The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. | |
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Genre | Spy fiction Action |
Created by | Norman Felton |
Directed by | Richard C. Bennett John Brahm Herschel Daugherty E. Darrell Hallenbeck Alf Kjellin Mitchell Leisen Sherman Marks Leo Penn Richard C. Sarafian Joseph Sargent Barry Shear Jud Taylor |
Starring | Stefanie Powers Noel Harrison Leo G. Carroll Randy Kirby |
Theme music composer | theme composed by Jerry Goldsmith, arranged by Dave Grusin |
Composers | Dave Grusin Jack Marshall Richard Shores |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 29 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer | Norman Felton |
Producer | Douglas Benton |
Running time | 50 minutes |
Production companies | Arena Productions Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television |
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | September 16, 1966 April 11, 1967 | –
Related | |
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. |
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. is an American spy fiction TV series starring Stefanie Powers that aired on NBC for one season from September 13, 1966, to April 11, 1967. The series was a spin-off from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and used the same theme music composed by Jerry Goldsmith, in a different arrangement by Dave Grusin. The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. stars Powers as American U.N.C.L.E. agent April Dancer and Noel Harrison as her British partner, Mark Slate. Leo G. Carroll plays their superior, Alexander Waverly.
Despite attempts at cross-promotion with its parent series, the show failed to build an audience and lasted only one season. Its failure was considered a contributing factor in Man's mid-season cancellation in early 1968.[1]
Cast
[edit]- Stefanie Powers as April Dancer
- Noel Harrison as Mark Slate
- Leo G. Carroll as Alexander Waverly; chief of U.N.C.L.E.
- Randy Kirby as Agent Randy Kovacs
Notable guest stars
[edit]- Ed Asner
- Joan Blondell
- Tom Bosley
- John Carradine
- Jack Cassidy
- Ellen Corby
- Wally Cox
- Yvonne De Carlo
- Dom DeLuise
- John Erwin
- Bernard Fox
- Stan Freberg
- Boris Karloff
- Fernando Lamas
- Peggy Lee
- Raymond Massey
- Luciana Paluzzi
- Lyn Peters
- Pernell Roberts
- Ruth Roman
- Gena Rowlands
- Ann Sothern
- Olan Soule
- Olive Sturgess
- Leslie Uggams
- Robert Vaughn
- Carol Wayne
- Michael Wilding
Critical response
[edit]Contemporary reviews of The Girl From Uncle were mostly negative, with much of the critics' comments centered upon the lead actors, particularly Powers. A review in The Baltimore Sun noted that Powers is "prettier and shapelier than Ilya Kuryakin, of course, but she's not much of an actress and she's ill-suited to the role," but that "Harrison tends to steal scenes from Miss Powers, and [makes] an agreeable impression"[2] A review in Newsday reported that "Miss Powers, for all of her sweater appeal, is a trifle limited."[3] Kay Gardella of the New York Daily News opined that Powers "display[ed] less than undergraduate skill in the fine art of spying", with the performance of co-star Harrison being "the understatement of the new season. One suspected he was given a dose of Apathy."[4] The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette commented that "Powers [is] somewhat of a timid UNCLE agent," that Harrison "gave evidence of stealing most of the credits," and that "the series is [...] only for UNCLE fans."[5]
Episodes
[edit]Backdoor pilot (1966)
[edit]The backdoor pilot, titled "The Moonglow Affair", originally aired as 52nd episode (S02E23) of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. on February 25, 1966.
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
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"The Moonglow Affair" | Joseph Sargent | Dean Hargrove | February 25, 1966 | |
When Solo and Kuryakin are incapacitated, Waverly assigns agent April Dancer (Mary Ann Mobley) and Mark Slate (Norman Fell) to complete their mission. |
Season 1 (1966–1967)
[edit]![]() | This section needs an improved plot summary. (August 2020) |
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
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1 | "The Dog-Gone Affair" | Barry Shear | Tony Barrett | September 13, 1966 | 8622 |
April Dancer is on her way to a Greek island with a dog whose fleas contain the antidote to a drug developed by THRUSH. A man named Fromage sits next to April on the plane and, suspecting he is a THRUSH agent, she contacts Mark and attaches a parachute to the dog, throwing it from the plane. Mark is captured briefly, but the dog escapes. Later, Mark and April meet and using a dog whistle April attracts the dog. However, it escapes again and when April gives chase, she is karate-chopped on the neck, faints and is kidnapped. When she revives, she is questioned by Zakinthios, who leads the mission for THRUSH. Refusing to talk, April is quickly knocked out again. She wakes up tied to a swing over a pool of piranhas, but escapes in the nick of time, manages to retrieve the dog yet again, and Mark defeats Zakinthios in a fight. April and Mark eventually hand the dog over to the authorities to enable them to make the antidote. | |||||
2 | "The Prisoner of Zalamar Affair" | Herschel Daugherty | Max Hodge | September 20, 1966 | 8611 |
Fatima, the daughter of the recently murdered Sheikh Ali Hassan, is the new ruler of Zalamar according to local law - but she has been kidnapped whilst Mark Slate was lucky not to eat the poisoned popcorn. Fatima happens to be an exact double of April Dancer who is sent to impersonate Fatima and to be crowned as ruler thereby ensuring that the oil fields do not fall under THRUSH control. The Grand Vizier, who is next in line to the throne, determines that both princesses shall die. Slade attempts a rescue of the real sheikhess but fails. April gets to meet Fatima's intended husband, Calif Ahmed, whose continued presence thwarts the intention of the Grand Vizier. Mark is captured and secured adjacent to Fatima with both undergoing brainwashing whilst April is being prepared for Fatima's marriage. The initial rescue mission is also captured - but the lorry taking the captives to their final destination in the desert luckily fails to start. A diversionary fire enables the captives to be freed briefly until the Grand Vizier turns the tables again. The Calif's hand to hand combat skills disarm the Grand Vizier who escapes during the resultant meleé before being captured. A divorce is negotiated and the oil wells are safe. | |||||
3 | "The Mother Muffin Affair" | Sherman Marks | Joseph Calvelli | September 27, 1966 | 8624 |
Somewhere in London and surrounded by Mother Muffin's (Boris Karloff) Murderous Men April Dancer and Napoleon Solo appear to be in trouble. April unwinds her knitwear to provide a long light pull which enables lights to come on and half of Mother Muffin's gang to use their machine guns to kill the other half. Thence to Brighton with an important ha'penny - except they are cornered by Mother Muffin who spends a good five minutes predicting their demise. April and Napoleon briefly escape but to absolutely no avail until a passing bus provides an escape route into a pig truck driven by Mother Muffin who deliberately engineers their escape to be able to follow them. A veritable merry-go-round ensues as the Muffin gang are slowly disabled and eventually they make their way back to HQ with their quarry. | |||||
4 | "The Mata Hari Affair" | Joseph Sargent | Samuel A. Peeples | October 4, 1966 | 8617 |
Having boarded a train in France from a helicopter, April Dancer has found a courier when explosives are detonated wrecking the train and the courier, who is also an exotic belly dancer and about to play Mata Hari at a London theatre, dies. April decides to impersonate the dead belly dancer and to prove her credentials is required to demonstrate her abilities to the cast of the play which ends when there is a further murder attempt and then later disappears allowing Slade to chase through London in a left hand drive E Type Jaguar, which he loses when surrounded by a gang of floppy haired ne'er do wells whom he outwits and reclaims the car. April meanwhile has been tricked into the backstage area of the theatre becoming locked into a boiler room which then explodes. A masked figure links a statue of the god, Kali (which means death) to the power supply and at the end of her dance Miss Dancer theatrically "dies". However the cable had been found earlier and the team are able to unmask the masked man. | |||||
5 | "The Montori Device Affair" | John Brahm | Boris Sobelman | October 11, 1966 | 8601 |
A raid on the U.N.C.L.E offices in Rome enables Thrush agents to remove a Montori device which leads Mr Waverley to instructing that all relay channels and communications may not be used until it is recovered. The device looks like a piece of jewellery and it is dropped through a letterbox where a child adds it to her necklace. The child is a daughter of Chu Chu who models for an Italian designer with an imminent private fashion show in Paris for Madame Freuchen-Nagy, whose husband the Count is organising an important conference of six world leaders. Using a mind control device the Thrush agents are able to separate the Count from his bodyguards and he reveals the location of the conference to be the Plit Hotel in Plit. Mr Slate has been captured by Thrush alerting April Dancer to potential problems, although she is soon captured by the Thrush agents. The children lead Mr Waverley to the suite where Mark Slate and April Dancer are being held and he is able, single handedly, to release them and save the world leaders from destruction. | |||||
6 | "The Horns-of-the-Dilemma Affair" | John Brahm | Tony Barrett | October 18, 1966 | 8606 |
April Dancer arrives at a possible Thrush location in Mexico where she sees a man being held prisoner, the ranch being run by Alejandro DeSada. Risvold one of three men working on Project Gamma who have all disappeared recently. Risvold has had most of his memory wiped - the other two have suffered the same fate. However a fourth scientist is needed to complete all the knowledge of the project which once extracted the computer can convert to usable format. DeSada very quickly establishes April's identity as an agent. Almost magically April avoids death in a car crash. DeSada also empties the mind of the man who built the memory extracting computer. Elsewhere Mark Slade gets into a tight spot but manages to extricate himself. Waverley disguises himself as the fourth scientist and arrives in Mexico whilst April finds the cellar and the inmates. Slade and Waverley arrive at the ranch by helicopter and this scares DeSada into impaling himself on the horns of a dummy bull used for bullfighting training whilst the computer is destroyed and the scientists have all made comprehensive records so project gamma can be completed. | |||||
7 | "The Danish Blue Affair" | Mitchell Leisen | Arthur Weingarten | October 25, 1966 | 8615 |
A Thrush agent kidnaps Stanley Umlaut (who was posing as a scientist) with knowledge of a particular a SPUD power circuit. The images of the circuit were embedded in a Danish Blue cheese which was regularly returned to the supplier. April and Mark head to Denmark and the source of the blue cheese to trace the route. Hidden behind the cheese shop front is an entire subterranean warren holding the SPUD machinery. April hitches a lift and finds Stanley but they both end up chained to a wall in the hidden tunnels. Mark Slade is ensnared by some disgruntled fishermen. April and Stanley are provided with an escape route but are soon being chased through a forest. They return to the tunnels and are re-captured. April has been secured on a buoy in direct line of fire from the SPUD machine before it reaches the ship Remus which is the demonstration target. Stanley is a serial impostor and convinces a guard to hand over his gun. He accesses a secondary control room and confuses the SPUD signal. The machinery then shorts out. April is rescued by the fishermen who also pick up Mark who now believe his story. | |||||
8 | "The Garden of Evil Affair" | Jud Taylor | John O'Dea & Arthur Rowe | November 1, 1966 | 8607 |
9 | "The Atlantis Affair" | E. Darrell Hallenbeck | Richard Matheson | November 15, 1966 | 8609 |
10 | "The Paradise Lost Affair" | Alf Kjellin | John O'Dea & Arthur Rowe | November 22, 1966 | 8621 |
11 | "The Lethal Eagle Affair" | John Brahm | Robert Hill | November 29, 1966 | 8626 |
12 | "The Romany Lie Affair" | Richard C. Sarafian | Tony Barrett | December 6, 1966 | 8630 |
13 | "The Little John Doe Affair" | Leo Penn | Joseph Calvelli | December 13, 1966 | 8628 |
14 | "The Jewels of Topango Affair" | John Brahm | Berne Giler | December 20, 1966 | 8614 |
15 | "The Faustus Affair" | Barry Shear | Jerry McNeely | December 27, 1966 | 8613 |
16 | "The U.F.O. Affair" | Barry Shear | Warren B. Duff | January 3, 1967 | 8623 |
17 | "The Moulin Ruse Affair" | Barry Shear | Story by : Jay Simms Teleplay by : Jay Simms & Fred Eggers | January 17, 1967 | 8610 |
18 | "The Catacomb and Dogma Affair" | E. Darrell Hallenbeck | Warren Duff | January 24, 1967 | 8629 |
19 | "The Drublegratz Affair" | Mitchell Leisen | Boris Sobelman | January 31, 1967 | 8625 |
20 | "The Fountain of Youth Affair" | E. Darrell Hallenbeck | Story by : Robert Bloch & Richard DeRoy Teleplay by : Richard DeRoy | February 7, 1967 | 8605 |
21 | "The Carpathian Caper Affair" | Barry Shear | Arthur Weingarten | February 14, 1967 | 8631 |
22 | "The Furnace Flats Affair" | Barry Shear | Archie Tegland | February 21, 1967 | 8603 |
23 | "The Low Blue C Affair" | Barry Shear | Berne Giler | February 28, 1967 | 8632 |
24 | "The Petit Prix Affair" | Mitchell Leisen | Robert Hill | March 7, 1967 | 8634 |
25 | "The Phi Beta Killer Affair" | Barry Shear | Jackson Gillis | March 14, 1967 | 8619 |
26 | "The Double-O-Nothing Affair" | John Brahm | Dean Hargrove | March 21, 1967 | 8638 |
27 | "The U.N.C.L.E. Samurai Affair" | Alf Kjellin | Tony Barrett | March 28, 1967 | 8636 |
28 | "The High and the Deadly Affair" | Dick Bennett | Jameson Brewer | April 4, 1967 | 8620 |
29 | "The Kooky Spook Affair" | Dick Bennett | John O'Dea & Arthur Rowe | April 11, 1967 | 8640 |
Syndication
[edit]![]() |
Beginning in 1968, reruns of all 29 episodes of The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., including 99 of 105 of its parent series, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., were combined into a 128-episode syndication package in the United States.[6] Years later, a few more episodes were added to the package, rounding it out to 132.[7]
Home media
[edit]On August 23, 2011, Warner Bros. released the complete series in two parts on DVD in Region 1 via their Warner Archive Collection. The two 4-disc collections contain all 29 episodes of the series. These are Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) releases, available exclusively through Warner's online store and only in the United States.[8][9]
Soundtrack
[edit]Jerry Goldsmith's theme for The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was adapted for the series by Dave Grusin in an energetic variation. Of the 29 episodes, eight had complete original scores and six were partial scores, with the rest being tracked by the previously written material.[10]
Grusin wrote four complete scores ("The Dog-Gone Affair", "The Mother Muffin Affair", "The Mata Hari Affair" and "The Furnace Flats Affair"), Richard Shores — who would be the principal composer for The Man from U.N.C.L.E the following season — wrote three ("The Montori Device Affair," "The Prisoner of Zalamar Affair" and "The Danish Blue Affair") and Jack Marshall composed his only score for either U.N.C.L.E. series with "The Horns-of-the-Dilemma Affair". Jeff Alexander, also writing his only U.N.C.L.E. music, provided a partial score for "The Garden of Evil Affair", sharing "Music Score by" credit with Grusin and Shores, the latter two sharing the credit on all the other episodes, tracked and partial score alike. The opening and closing title themes and suites from the episodes "The Dog-Gone Affair", "The Prisoner of Zalamar Affair", "The Mother Muffin Affair", "The Mata Hari Affair", "The Montori Device Affair" and "The Horns-of-the-Dilemma Affair" are included on the third FSM album of music from The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Original novels
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1b/GirlfromUncle1.jpg/120px-GirlfromUncle1.jpg)
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. was featured in five original novels, only two of which were published in the United States:
- The Birds of a Feather Affair by Michael Avallone
- The Blazing Affair by Michael Avallone
- The Global Globules Affair – Simon Latter (published in United Kingdom, and in France as L'affaire des Globules)
- The Golden Boats of Taradata Affair – Simon Latter (published in United Kingdom only)
- The Cornish Pixie Affair – Peter Leslie (published in United Kingdom only)
Unlike the series, the novels were quite serious, with the plot of The Birds of a Feather Affair ending in tragedy for April when the "innocent" character usually featured in the TV show dies, despite what April does to stop the villains. In addition, the prohibition on April using deadly force on the TV series (described earlier) did not apply to the novels.[11]
A The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. Annual was published for three issues in the UK, which included novellas not published elsewhere.[12] Gold Key Comics also published a short-lived, five-issue comic book.[13][14]
References
[edit]- ^ Heitland, Jon (2003). Man from U.N.C.L.E. Book: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of a Television Classic. Griffin. ISBN 9780312292157.
- ^ Kirkley, Donald (26 September 1966). "New Attack Opened". The Baltimore Sun. Newspapers.com by Ancestry. p. 20. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
- ^ Delatiner, Barbara (14 September 1966). "'UNCLE' Girl is Weak Sister". Newsday (Suffolk Edition). Newspapers.com by Ancestry. p. 58. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
- ^ Gardella, Kay (14 September 1966). "Power Play by UNCLE". Daily News. Newspapers.com by Ancestry. p. 638. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
- ^ Fanning, Win (16 September 1966). "Girl from UNCLE". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Newspapers.com by Ancestry. p. 35. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ [2][dead link]
- ^ "Girl from U.N.C.L.E., The: The Complete Series Part One DVD – Warner Bros. Archive: WBshop.com – The Official Online Store of Warner Bros. Studios". WBshop.com. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
- ^ "Girl from U.N.C.L.E., The: The Complete Series Part Two DVD – Warner Bros. Archive: WBshop.com – The Official Online Store of Warner Bros. Studios". WBshop.com. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
- ^ Jon Burlingame, liner notes, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Volume 3, featuring The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., FSM Vol. 7, No. 14
- ^ "Television Obscurities – Bookshelf: The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. #1, "The Birds of a Feather Affair"". 2009-10-21. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
- ^ The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. Annual
- ^ The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.
- ^ Girl from U.N.C.L.E.
External links
[edit]- 1966 American television series debuts
- 1967 American television series endings
- American action television series
- Edgar Award-winning works
- Espionage television series
- Gold Key Comics titles
- Television shows adapted into comics
- Television series by MGM Television
- American television spin-offs
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
- NBC television dramas