The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Series – DVD Review

DVD Reviews, Reviews

The TV networks jumped into the super spy business when James Bond became a major cinematic smash. There were as many espionage shows in the mid-’60s are we currently have variations of CSI. The first production to hit American airwaves was The Man From U.N.C.L.E. U.N.C.L.E. stood for the United Network Command for Law Enforcement. Their headquarters was located at the United Nations complex. Instead of battling Communists, their enemy was the evil THRUSH (which according to a paperback novelization was Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity). Barely two years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, this series dared to suggest the Red Menace wasn’t as bad as a sinister crime organization. U.N.C.L.E.’s top agents were the American Napoleon Solo and the Soviet Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum). The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Series stashes all 105 episodes inside a briefcase boxset that ought to be classified.

What immediately sets The Man From U.N.C.L.E. apart for its other 007 wannabe shows is Bond novelist Ian Fleming was part of the creative process. He didn’t do too much besides name Napoleon Solo. Ultimately he took his name off the TV project when the Bond movie producers didn’t want him to diffuse the cinema brand. This is all covered on the DVD bonus features. The first season was shot in black and white since the color transition hadn’t taken hold in 1964. “The Vulcan Affair” with THRUSH agents attempting to kill Alexander Waverly, the head of U.N.C.L.E. (North By Northwest‘s Leo G. Carroll). When the agents are trapped, they commit suicide. It’s up to Solo and Illya to stop the assassination of an African leader. The action is high octane for the small screen. Hogan’s Heroes‘ Ivan Dixon plays an aide to the leader. Among the bonus features, you’ll find “Solo,” an expanded version of the pilot in living color. Star Trek fans shall delight to see plenty of familiar faces. The Project Strigas Affair lets William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy attempt to create diplomatic chaos. Strange to see them together without Nimoy wearing the pointy ears. There’s also Werner Klemperer (Col. Klink from Hogan’s Heroes) banging on the furniture like a real Eastern Bloc leader. This episode is guest star gold. It’s almost like an alternate universe Star Trek.

The show quickly became a sensation with Vaughn and McCallum rivaling the Beatles for media attention. Their sophomore outing stayed constant on the espionage tone, but introduced hue to the episode. “Alexander the Greater” is a two-part adventure with Rip Torn ready to conquer the world. Solo has to tangle with him using a human chessboard. “The Discotheque Affair” brings us to an mod dance club run by Thrush. Besides the fun of watching catchy fashions and freaky dance moves, you’ll thrill to Harvey Lembeck (Beach Party‘s Eric Von Zipper) shaking it with a shag cut. “The Bridge of Lions Affairâ” has Illya investigating who is stealing cats from the Soho district of London. Turns out they’re being used as experiments for a rejuvenation project.

The third season suffers from an affliction that was sweeping entertainment in 1966: a fierce outbreak of contagious camp. After the success of Batman, way too many shows decided that the TV audience wanted their characters to be more cartoony, the jokes cornier and the music more ticky tack. After two seasons of being a semi-serious show, the producers remade the series as The Man From G.O.T.H.A.M. “The Her Master’s Voice Affair” exposes a girl’s school where the daughters of VIPs are being trained to be Manchurian Candidates. Solo sneaks into the school with a really bad disguise and accent. Who really would have fallen for his subterfuge? “The Abominable Snowman Affair” gets goofy as Illya is dispatched to stop the coronation of a fake lama by disguising himself as a Yeti. But he’s shot by a female rodeo star. In the midst of Tibet, he’s taken to her ranch in the mountains. What are the odds? “The My Friend, the Gorilla Affair” could have been a great straight script about scientist wanting to test his super-human serum on African tribesmen. But they throw away any sense of drama with an ape girl and her dancing gorilla. How can anyone take a spy show serious that features Solo doing the watusi in a treehouse with a jungle girl and her ape? The ape is the same fur suit that was used on The Beverly Hillbillies and Gilligan’s Island. “The Jingle Bells Affair” opens with footage of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade complete with the Underdog and Bullwinkle balloons. Akim Tamiroff (Ocean’s Eleven) is an Eastern Bloc leader whose holiday trip to Manhattan gets nasty when assassins come after him. It’s up to Solo and Illya to be his armed guides. J. Pat O’Malley tangles with Akim during a Santa school demonstration. The foreign leader is touched by the spirit of Christmas from a cute Salvation Army worker (Ellen Willard). It gets very schmaltzy. If you are curious about the series, do not start watching this season to get a true sense of the show.

The camp element alienated the fans of the first two seasons. Those episodes played like hour long episodes of Get Smart. The change up didn’t work. The ratings dropped big time for the series. The fourth season dropped the glib humor for a grim reality. “The Summit-Five Affair” has Solo suspected of being a double agent. He has to fight his own agents to clear his reputation. After the almost joke quality of people dying, this season is hardcore homicide. This tone change is reminiscent of how Miami Vice brought a dark intensity to the fourth season which led to losing its audience appeal. U.N.C.L.E.‘s reverse play also didn’t help revive its fortune. The network canned the show after 16 episodes. Solo and Illya couldn’t fight Thrush if nobody watched the battle. It was a fast ride from pop culture phenomena to cancellation for the East-West duo. The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Series secures their espionage missions inside one stealth briefcase.

The video is 1.33:1. The black and white transfers look cleaner than the other seasons. The color shows have moments of debris. The colors are pushed to perhaps sell the brilliant hues of those early TV sets. The audio is Dolby Digital mono. The levels won’t cause you to crank up the knobs. The episodes and many of the bonus features have English subtitles.

The Cloak & Swagger Affair (28:05) documents the launch of the show with fresh interviews with Robert Vaughn, David McCallum and original crew members. It defines Ian Fleming’s involvement with creating the series.

“Solo” – the Original Color U.N.C.L.E. Pilot (1:10:06) is the feature film version of “The Vulcan Affair.” This was released into theaters.

U.N.C.L.E. V.I.P.s (9:47) gives a rundown of all the famous names and classic character actors that got into the espionage in Season 1. The cast and crew praise these glamorous guests. Director Joseph Sergeant gushes about Cesar Romero (The Joker from Batman). He also gives the skinny on numerous Star Trek actors since he also worked on that series. Turns out Barbara Feldon worked for U.N.C.L.E. before transferring to Control on Get Smart.

The Spy-Fi Tour: Archives, Art & Artifacts (23:26) is a tour of an exhibit at the Queen Mary. They have plenty of the gadgets. Make sure to visit this collection when it comes to your town.

One Spy Too Many (1:41:25) is a feature film using the “Alexander the Greater Affair” episodes. The public had to see Rip Torn on the big screen.

U.N.C.L.E. V.I.P.s (6:11) rundowns the famous guests of Season 2. Get the inside tales of Vincent Price, Rip Torn and Norman Fell.

Double Agents: The David McCallum and Robert Vaughn Reunion (1:17:41) is a recent interview with the duo. They’re in the same room so you get to see their reaction to the other’s recollections.

The Secret Tapes of Illya Kuryakin: Home Movies from the Set of U.N.C.L.E. (16:58) is McCallum’s camerawork. He gives a commentary to the images. We get to see how he drove to work.

U.N.C.L.E. V.I.P.s (6:13) identifies the Season 3 famous mugs. The campy season is underlined by Sonny and Cher. Joan Collins, Joan Crawford and Jack Palace also popped up.

MGM’s Secret Operations (28:03) exposes how the show reused sets from major MGM movies. They had the whole backlot as their playground. They even used the studio on several occasions. They used Busby Berekley’s old camera crane.

U.N.C.L.E. V.I.P.s (5:16) doesn’t have as many guest stars since it was a short season. Although how can anyone compete with the glory of Jack Lord? Julie London, Broderick Crawford, Darren McGavin and Leslie Nielsen do their best.

Cold War, Hot Spies: U.N.C.L.E. and the Cold War (21:30) relates the show to real history going on at the time.

Guns, Gadgets, Gizmos & Garb (19:20) is a tour through the production and costume design.

Behind the Wheel: U.N.C.L.E.’s Piranha (17:29) elaborates on how Solo’s super cool spy car was built. The car is still around. I want a car with machine guns in the bumper.

Fandemonium (25:09) explores how the kids and adults became hooked on the show. Turns out the female fans really had thing for David. Fans also kept calling the United Nations wanting to join U.N.C.L.E.

The Music from U.N.C.L.E. (23:33) illuminates the music compositions from Jerry Goldsmith and Lalo Schifrin.

The Girls from U.N.C.L.E. (6:10) looks at the ladies that went undercover for the agents. The montage reveals they smoked as much as the cast of Mad Men.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Show Promos (3:00) has five promos from NBC. They did bounce around the time slot.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Feature Film Trailers (4:43) contains the teasers for four of the movies that were made by expanding “The Vulcan Affair” and uniting two part episodes.

Interview with Dean Hargrove (27:10) gives more time for the writer to discuss how he became involved with The Man From U.N.C.L.E. They burned through every writer in town.

Interview with David McCallum (21:32) has him explain how a guy from Scotland played America’s favorite Soviet citizen.

Interview with Richard Donner (28:37) touches upon the production schedule. Besides Lethal Weapon, this director’s biggest claim to fame is “Danger Island” on The Banana Splits Show.

Interview with George Lehr (1:10:06) is an epic talk with the associate producer. He has tons of details about what went into the series.

Interview with Joseph Sargent (21:08) discusses how he was brought on board to direct several episodes.

Interview with Robert Vaughn (26:29) relates the difference between acting for TV and the movies. He doesn’t reveal the secret of the Helsinki Formula.

The Golden Globe Awards for 1965 (1:43) as aired live on the Andy Williams Show 1/31/66. They collect the hardware for Best TV Show. They beat I Spy, Get Smart and Barbra Streisand. It’s a conspiracy!

1965 Emmy Broadcast (2:01) only has Vaughn and McCallum as presenters. Danny Thomas introduces them. McCallum hangs with Sammy Davis Jr. The duo are given stunt trophies to hand out.

David McCallum on the Andy Williams Show, 9/20/65 (3:48) spoofs his spying while off the U.N.C.L.E. set. There’s cute Polaroid joke. It’s corny humor from a show that made Lawrence Welk look edgy.

The Mouse From H.U.N.G.E.R. (6:46) is a Tom and Jerry cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. See the mouse load up on spy gadgets before dealing with the cat. The audio is scratchy.

Photo and Image Gallery is loaded with pictures dealing with every aspect of the show including production, promotion and memorabilia.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Series defines a gold standard for a cult series DVD collection. The devoted fan will be delighted by the numerous bonus features that will set off memories of owning the toys. People who are curious about the show can completely submerge themselves into the action of Solo and Illya. The recent interviews give context and historical perspective about what this show meant to its times and fans. The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Series is a treasure chest disguised as a briefcase.

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Warner Home Entertainment presents The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Series. Starring Robert Vaughn, David McCallum and Leo G. Carroll. Boxset Contents: 105 episodes on 41 DVDs. Released on DVD: October 21, 2008. Available at Amazon.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.