It also follows the North by Northwest plot structure, in which the naive, sheltered innocent caught up in the intrigue and espionage was Roger Thornhill rather than a young woman.
good point. And in Notorious itself, Ingrid Bergman's character is not naive or innocent, she is the daughter of a convicted Nazi, drunken and implicitly promiscuous. Very different from the types Solo ropes into into his schemes.
I just mean the general setup of a secret agent controller persuading a civilian, usually female, to go on a secret mission, usually with incomplete information and her life put recklessly in danger. There's lots of stories that follow that plot, and I think of that as the Notorious plot though it was probably done earlier than that.
In the 39 Steps or North by NorthWest the civilian hero stumbles into the plot by accident, rather than being deliberately recruited by official authorities.
First two seasons of the Avengers follow the same setup, though the characters Steed recruits are not one-offs like most of the innocents Solo recruits. Steed appears positively sinister when he gets Dr Keel to do his work, Dr King is openly hostile to Steed, and Venus Smith is way too young and naive to be asked (one episode we learn she is twenty and she often acts younger). It's only after Cathy Gale becomes the regular "talented amateur" the Notorious concept disappears, because she is so ready and willing to take on the challenge, but even then she continues to recognise and resent how manipulative Steed really is. Whereas with Emma Peel there is never any question of morality in her being involved.
What is cool, is that the more I learn about the other spy series that were contemporary to the classic Bond films, the more I understand how it all goes back to Hitchcock. The quoted material in Thunderpussy's post on page 1 proves the Man from UNCLE absolutely was inspired by North by NorthWest!
2012, what a weird time. The only people wearing masks, were terrorists or Bank
robbers. You could visit old people, and you didn't have to shake elbows with people.
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
2012. My Mum was alive. Think we had her in a care home at that point, but it was before the big fall out when one care home nearly killed her, and I reported it to the local press, then all hell broke lose and the British State went after me. By which I mean, the local authority - Surrey County Council - and boy, did that uncover stuff. Toxic.
Oh, she nearly copped it in March 2014, but she lived until Oct 2017.
Funnily enough, I did take her to see The Man from Uncle film at the BFI Imax and she liked it. I mean, it's not.a great film really but it has. a great opening and some lovely shots, plus Hugh Grant pops up.
It was a good dry run for Spectre, also at the BFI Imax, which we also took her to see, as Bond was a family favourite with us growing up. Oddly, what, five years on or so it's STILL the latest James Bond film. I can still say, hey, I took Mum to the latest Bond film.
I do remember when I heard of some early delay to 'the next James Bond film' sort of thinking, well, much as I'd like it otherwise, I can't see Mum (who had advanced Parkinson's for years by this point) really making it to see that... Little did I know. Even now, many years on, none of us have seen it yet! No Time to Die indeed! You'd need All The Time in the World to see that one.
Anyway, didn't mean to make it maudlin in the early hours but 2012 - that's a long way off! Brexit, Covid, Trump... nothing!
I have warmed to the new movie of TMFU, and was happy to get all four seasons
of the TV series on Amazon Prime for only around a fiver a season. It's interesting
to compare the Movies to the two part stories they were made from, as I also
have the movie collection.
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
what is general consensus about the movies? should they be watched in place of the equivalent teevee episodes? are the movies the definitive versions of those stories? is any content lost not watching the equivalent episodes? only problem is I might not be able to find most of them online, but I've found the first three.
To Trap a Spy is actually an expanded version of the pilot, rather than the first episode per se. There's a different actor playing Mr Waverly, who was recast between the pilot and the first episode proper (The Vulcan Affair). Though otherwise most of the scenes looked the same. But with a couple lines of dialog added here and there, mostly sexual in nature, Solo's flirting with his secretary for example.
Attached to The Vulcan Affair content is half of what would be a later episode The Four Steps Affair (actually the 21st episode), starring Luciana Paluzzi (she's one of ours). Either version, her plot seems artificially grafted onto an otherwise unrelated story. Here her scenes come in two halves: a first act preceding the introduction of Solo and the UNCLE organisation, then she reappears in the the middle of the film, stowing away in Solo's car then (following the frisking scene, which includes a few more frisks in this version) leading him back to her place. Difference here is Solo then sleeps with her while patiently awaiting the expected assassination attempt.
Really, her whole plotline is the same as Fiona Volpe in Thunderball: she picks up our hero in a car, he sleeps with her knowing what she is up to, and ultimately...
...she is shot by her own men
Since this film came out in 1964, that means Thunderball copied an UNCLE plot almost precisely, even with the same actress. Rather ironic, considering they had threatened legal action over the name Solo!
After the opening act introducing Paluzzi's character we get to the Vulcan Affair content, starting with the villains infiltration of UNCLE headquarters via the tailors shop. These scenes, both in teevee episode and movie, are a great way to quickly visually establish the UNCLE concept and headquarters location. Solo himself is dramatically introduced behind bullet proof glass in silhouette, a shot that would be reused in opening credits in shows to come.
Waverly as noted is played by a different actor. Ilya, as in the teevee episode gets about two lines then disappears (ironic the main character is named Solo when most of the show's run would be a two man act).
THRUSH for some reason is named WASP in this version, and we can even see the new name is overdubbed into existing dialog. Why did they bother to rename it if theyd already filmed scenes calling it THRUSH?
Balance of the film is the exact same as The Vulcan Affair, with its Notorious style plot. When the second chunk of the Paluzzi plot appears (after Solo leaves Vulcan's party) it really stands out as an irrelevant digression.
One thing I noticed this time is how much the final scenes resemble Dr No (hero and innocent female accomplice tortured in steam room, final showdown in reactor core).
I did finally spot Richard Kiel. He is in it for literally less than a second. When Solo is being pursued by brownshirt clad security guards and Dobermans he runs up a staircase, straight into a worker who swings a huge mallet at him and misses. That's our Jaws cameo, keep your eyes peeled for that moment because our favourite seven foot henchman is easy to miss.
In the Four Steps Affair, the Paluzzi content is also awkwardly grafted into an unrelated storyline. Halfway through that episode, Solo conspicuously combs his hair into a different style. Why? because throughout this movie, he is wearing his hair in a different style than he would ever do throughout the rest of the series, including the other material in that episode! They took the time to film a scene explaining why his hairstyle suddenly changes!
yes, I know I'm overdue with my report on Season 2, but the truth is, um, er, that is to say, I waited too long and forgot most of it. Generally its more silly than Season 1, especially the two part opening episode the Alexander the Greater Affair, which is much much too silly (yet got turned into one of the movies).
There's also more Mr Waverly content, which pleases me. There begins a running gag where Waverly travels halfway round the world and shows up in the last scene just to pick up Solo's chick right in from of him, while Solo sinks in his chair and Ilya smirks at his colleague's humiliation. Waverly is now my favourite by far of all spy bosses (except for David Lynch's Gordon Cole character of course). Much more entertaining than any version of M.
The only Bond alumni I noticed is Barbara Bouchet (Moneypenny from Casino Royale) who appears in The Project Deephole Affair. George Sanders reappears in The Yukon Affair, reprising the same character he played in Season 1. Ricardo Montalbán reappears in The King of Diamonds Affair, a different character than he played in season 1 (now he's a gentleman thief) but again is a charismatic frenemy rather than pure villain. Off the top of my head, Rip Torn, Vincent Price, and Angela Lansbury all get to chew the scenery as guest stars in this season.
The Cherry Blossom Affair is about an evil THRUSH plan involving Japanese volcanos, two years before You Only Live Twice.
The Moonglow Affair is most significant as it is the pilot for the Girl from UNCLE spinoff despite featuring completely different actors. Mary Ann Mobley plays April Dancer, much more competent than Solo and Ilya are ever portrayed, and Norman Fell (Mr Roper) plays her over-the-hill sidekick Mark Slate. When I saw the first season episode where Marty Balsam plays an UNCLE agent past the retirement age, I thought that was testing the waters for a spinoff, and indeed Norman Fell's character is a variation on the concept. I found some actual Girl from UNCLE episodes online, so shall hopefully file a report on those soon.
I always like the episodes where we learn more about the UNCLE organisation. I forget the title, but there's one where we learn UNCLE owns all the buildings on the block, and rents out apartments in the other buildings as part of their cover. Waverly assigns Solo to act as building manager! in this episode, and we see THRUSH has labeled profile drawings of the entire block as they try to figure out what UNCLE is using all that space for. Wish I'd made a screenshot of that, it was almost like when the comics sometimes include a diagram of the BatCave. In another episode we clearly see the streetsigns outside UNCLE headquarters, and they seemed to be in Hells Kitchen or maybe Chelsea, on the West side at least, despite the establishing shots always showing the United Nations building next to the East River.
Second best gag of the season: in The Birds and the Bees Affair Ilya tells Waverly and Solo about a scientific report published earlier that year, then turns to Solo and says "did you read it?", Solo gives him a silent stinkeye that says "who do you think I am, Roger Moore's version of James Bond? nerd!"
First best gag: in The Foreign Legion Affair Ilya has gone missing and while searching Solo gets distracted by a sexy THRUSH agent. Waverly calls Solo and hearing the sexy THRUSH agent giggling, says "Your report is overdue Mr Solo! and who the deuce is that?" Bonus points for Waverly using "the deuce" in a sentence!
and then there's this subtle one, maybe me seeing something that isn't there, but since I saw it I can't unsee it: in The Nowhere Affair Solo has been captured by THRUSH, and taken an amnesia pill so he cant spill UNCLE secrets. The THRUSH chief decides the amnesia can be broken if all Solo's physical senses are stimulated, i.e. he has to be seduced, and programs the computer to identify the THRUSH agent who would be Solo's ideal sexual partner. The computer selected candidate turns out to be a nerdy uptight blonde, which is to say she's just like a female Ilya!
the actual reason I'm Reporting today is because I just watched the second Man from UNCLE feature film...
The Spy with My Face (1965)
basically an expanded version of The Double Affair (s1e08 orig broadcast November 17, 1964), in which a THRUSH agent undergoes plastic surgery to look like Napoleon Solo and infiltrate UNCLE. Robert Vaughn plays both parts, so for most of the second half is playing the villain rather than the real Solo. In the first half the double is covered in bandages, and in appearance and context resembles that character at Shrublands from Thunderball, but The Double Affair came first so again Thunderball was "borrowing" ideas from this teevee series.
Senta Berger (the school teacher from The Quiller Memorandum) plays the sexy THRUSH agent overseeing the whole operation.
Whereas the first movie was one and a half episodes cobbled together, this one is mostly the one episode greatly expanded, with some random scenes from two other episodes. Don Harron's character from The Four Steps Affair reappears here, but the remaining plot of that episode (involving a boy king and his guardian) is left out. I'm not even sure its the exact same scenes with Harron, or if maybe they filmed a bunch of scenes with his character and split them into the movie and the teevee episode. Otherwise I cant see how his scenes could possibly have fit the other context. Wikipedia says other scenes were used in The Dippy Blonde Affair, but I didn't spot them. There is the familiar scene where Ilya encounters exploding toy robots outside the tailor shop, which episode was that from?
but mostly the one episode was greatly expanded with more sexual content (lots of ladies in their underwear) and greater violence. Solo points his gun at most of the people he meets and in one shower scene blatantly states the gun is a phallic symbol. And he kills a lot of minions in cold blood. Also the music seems different, more suspenseful than the lighthearted music of the teevee show.
Very stylish action scenes during the opening credits, using varying camera speeds to highlight the action as solo leads a raid. This is much more violent than anything seen on teevee.
Ilya gets very little screentime, but does pick up a stewardess with the line "Well I'm pretending to be a travelling business man, but in reality I am an international spy".
_______________
by the way I suggest all new posts to this thread must begin with the words "Open Channel D" or else they will be rerouted to the tailors shop, who will deny any knowledge that this thread exists.
I don't have the time to catch up with TMFU. I think one of the TV channels over here (Sony Pictures?) has been showing the series from the start, but as I never drop into anything half-way, I haven't bothered.
Anyone who reads my posts knows I have fond memories of Friday evening telly on the BBC and the eight UNCLE films drop neatly into that category. One summer in the early 1980s I am certain I saw the whole lot week after week, although the details about The Spy With My Face are completely unfamiliar to me. I have a vague memory that To Trap A Spy barely featured David McCullum and the Luciana Paluzzi scenes felt completely out of place. Reading the posts above I now understand why!
I've just finished watching Season One and very much enjoyed your review, CP. I hadn't seen it before, apart from To Trap a Spy and The Spy with My Face, and I hugely enjoyed it once I got over I think being in black & white.
Just to add a couple of things to your excellent review. Richard Kiel briefly fights Solo on a gantry at the climactic battle in The Vulcan Affair; has a much large role role in The Hong Kong Shilling Affair; and I'm sure i briefly saw in a third episode but can't remember which . Also in season one, The Shark Affair stars said the charismatic Robert Culp of I Spy fame; Quatermass and the Pit's Barbara Shelley stars in the Odd Man Affair; and the Girls of Nazarone Affair has the lovely Sharon Tate in a small role too.
I very much look forward to watching Season Two now...
I don't believe so - it was just a well thought out and timely gag, with George appearing as 'JB' - thus avoiding naming him as Bond and potentially risking an injunction from EON.
I have watched eight episodes of spin-off series the Girl from UNCLE (what I could find on some dodgy Russian site), and my report is now ready.
The "Girl" of the title is April Dancer, and she works alongside fellow UNCLE agent Mark Slade.
The show ran September 13, 1966 - April 11, 1967. As the Man from UNCLE season 3 ran September 16, 1966 - April 14, 1967, this show was broadcast three days earlier in the weekly teevee schedule and therefor must be discussed first.
The show has 1960s sitcom style rhythms of setup, punchline, reaction shot. Or to be really generous, Hope and Crosby style. Plots are farcelike and circular with little actually developing over 60 minutes.
The visual aesthetic is characterised by a highly artificial look, emphasised for example in The Prisoner of Zalamar Affair (s1e02 September 20, 1966) which begins with the characters watching a silent movie while sitting in a set that looks no more realistic than the film within the film.
Later episodes feature silly sound effects during cartoonishly sped-up action sequences that make ...Golden Gun's slide whistle seem subtle by comparison.
The first two seasons of the Man from UNCLE were funny on several levels, but had a deadpan tone that made the absurdities seem realistic within the rules of that particular universe. This show by contrast is telegraphing the supposed humour, leaving little space for actual spy plots amidst all the jokes.
The two lead actors have been recast since the pilot.
Mark Slade is played by Noel Harrison rather than Norman Fell, and is no longer overdue for retirement, he is now young, hip and English.
Stefanie Powers is also younger than Mary Ann Mobley the actress in the pilot, and plays April Dancer with less competence: camera frequently zooms in to her repeated slackjawed expression of being shocked and overwhelmed (one of those sit-com-y elements). And despite being the title character, most episodes she ends up as damsel in distress requiring Mark to rescue her. She is at her best when doing funny voices and accents, a master of disguise.
The one absolutley essential episode is The Mother Muffin Affair (s1e03 September 27, 1966), as it guest stars Napoleon Solo, and Boris Karloff as the villain (in drag!) (recall Elsa Lanchester was a villain in season 1, though she played it straighter than Karloff here.)
Dancer diplays her funny voice superpowers with a cockney accent introduced after ten minutes of ever-mounting tension, thus saving their lives.
Waverly gets some classic dialog in this episode, e.g. "Mr Solo I have more pressing matters. Notify me after you've made your escape" and "I put Mr Solo on this particular mission as he is considered by some a top professional, obviously he's bungling the escape!", and near the climax delivers a message to his agents via crystal ball!
Other guest stars in the episodes I saw included Stan Freberg (The Carpathian Caper Affair s1e21 February 14, 1967) and Ed Asner (The Double-O-Nothing Affair s1e26 March 21, 1967). The Asner episode adds a bit to our knowledge of the THRUSH organisation, as Slade impersonates a THRUSH auditor inspecting the local franchise office. In the Freberg episode we see Waverly asleep on the couch in his office, direspected by the cleaning lady. In fact we get plenty of Waverly content this season, grouchy and condescending to his employees, reassigning either Slade or Dancer to more humiliating duties at least once nearly every episode.
We should go easy on April Dancer, as she is a Fleming creation.
But it was Barbara Feldon, who played a similar character in the first season, who had the better show.
Good stuff. Wasn't Noel Harrison, son of famous Rex, the guy who sang 'Windmills of Your Mind' the song from The Thomas Crown Affair, in that slightly fey, Peter Skellern voice?
I am enjoying your on / off reviews of The Man / Girl from UNCLE , caractacus, I wish I had your staying power to watch all those episodes ! Good work all round.
I've been thinking of doing a special post focusing on episodes that give us more insight to how the UNCLE organisation works, or THRUSH (they have their own pension plan, but nobody lives to collect it). I love all the clues they give as to that stuff, the hint that there is a larger internally consistent world in which all this spy-ish nonsense plays out. But that seems like a bit of work when I think about it, and I haven't got round to it yet.
I wish to file my report on the third Man from Uncle film...
One Spy Too Many (1966)
Whereas the first two were single episodes padded out with additional material, this one is a two part episode edited down to fit the cinematic format. Two part episode was the Alexander the Greater Affair, which opened Season 2. I recall that episode was much too silly for my tastes, and was relieved the rest of Season 2 was not quite like that. So this would not have been my choice for the third film, but perhaps spy cinema in general was evolving in a sillier direction by 1966?
Villain is Rip Torn, underplaying it while everybody else around him is a living cartoon. Amongst the stylised setpieces is a lifesize chess match between our hero and our villain, which anticipates similar life size chess matches in both The Prisoner and Bulldog Drummond film Deadlier Than the Male. Also there is an sequence and cliffhanger in a network of underground tombs straight out of old time movie serials.
But the film is dominated by Dorothy Provine as the villain's kooky exwife, who "helps" our heroes save the world. She says things like "I'm not above blackmail, it's part of my charm!" . At the end of the film...
after her evil husband is dead, she is last seen hooking up with the military ruler of a country who her husband had just tried to kill
...meaning even in 1989 James Bond films were still borrowing ideas from Man from UNCLE plots! Provine i know as Milton Berle's wife from It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,and apparently she was in another 1966 spyspoof Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die. so she's plenty kooky.
The two input tv episodes were edited down by leaving out a subplot involving the villain's parents. But all-new material was added, better than the film proper! in an unrelated subplot, Solo finds himself committed to a rather intimate sounding date with a coworker whose name he cannot remember (Mulva?) played by Yvonne Craig. Craig had previously appeared as a different character in the first season episode The Brain-Killer Affair. Turns out her name is...
Maude Waverly, i.e. she is the boss's niece, and Mr Waverly himself has assigned her to seduce the easily distracted Solo so he and his libido will be less of a security risk.
Note the producers were sitting on the Fleming created character concept April Dancer for two years, and they had both Barbara Feldon and Yvonne Craig on the show, either one of whom could have played a brilliant version of the character, but both ended up on better shows than what finally got made.
I'm not sure I will go to the effort to track down the remaining five films if theyre all going to be this silly, but I gether the next one also has Yvonne Craig content so may make an exception fot that one.
I'd been wondering if there's a good book on The Man from UNCLE, and this one seems to have a good reputation. I shall be looking for it when I venture into used book stores again. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Book: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of a Television Classic, Jon Heitland, 1987. It is divided into four Acts, a sure sign the author knows his stuff.
so I don't actually have a copy of the book, er, sorry sir, ahem, but the reason I'm Reporting is there is an excerpt available from it on the Amazon page, including Robert Vaughn's two page introduction, and a chunk of the first chapter dealing with how Norm Felton came up with the idea and Ian Fleming's involvement! given the title of this thread I thought it must be my duty to summarize.
from Vaughn's Introduction: he was given the script for the pilot, but stayed up late the night before his meeting with Felton, and didn't actually read the script until he was driving there, reading a page or two at each red light. Such a Napoleon Solo thing to do, no wonder he got the part.
Felton was inspired by North by NorthWest. and Hitchcock's earlier spy films, liking the idea of an Innocent becoming involved in a spy plot.
Felton's agent Ted Ashley gave him a copy of Thrilling Cities (!!!) and asked him if he could develop a teevee series around it. (I guess by 1963 none of the actual James Bond novels were available). At his next meeting Felton didn't think the book in and of itself could make for a series, but then proceeded to tell the story of a secret agent working for the Secretary General of the united Nations who travelled the world solving problems, a master of disguise.
It was then arranged Felton meet Fleming. Fleming flew to New York and the two spent three days together. Fleming mostly told amusing stories about himself, but on the last day Fleming suggested the name Napoleon Solo, and handed Felton eleven pages of Western Union Telegram blanks covered in detailed handwritten notes.
one page was capsule plot suggestions, much like his own notebook for future Bond stories: e.g. drug smuggling in Istanbul, a gangland murder in Soho, a payoff in Las Vegas, arms smuggling from East Germany to Africa.
details on Napoleon Solo: there's four long paragraphs of this I cannot hope to summarize properly, so please follow my link if interested. Fleming's Solo was more of an intellectual than Robert Vaughn's version of the character. His neighbours believed he is a writer, and his apartment walls are lined with books. He was a Canadian, had a bird that talked (which might somehow help with the plots), was a good cook and collector of gramophone records. He was a widower who lost wife and child in a tragic accident. His mysterious boss was known only as "He", but his boss's secretary was named April Dancer. The show was to be called Solo - Cities Around the World
about all of this that got used was the names. But Fleming and Felton agreed the show should emphasise humour, pretty girls, world travel, and old fashioned derring do, all of which did make it to the show.
Fleming asked for $25,000- a year as a script consultant, and two trips a year to California. This was to be an exclusive deal, he could use his name for no other teevee series. Obviously there was a certain movie series exploiting Fleming's name, the online excerpt doesn't get to the point where that became an issue.
Felton changed Solo from Canadian to American, and came up with the idea of a much more elaborate headquarters which entire plots could be built round. Felton also reintroduced the Hitchcockian concept of the Innocent, which Fleming liked as it was different from his Bond stories. It was Sam Rolfe who scrapped most of Fleming's detailed ideas for the character, keeping just the name
that's as far as the amazon excerpt gets. I'll just have to find the book to read the rest of the exciting adventure. but we've mentioned many times Fleming's supposed involvement in the show, and this is by far the most detail I've seen on that intriguing topic.
Fleming's original concept is not really recognisable as our silly teevee series at all, but don't you wish someone could scan and publish those eleven pages of Fleming's detailed notes? I always say there oughta be a book compiling all of Fleming's unfinished Bond stories, his notebook for potential Bond plots, the various synopses for unmade Bond films and teevee series (including Commander Jamaica), and now there's this!
Thank you, CP, that was good reading. I'd think IFP would have to give the okay to publish Fleming's notes and just maybe they have an idea for them.
"Kiss The Girls..." wasn't bad for peak spy-boom stuff, but IIRC came out a year or two too late. It was available on YouTube when I last watched it a few years ago, don't know if it still is.
I've an original copy of this book and it's excellent - my 'go to' book on UNCLE. Copies come up all the time on eBay, usually only for about £8-£10 ($10-$15?). It's well worth getting hold of a copy.
I used to get £25 for this book in pre-eBay days. I sold a fair few copies in my time, but they certainly weren’t plentiful, eBay is one of the reasons for the decline in secondhand bookshops 🙁
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
@CoolHandBond dont worry I'll be starting with bricks-and-mortar used book stores in my city. I dont like to use my credit card online on principle, and I do like to spend money at local businesses and build that personal relationship with the proprietors, real human beings I know who obviously share my interests. There is actually a used book store in my city that specializes in books on Cinema, that will be the first place I check.
That’s good to hear, caractus, a big proportion of my clientele became more like friends than customers. I used to love telling them that a book they want has come into stock, either by phoning them or placing it before them when they next came into the shop 🙂
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
I imagine that EON have all of Fleming's notes for prospective or unfinished Bond stories in a basement somewhere, that said with that in mind you wonder how Fleming ever got writer's block as he seemed to do around the time of Thunderball the novel. Unused ideas for the films also show up in later movies of course and perhaps a problem with Some Kind of a Hero, the recent excellent book on the Bond series, is that it sometimes delves into action scenes that fell by the wayside, acting as spoilers for future films.
On a similar note, I have a prophecy of Skinner and Baddiel in the nursing home being wheeled out for an England Final, with their famous song instead going 'But I don't remember that tackle by Moore...'
as I work my way through the sillier-than-normal Season 3, I have just got to the season's first two-parter, The Concrete Overcoat Affair (s3e11 & 12 - November 25 & December 2 1966), which got repackaged as the film The Spy in the Green Hat. so far I like this better than either of the two-parters in Season 2.
Villains are played by Jack Palance, stammering and sweating nervously, and Janet Leigh as his "secretary" Miss Diketon in tight slit skirt and lowcut top. She is actually a kinky assassin/torturer who starts to breathe all funny when she has the chance to kill someone. Mighty spicy stuff for mid60s primetime teevee! Reason I want to report this, is surely this character is a prototype for Xenia Onatopp?
now I've only got so far as the cliffhanger (where she has Ilya tied up for torture and is telling him how attractive she finds him) but I can see from youtube there is going to be a catfight scene with good girl character Leticia Roman to look forward to in part 2 you all probably wish to study. Nobody spoil for me what happens, but in the words of Count Floyd "this looks like its gonna be real scary, kids!"
I said I wasnt going to bother with the film versions of the remaining episodes, but since the films so far have all added additional sexy content, I think I gotta see what they could possibly do with this character in film that could not be done on teevee.
Comments
I just mean the general setup of a secret agent controller persuading a civilian, usually female, to go on a secret mission, usually with incomplete information and her life put recklessly in danger. There's lots of stories that follow that plot, and I think of that as the Notorious plot though it was probably done earlier than that.
In the 39 Steps or North by NorthWest the civilian hero stumbles into the plot by accident, rather than being deliberately recruited by official authorities.
First two seasons of the Avengers follow the same setup, though the characters Steed recruits are not one-offs like most of the innocents Solo recruits. Steed appears positively sinister when he gets Dr Keel to do his work, Dr King is openly hostile to Steed, and Venus Smith is way too young and naive to be asked (one episode we learn she is twenty and she often acts younger). It's only after Cathy Gale becomes the regular "talented amateur" the Notorious concept disappears, because she is so ready and willing to take on the challenge, but even then she continues to recognise and resent how manipulative Steed really is. Whereas with Emma Peel there is never any question of morality in her being involved.
What is cool, is that the more I learn about the other spy series that were contemporary to the classic Bond films, the more I understand how it all goes back to Hitchcock. The quoted material in Thunderpussy's post on page 1 proves the Man from UNCLE absolutely was inspired by North by NorthWest!
What happened to them all?
Roger Moore 1927-2017
robbers. You could visit old people, and you didn't have to shake elbows with people.
Oh, she nearly copped it in March 2014, but she lived until Oct 2017.
Funnily enough, I did take her to see The Man from Uncle film at the BFI Imax and she liked it. I mean, it's not.a great film really but it has. a great opening and some lovely shots, plus Hugh Grant pops up.
It was a good dry run for Spectre, also at the BFI Imax, which we also took her to see, as Bond was a family favourite with us growing up. Oddly, what, five years on or so it's STILL the latest James Bond film. I can still say, hey, I took Mum to the latest Bond film.
I do remember when I heard of some early delay to 'the next James Bond film' sort of thinking, well, much as I'd like it otherwise, I can't see Mum (who had advanced Parkinson's for years by this point) really making it to see that... Little did I know. Even now, many years on, none of us have seen it yet! No Time to Die indeed! You'd need All The Time in the World to see that one.
Anyway, didn't mean to make it maudlin in the early hours but 2012 - that's a long way off! Brexit, Covid, Trump... nothing!
Roger Moore 1927-2017
of the TV series on Amazon Prime for only around a fiver a season. It's interesting
to compare the Movies to the two part stories they were made from, as I also
have the movie collection.
what is general consensus about the movies? should they be watched in place of the equivalent teevee episodes? are the movies the definitive versions of those stories? is any content lost not watching the equivalent episodes? only problem is I might not be able to find most of them online, but I've found the first three.
To Trap a Spy is actually an expanded version of the pilot, rather than the first episode per se. There's a different actor playing Mr Waverly, who was recast between the pilot and the first episode proper (The Vulcan Affair). Though otherwise most of the scenes looked the same. But with a couple lines of dialog added here and there, mostly sexual in nature, Solo's flirting with his secretary for example.
Attached to The Vulcan Affair content is half of what would be a later episode The Four Steps Affair (actually the 21st episode), starring Luciana Paluzzi (she's one of ours). Either version, her plot seems artificially grafted onto an otherwise unrelated story. Here her scenes come in two halves: a first act preceding the introduction of Solo and the UNCLE organisation, then she reappears in the the middle of the film, stowing away in Solo's car then (following the frisking scene, which includes a few more frisks in this version) leading him back to her place. Difference here is Solo then sleeps with her while patiently awaiting the expected assassination attempt.
Really, her whole plotline is the same as Fiona Volpe in Thunderball: she picks up our hero in a car, he sleeps with her knowing what she is up to, and ultimately...
After the opening act introducing Paluzzi's character we get to the Vulcan Affair content, starting with the villains infiltration of UNCLE headquarters via the tailors shop. These scenes, both in teevee episode and movie, are a great way to quickly visually establish the UNCLE concept and headquarters location. Solo himself is dramatically introduced behind bullet proof glass in silhouette, a shot that would be reused in opening credits in shows to come.
Waverly as noted is played by a different actor. Ilya, as in the teevee episode gets about two lines then disappears (ironic the main character is named Solo when most of the show's run would be a two man act).
THRUSH for some reason is named WASP in this version, and we can even see the new name is overdubbed into existing dialog. Why did they bother to rename it if theyd already filmed scenes calling it THRUSH?
Balance of the film is the exact same as The Vulcan Affair, with its Notorious style plot. When the second chunk of the Paluzzi plot appears (after Solo leaves Vulcan's party) it really stands out as an irrelevant digression.
One thing I noticed this time is how much the final scenes resemble Dr No (hero and innocent female accomplice tortured in steam room, final showdown in reactor core).
I did finally spot Richard Kiel. He is in it for literally less than a second. When Solo is being pursued by brownshirt clad security guards and Dobermans he runs up a staircase, straight into a worker who swings a huge mallet at him and misses. That's our Jaws cameo, keep your eyes peeled for that moment because our favourite seven foot henchman is easy to miss.
In the Four Steps Affair, the Paluzzi content is also awkwardly grafted into an unrelated storyline. Halfway through that episode, Solo conspicuously combs his hair into a different style. Why? because throughout this movie, he is wearing his hair in a different style than he would ever do throughout the rest of the series, including the other material in that episode! They took the time to film a scene explaining why his hairstyle suddenly changes!
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yes, I know I'm overdue with my report on Season 2, but the truth is, um, er, that is to say, I waited too long and forgot most of it. Generally its more silly than Season 1, especially the two part opening episode the Alexander the Greater Affair, which is much much too silly (yet got turned into one of the movies).
There's also more Mr Waverly content, which pleases me. There begins a running gag where Waverly travels halfway round the world and shows up in the last scene just to pick up Solo's chick right in from of him, while Solo sinks in his chair and Ilya smirks at his colleague's humiliation. Waverly is now my favourite by far of all spy bosses (except for David Lynch's Gordon Cole character of course). Much more entertaining than any version of M.
The only Bond alumni I noticed is Barbara Bouchet (Moneypenny from Casino Royale) who appears in The Project Deephole Affair. George Sanders reappears in The Yukon Affair, reprising the same character he played in Season 1. Ricardo Montalbán reappears in The King of Diamonds Affair, a different character than he played in season 1 (now he's a gentleman thief) but again is a charismatic frenemy rather than pure villain. Off the top of my head, Rip Torn, Vincent Price, and Angela Lansbury all get to chew the scenery as guest stars in this season.
The Cherry Blossom Affair is about an evil THRUSH plan involving Japanese volcanos, two years before You Only Live Twice.
The Moonglow Affair is most significant as it is the pilot for the Girl from UNCLE spinoff despite featuring completely different actors. Mary Ann Mobley plays April Dancer, much more competent than Solo and Ilya are ever portrayed, and Norman Fell (Mr Roper) plays her over-the-hill sidekick Mark Slate. When I saw the first season episode where Marty Balsam plays an UNCLE agent past the retirement age, I thought that was testing the waters for a spinoff, and indeed Norman Fell's character is a variation on the concept. I found some actual Girl from UNCLE episodes online, so shall hopefully file a report on those soon.
I always like the episodes where we learn more about the UNCLE organisation. I forget the title, but there's one where we learn UNCLE owns all the buildings on the block, and rents out apartments in the other buildings as part of their cover. Waverly assigns Solo to act as building manager! in this episode, and we see THRUSH has labeled profile drawings of the entire block as they try to figure out what UNCLE is using all that space for. Wish I'd made a screenshot of that, it was almost like when the comics sometimes include a diagram of the BatCave. In another episode we clearly see the streetsigns outside UNCLE headquarters, and they seemed to be in Hells Kitchen or maybe Chelsea, on the West side at least, despite the establishing shots always showing the United Nations building next to the East River.
Second best gag of the season: in The Birds and the Bees Affair Ilya tells Waverly and Solo about a scientific report published earlier that year, then turns to Solo and says "did you read it?", Solo gives him a silent stinkeye that says "who do you think I am, Roger Moore's version of James Bond? nerd!"
First best gag: in The Foreign Legion Affair Ilya has gone missing and while searching Solo gets distracted by a sexy THRUSH agent. Waverly calls Solo and hearing the sexy THRUSH agent giggling, says "Your report is overdue Mr Solo! and who the deuce is that?" Bonus points for Waverly using "the deuce" in a sentence!
and then there's this subtle one, maybe me seeing something that isn't there, but since I saw it I can't unsee it: in The Nowhere Affair Solo has been captured by THRUSH, and taken an amnesia pill so he cant spill UNCLE secrets. The THRUSH chief decides the amnesia can be broken if all Solo's physical senses are stimulated, i.e. he has to be seduced, and programs the computer to identify the THRUSH agent who would be Solo's ideal sexual partner. The computer selected candidate turns out to be a nerdy uptight blonde, which is to say she's just like a female Ilya!
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the actual reason I'm Reporting today is because I just watched the second Man from UNCLE feature film...
The Spy with My Face (1965)
basically an expanded version of The Double Affair (s1e08 orig broadcast November 17, 1964), in which a THRUSH agent undergoes plastic surgery to look like Napoleon Solo and infiltrate UNCLE. Robert Vaughn plays both parts, so for most of the second half is playing the villain rather than the real Solo. In the first half the double is covered in bandages, and in appearance and context resembles that character at Shrublands from Thunderball, but The Double Affair came first so again Thunderball was "borrowing" ideas from this teevee series.
Senta Berger (the school teacher from The Quiller Memorandum) plays the sexy THRUSH agent overseeing the whole operation.
Whereas the first movie was one and a half episodes cobbled together, this one is mostly the one episode greatly expanded, with some random scenes from two other episodes. Don Harron's character from The Four Steps Affair reappears here, but the remaining plot of that episode (involving a boy king and his guardian) is left out. I'm not even sure its the exact same scenes with Harron, or if maybe they filmed a bunch of scenes with his character and split them into the movie and the teevee episode. Otherwise I cant see how his scenes could possibly have fit the other context. Wikipedia says other scenes were used in The Dippy Blonde Affair, but I didn't spot them. There is the familiar scene where Ilya encounters exploding toy robots outside the tailor shop, which episode was that from?
but mostly the one episode was greatly expanded with more sexual content (lots of ladies in their underwear) and greater violence. Solo points his gun at most of the people he meets and in one shower scene blatantly states the gun is a phallic symbol. And he kills a lot of minions in cold blood. Also the music seems different, more suspenseful than the lighthearted music of the teevee show.
Very stylish action scenes during the opening credits, using varying camera speeds to highlight the action as solo leads a raid. This is much more violent than anything seen on teevee.
Ilya gets very little screentime, but does pick up a stewardess with the line "Well I'm pretending to be a travelling business man, but in reality I am an international spy".
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by the way I suggest all new posts to this thread must begin with the words "Open Channel D" or else they will be rerouted to the tailors shop, who will deny any knowledge that this thread exists.
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Just to let you know that you're not alone, cp. I'm reading and enjoying your posts.
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Great posts - how did I miss this thread???
I don't have the time to catch up with TMFU. I think one of the TV channels over here (Sony Pictures?) has been showing the series from the start, but as I never drop into anything half-way, I haven't bothered.
Anyone who reads my posts knows I have fond memories of Friday evening telly on the BBC and the eight UNCLE films drop neatly into that category. One summer in the early 1980s I am certain I saw the whole lot week after week, although the details about The Spy With My Face are completely unfamiliar to me. I have a vague memory that To Trap A Spy barely featured David McCullum and the Luciana Paluzzi scenes felt completely out of place. Reading the posts above I now understand why!
Will look forward to reading more.
BTW, I enjoyed the reboot movie.
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I've just finished watching Season One and very much enjoyed your review, CP. I hadn't seen it before, apart from To Trap a Spy and The Spy with My Face, and I hugely enjoyed it once I got over I think being in black & white.
Just to add a couple of things to your excellent review. Richard Kiel briefly fights Solo on a gantry at the climactic battle in The Vulcan Affair; has a much large role role in The Hong Kong Shilling Affair; and I'm sure i briefly saw in a third episode but can't remember which . Also in season one, The Shark Affair stars said the charismatic Robert Culp of I Spy fame; Quatermass and the Pit's Barbara Shelley stars in the Odd Man Affair; and the Girls of Nazarone Affair has the lovely Sharon Tate in a small role too.
I very much look forward to watching Season Two now...
Was the Ian Fleming connection to UNCLE anything to do with the Cameo of George Lazenby in The Return of The Man from UNCLE?
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I don't believe so - it was just a well thought out and timely gag, with George appearing as 'JB' - thus avoiding naming him as Bond and potentially risking an injunction from EON.
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I have watched eight episodes of spin-off series the Girl from UNCLE (what I could find on some dodgy Russian site), and my report is now ready.
The "Girl" of the title is April Dancer, and she works alongside fellow UNCLE agent Mark Slade.
The show ran September 13, 1966 - April 11, 1967. As the Man from UNCLE season 3 ran September 16, 1966 - April 14, 1967, this show was broadcast three days earlier in the weekly teevee schedule and therefor must be discussed first.
The show has 1960s sitcom style rhythms of setup, punchline, reaction shot. Or to be really generous, Hope and Crosby style. Plots are farcelike and circular with little actually developing over 60 minutes.
The visual aesthetic is characterised by a highly artificial look, emphasised for example in The Prisoner of Zalamar Affair (s1e02 September 20, 1966) which begins with the characters watching a silent movie while sitting in a set that looks no more realistic than the film within the film.
Later episodes feature silly sound effects during cartoonishly sped-up action sequences that make ...Golden Gun's slide whistle seem subtle by comparison.
The first two seasons of the Man from UNCLE were funny on several levels, but had a deadpan tone that made the absurdities seem realistic within the rules of that particular universe. This show by contrast is telegraphing the supposed humour, leaving little space for actual spy plots amidst all the jokes.
The two lead actors have been recast since the pilot.
Mark Slade is played by Noel Harrison rather than Norman Fell, and is no longer overdue for retirement, he is now young, hip and English.
Stefanie Powers is also younger than Mary Ann Mobley the actress in the pilot, and plays April Dancer with less competence: camera frequently zooms in to her repeated slackjawed expression of being shocked and overwhelmed (one of those sit-com-y elements). And despite being the title character, most episodes she ends up as damsel in distress requiring Mark to rescue her. She is at her best when doing funny voices and accents, a master of disguise.
The one absolutley essential episode is The Mother Muffin Affair (s1e03 September 27, 1966), as it guest stars Napoleon Solo, and Boris Karloff as the villain (in drag!) (recall Elsa Lanchester was a villain in season 1, though she played it straighter than Karloff here.)
Dancer diplays her funny voice superpowers with a cockney accent introduced after ten minutes of ever-mounting tension, thus saving their lives.
Waverly gets some classic dialog in this episode, e.g. "Mr Solo I have more pressing matters. Notify me after you've made your escape" and "I put Mr Solo on this particular mission as he is considered by some a top professional, obviously he's bungling the escape!", and near the climax delivers a message to his agents via crystal ball!
Other guest stars in the episodes I saw included Stan Freberg (The Carpathian Caper Affair s1e21 February 14, 1967) and Ed Asner (The Double-O-Nothing Affair s1e26 March 21, 1967). The Asner episode adds a bit to our knowledge of the THRUSH organisation, as Slade impersonates a THRUSH auditor inspecting the local franchise office. In the Freberg episode we see Waverly asleep on the couch in his office, direspected by the cleaning lady. In fact we get plenty of Waverly content this season, grouchy and condescending to his employees, reassigning either Slade or Dancer to more humiliating duties at least once nearly every episode.
We should go easy on April Dancer, as she is a Fleming creation.
But it was Barbara Feldon, who played a similar character in the first season, who had the better show.
Good stuff. Wasn't Noel Harrison, son of famous Rex, the guy who sang 'Windmills of Your Mind' the song from The Thomas Crown Affair, in that slightly fey, Peter Skellern voice?
Roger Moore 1927-2017
well lookie that, so he was! I didn't even make the connection!
thats a great song. not sure the original is the definitive version, but I've heard some great covers
I am enjoying your on / off reviews of The Man / Girl from UNCLE , caractacus, I wish I had your staying power to watch all those episodes ! Good work all round.
thanks @chrisno1
I've been thinking of doing a special post focusing on episodes that give us more insight to how the UNCLE organisation works, or THRUSH (they have their own pension plan, but nobody lives to collect it). I love all the clues they give as to that stuff, the hint that there is a larger internally consistent world in which all this spy-ish nonsense plays out. But that seems like a bit of work when I think about it, and I haven't got round to it yet.
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I wish to file my report on the third Man from Uncle film...
One Spy Too Many (1966)
Whereas the first two were single episodes padded out with additional material, this one is a two part episode edited down to fit the cinematic format. Two part episode was the Alexander the Greater Affair, which opened Season 2. I recall that episode was much too silly for my tastes, and was relieved the rest of Season 2 was not quite like that. So this would not have been my choice for the third film, but perhaps spy cinema in general was evolving in a sillier direction by 1966?
Villain is Rip Torn, underplaying it while everybody else around him is a living cartoon. Amongst the stylised setpieces is a lifesize chess match between our hero and our villain, which anticipates similar life size chess matches in both The Prisoner and Bulldog Drummond film Deadlier Than the Male. Also there is an sequence and cliffhanger in a network of underground tombs straight out of old time movie serials.
But the film is dominated by Dorothy Provine as the villain's kooky exwife, who "helps" our heroes save the world. She says things like "I'm not above blackmail, it's part of my charm!" . At the end of the film...
after her evil husband is dead, she is last seen hooking up with the military ruler of a country who her husband had just tried to kill
...meaning even in 1989 James Bond films were still borrowing ideas from Man from UNCLE plots! Provine i know as Milton Berle's wife from It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, and apparently she was in another 1966 spyspoof Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die. so she's plenty kooky.
The two input tv episodes were edited down by leaving out a subplot involving the villain's parents. But all-new material was added, better than the film proper! in an unrelated subplot, Solo finds himself committed to a rather intimate sounding date with a coworker whose name he cannot remember (Mulva?) played by Yvonne Craig. Craig had previously appeared as a different character in the first season episode The Brain-Killer Affair. Turns out her name is...
Maude Waverly, i.e. she is the boss's niece, and Mr Waverly himself has assigned her to seduce the easily distracted Solo so he and his libido will be less of a security risk.
Note the producers were sitting on the Fleming created character concept April Dancer for two years, and they had both Barbara Feldon and Yvonne Craig on the show, either one of whom could have played a brilliant version of the character, but both ended up on better shows than what finally got made.
I'm not sure I will go to the effort to track down the remaining five films if theyre all going to be this silly, but I gether the next one also has Yvonne Craig content so may make an exception fot that one.
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I'd been wondering if there's a good book on The Man from UNCLE, and this one seems to have a good reputation. I shall be looking for it when I venture into used book stores again. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Book: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of a Television Classic, Jon Heitland, 1987. It is divided into four Acts, a sure sign the author knows his stuff.
so I don't actually have a copy of the book, er, sorry sir, ahem, but the reason I'm Reporting is there is an excerpt available from it on the Amazon page, including Robert Vaughn's two page introduction, and a chunk of the first chapter dealing with how Norm Felton came up with the idea and Ian Fleming's involvement! given the title of this thread I thought it must be my duty to summarize.
that's as far as the amazon excerpt gets. I'll just have to find the book to read the rest of the exciting adventure. but we've mentioned many times Fleming's supposed involvement in the show, and this is by far the most detail I've seen on that intriguing topic.
Fleming's original concept is not really recognisable as our silly teevee series at all, but don't you wish someone could scan and publish those eleven pages of Fleming's detailed notes? I always say there oughta be a book compiling all of Fleming's unfinished Bond stories, his notebook for potential Bond plots, the various synopses for unmade Bond films and teevee series (including Commander Jamaica), and now there's this!
Thank you, CP, that was good reading. I'd think IFP would have to give the okay to publish Fleming's notes and just maybe they have an idea for them.
"Kiss The Girls..." wasn't bad for peak spy-boom stuff, but IIRC came out a year or two too late. It was available on YouTube when I last watched it a few years ago, don't know if it still is.
I've an original copy of this book and it's excellent - my 'go to' book on UNCLE. Copies come up all the time on eBay, usually only for about £8-£10 ($10-$15?). It's well worth getting hold of a copy.
I used to get £25 for this book in pre-eBay days. I sold a fair few copies in my time, but they certainly weren’t plentiful, eBay is one of the reasons for the decline in secondhand bookshops 🙁
@CoolHandBond dont worry I'll be starting with bricks-and-mortar used book stores in my city. I dont like to use my credit card online on principle, and I do like to spend money at local businesses and build that personal relationship with the proprietors, real human beings I know who obviously share my interests. There is actually a used book store in my city that specializes in books on Cinema, that will be the first place I check.
That’s good to hear, caractus, a big proportion of my clientele became more like friends than customers. I used to love telling them that a book they want has come into stock, either by phoning them or placing it before them when they next came into the shop 🙂
I imagine that EON have all of Fleming's notes for prospective or unfinished Bond stories in a basement somewhere, that said with that in mind you wonder how Fleming ever got writer's block as he seemed to do around the time of Thunderball the novel. Unused ideas for the films also show up in later movies of course and perhaps a problem with Some Kind of a Hero, the recent excellent book on the Bond series, is that it sometimes delves into action scenes that fell by the wayside, acting as spoilers for future films.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
At the rate Eon are making progress, that'll be a problem for our grandchildren to worry about.
Napoleon Plural 111- I'm sure the helicopter and hot air balloon chase in Bond 31 was mentioned in "Some Kind Of A Hero".
Son Of Son Of Barbel- I think you're right.
On a similar note, I have a prophecy of Skinner and Baddiel in the nursing home being wheeled out for an England Final, with their famous song instead going 'But I don't remember that tackle by Moore...'
Roger Moore 1927-2017
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as I work my way through the sillier-than-normal Season 3, I have just got to the season's first two-parter, The Concrete Overcoat Affair (s3e11 & 12 - November 25 & December 2 1966), which got repackaged as the film The Spy in the Green Hat. so far I like this better than either of the two-parters in Season 2.
Villains are played by Jack Palance, stammering and sweating nervously, and Janet Leigh as his "secretary" Miss Diketon in tight slit skirt and lowcut top. She is actually a kinky assassin/torturer who starts to breathe all funny when she has the chance to kill someone. Mighty spicy stuff for mid60s primetime teevee! Reason I want to report this, is surely this character is a prototype for Xenia Onatopp?
watch this clip and see what I mean
now I've only got so far as the cliffhanger (where she has Ilya tied up for torture and is telling him how attractive she finds him) but I can see from youtube there is going to be a catfight scene with good girl character Leticia Roman to look forward to in part 2 you all probably wish to study. Nobody spoil for me what happens, but in the words of Count Floyd "this looks like its gonna be real scary, kids!"
I said I wasnt going to bother with the film versions of the remaining episodes, but since the films so far have all added additional sexy content, I think I gotta see what they could possibly do with this character in film that could not be done on teevee.
Miss Diketon - did they misspell that...?
Cripes.