"The Man from U.N.C.L.E." (1964)TV-Serie 1964-1968

Staffeln:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Premierendatum:

22. September 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Abenteuer

Plot:

The two top agents of the United Network Command for Law Enforcement fight the enemies of peace, particularly the forces of THRUSH.

Plot Keywords:

Walkie Talkie | Secret Agent | Suicide Pill | Secret Entrance | Handgun

Filmpreise:

Won Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 13 nominations

Nutzerkommentare:

Still The Best

Besetzung

Robert Vaughn	...	Napoleon Solo / ... (104 Folgen, 1964-1968)
David McCallum	...	Illya Kuryakin / ... (101 Folgen, 1964-1968)
Leo G. Carroll	...	Alexander Waverly / ... (97 Folgen, 1964-1968)

Alternativ:

Ian Fleming's Solo (USA) (working title)
Mr. Solo (USA) (working title)
Solo (USA) (working title)
Solo für O.N.K.E.L. (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) [de]

Länge:

60 Min (105 episodes)

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Schwarzweiss | Farbe (Metrocolor)

Seitenverhältnis:

1.33 : 1

Tonverfahren:

Mono

Altersfreigabe:

Australia:PG

Drehorte:

California, USA

Firma:

Arena Productions

Dies und das:

In the original, unaired version of the pilot episode (shot in color), the Head of U.N.C.L.E. was called Mr. Allison, played by Will Kuluva. When the program finally aired it was shown entirely in black and white with Kulava's scenes re-shot, featuring Leo G. Carroll as Mr. Waverly.

Dialogzitate:

Napoleon Solo: [after her boss is killed] Isn't it common to follow your boss using the Japanese custom of Hara Kiri?
Tomo: You got the wrong century, Jack.

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Verweis/Anspielung/Erwähnung in "The Cult of...: Adam Adamant Lives! (#1.1)" (2006)

Still The Best

The Man From UNCLE premiered in 1964 based on the popularity of the James Bond movies. I never was a big fan of the Bond flicks, but I loved the Man From UNCLE. The combination of tongue-in-cheek humor and outlandish gadgets was not only entertaining, but great fun! And Robert Vaughn and David McCallum did a terrific job in their roles, skirting just on the edge of silliness, but still with a certain gleam in their eye that let you know the whole business was just too outlandish to possibly be real. Secret headquarters, outlandish villains, super spy gadgets, MFU had it all. And it was all great fun!

Leo G. Carroll played the unflappable Mr. Waverly, who always seemed to be one step ahead of his agents. Season 1 was undoubtedly the best, although 2 had its moments. Season 3 was not entirely a disaster, but the producers tried too hard to make it all silly comedy, a la Batman, which was a campy hit, and lost the flavor of the show, although there are some outstanding moments, as when Solo is busy kissing the girl in the warm comfort of a car, while Kuryakin is fighting the bad guys in the pouring rain. As he stands there, drenched, Illya looks at his warm, dry partner and remarks, "we make such good partners." But by the time season 4 rolled around, the damage had been done, although they tried going back to the original concept. All the actors had lost interest and it was canceled.

It's still fun to watch and nice to know both actors are still busy performing, Vaughn in the British series, Hustle, and McCallum in the CBS hit NCIS. I still miss the fun of the Man From UNCLE. No-one ever did a spoof better, and we'll never see anything quite this good again. Too bad Warners seems to have some kind of problem releasing it to DVD, there are plenty of people who'd love to have it.