The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. stands tall among classic 60s television series. Wedged between the absurd humor of Get Smart and the more realistic but still silly Mission: Impossible TMFU stamped its own brand of humor and adventure on the then culture. Other 60s shows that offered spy drama ranged from the serious I Spy to the tangy Honey West.
TMFU really wasn’t about espionage so much as hot chicks in go-go boots and secret agent men with cool contraptions. There were no cell phones in 1964 so the stars Robert Vaughn and David McCallum talked to headquarters via a fountain pen (with an antenna that extends from the top). A vintage toy version just sold on ebay for $130.
Make no mistake of the influence of Napoleon Solo (Vaughn) or Illya Kuryakin (McCallum). Illya was the reason people wear black turtleneck sweaters and the entire project, while only lasting four seasons, inspired everything from input by Ian Fleming (who contributed the name Solo) to making sure Mannix in his second to third season transition went from a private dick to a secret agent.
Napoleon and Illya talk shit. In various scenarios they blackmail a thief to help them rob a casino, or warn a scientist that they do the dirty work so that huge corporations can get even bigger defense contracts. And one really saucy interlude has the duo chatting up a femme only to use her for subterfuge. Illya, perhaps not out of character, chilling tells her how depraved she is for fooling around with Solo and not him.
The first season, the only one in black and white, constantly amazes with top-notch guest stars and subliminal sexual tension. Imagine my surprise when after several episodes one particular man on man confrontation between Solo and Ricardo Montalban turns out to have been written by Robert Towne (Chinatown). One ep has both Jill Ireland (married to McCallum who introduced her to Charles Bronson) and Anne Francis (herself the doyenne as Honey West to every crime fighting woman who’s appeared since). It’s hard to top one ep that guest stared William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and Werner Klemperer. By the third season plots had gone kitsch but that still allowed room for eps with Sonny and Cher, another with Nancy Sinatra. The latter has Sinatra as the daughter of a scientist who believes in UFOs. Before long Sinatra and Illya are singing a duet and the bad guy pretends that he’s a benevolent alien from outer space. The second season launched color and two-part episodes, some of which were also released as feature films. It’s easy to look past the wacky nature of some of the plots when guest starts like Vincent Price or Rip Torn are munching the scenery. One second season show introduces Mary Ann Mobley as April Dancer, later a spin off show with Stephanie Zimbalist called, natch, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. The Sonny and Cher ep from season 3 features kazoos in the musical score.
Exactly 105 episodes, all four seasons plus an unaired pilot, are now available on 41 DVDs as part of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Complete Series. One standout of the extras is a short devoted to the show’s theme music. Jerry Goldsmith wrote the main theme while Lalo Shifrin wrote background music during the first year. It’s interesting to hear the theme progress from the second season with its bongo percussion track to the third season when the title song rips with a Dick Dale-type rhythm complete with a madman sax break. There’s so much to see with this set it will take a couple of months to completely view. So don’t rush, rather sit back, take off your shoes with the secret transmitter hidden in the heel and partake.