenby interview, I think CR's Barry Nelson gets a go too!
excellent @Napoleon Plural those are nice clear scans and a fine addition to our scholarly archives
napoleon also sez:
However, my memory fails me because though some of what I've scanned re the Lazenby interview is interesting, I can find zero reference to his Return of the Man from Uncle film cameo.
no its there in the third and fourth paragraphs, he said he took the part "because they paid me!"
I gotta say he does come off as clueless all these years later, and bitter. He says he cant get work because he played Bond! His idea of getting Blood Sweat and Tears to perform the theme isn't so bad though, they were a horn-driven jazz rock group, their sound might've fit. Our pal @Higgins will appreciate the insight that James Bond is not supposed to cry!
The Barry Nelson interview is quite interesting too. he on the other hand comes across quite humble, and its interesting to get some insight to how that TV special was made because we know so little about it. That bad script he didnt like was co-written by Charles Bennett who worked on Hitchcock's 30s spy films!
napoleon if you don't mind, I think I'll link back to your post from the OHMSS and Climax Mystery Theatre threads, because people might not find it otherwise, and there's good info in both those interviews.
Oh yeah! Was in such a hurry to scan the thing I didn't really read it and spot the UNCLE mention - you'd think they'd have got in a picture from it!
If you want to link that to another thread, fine, or upload the pictures again, I don't mind either way.
At some point I may upload the pics from the earlier Starlog edition about the 1983 Bonds, in another thread as it has no UNCLE connection.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
@Barbel found this one
a nice half hour review of the UNCLE series, covering the basics of the history accompanied by a good selection of clips to give you a taste, from the Stam Fine Reviews channel
I especially appreciated all the clips from the Girl from UNCLE, as its almost impossible to find those episodes online
One Spy Too Many (1966)
Opening Channel D….
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. film No 3, made by joining together a two part edition of the regular TV show. If I remember correctly, this was shown as a cinema film outside the USA.
I won’t bore you with the plot, which is no different from other U.N.C.L.E. plots (world domination, blah blah). Rip Torn made a good villain. There were a couple of interesting moments which would turn up in later Bond films (eg Napoleon Solo fighting a musclebound henchman in a gym, both using equipment such as weights, similar to a scene in NSNA). And our own Teru Shimada (Mr Osato in YOLT) turns up as a prospective assassination victim.
I’ve bought two boxes of U.N.C.L.E. dvds so might post comments on another episode later.
The Karate Killers (1967)
Opening Channel D....
Messrs Solo and Kuryakin fly to the four corners of the studio in search of a formula developed to desalinise sea water which actually extracts the gold content from it. Along the way they meet innocent bystanders in the U.N.C.L.E. tradition including future Bond villains Curd Jurgens and Telly Savalas (with an outrageous Italian accent) who is playing a Count (!), plus a hell of a lot of rear projection and stock footage but the film is stolen by Herbert Lom as the villain.
Not a lot of karate, though (one scene towards the end).
I watched all eight movies on the Beeb back in the late 1980s. They showed them in a row, one a week, but not quite in order. I think they kicked off with One of Our Spies is Missing [No.4], went back to One Spy Too Many [No.3] and To Trap a Spy [No.1] before reconvening with The Spy with My Face [No.2] The Spy in the Green Hat [No.5], The Karate Killers [No.6] The Helicopter Spies [No.7] and How To Steal The World [No.8]. If memory serves me correct, they are all stitched together double episodes with occasional added material for the cinema market. To Trap A Spy was the original 70 minute pilot episode titled Solo, and was edited down to 50 minutes for The Man from UNCLE's opening episode The Vulcan Affair. Then the 70 minute version had extra scenes filmed for the cinema. The movie is much racier than the pilot. The Karate Killers meanwhile has a top notch cast. Unfortunately, I remember absolutely nothing about it.
The Man From UNCLE was always fun, which Bond hasn’t been for a long, long time.
True, true...
Opening Channel D…
The Helicopter Spies (1968)
I thought that the previous U.N.C.L.E. movie was badly titled- “The Karate Killers” makes the potential viewer think they’ll be watching a film heavy on karate, doesn’t it? Well, it isn’t (see above).
This one, however, beats that hands down. Our friends Napoleon and Illya do spend some time in a helicopter or two… for maybe the first five minutes of the film. That’s it, until a disguised Napoleon gets involved in the evil scheme about 75% of the way through and is in a helicopter for maybe one or two minutes.
Speaking of that sequence, it has a lot in common with a similar one (train hijack and helicopter) in the following year’s Matt Helm effort, “The Wrecking Crew”. And the main plot may sound familiar to us Bond fans- the villain is going to blackmail the planet with a
laserheat beam coming from a satellite in orbit.Spoiler- he doesn’t get that far, since the U.N.C.L.E. boys blow up the rocket shortly after take off.
Carol Lynley is the innocent caught up in the story, Bradford Dillman the villain- they were bigger names 50/60 years ago, trust me, but it’s not as starry as “The Karate Killers”. Singer Julie London turns up in a smallish part, as does John Carradine.
Opening Channel D…
HOW TO STEAL THE WORLD (1968)
The last of the U.N.C.L.E. movies (or at least it’s the last in my box set), I didn’t enjoy this as much as the previous ones. Usual take-over-the-world plot, that’s okay with me but the first half of the film (presumably the first episode when it was shown on TV as a two-parter) dragged annoyingly in setting up a bunch of characters who’ll mostly be killed off not too much later as the film heads for the countdown climax.
It was pleasant to see Leslie Nielsen as a General proving that yes, he can he serious. Surely. None of the other guests stuck in my mind.
open Channel D
this was also the last two episodes of the teevee series where it was entitled The Seven Wonders of the World Affair
as I recall it was also mentioned in the Return of the Man from UNCLE: The Fifteen Years Later Affair, where we're told THRUSH completely collapsed after this adventure, and that was the reason Solo retired from the spy business
open Channel D
I was watching S2E05 The Discotheque Affair (Oct 15, 1965)
This is the one where Napoleon is reassigned to duties as property manager for the block of brownstone flats UNCLE owns as cover for their headquarters. THRUSH (whose own headquarters is behind a discotheque) already have the plans for the block and conspire to plant a listening device in the apartment backing on to Waverleys office
thing is, we get a good look at these plans, two different drawings, and I thought I should take screenshots and post them here. just in case anybody is ever trying to find their way round UNCLE headquarters, its a big place and probably easy to get lost
can anybody read the first one? the text was fuzzy even on my teevee. I can make out the word "COMMUNICATIONS", and I think I see "INTERNATIONAL LAW" but the rest I cant make out
If you live in the UK, Legend [channel 41] is showing The Return of the Man from UNCLE tomorrow [Friday] at 1pm