I Spy With My Little Eye

Given my affinity for the Sixties Spy-Fi genre, I have gotten a number of requests to write something about I Spy, which ran for three seasons from 1965-1968.

I only got into I Spy recently, since I tend to watch parodies and slightly surreal spy shows and movies like The Avengers and Derek Flint. But I really adore I Spy now that I've started watching it.

If I were to compare it to another spy-fi show, it would be Danger Man, in terms of it's realism. You wont find any gadgets in I Spy. The two characters rely on using their wits and intelligence to get them out of sticky situations. There's one episode were they break out of a locked room using some dry ice and saltpeter.

Here's a clip of Scott and Kelly breaking out of jail.

Now, why do I love this show?

Well, a couple of reasons.

The first is the relationship between Scott and Kelly. Bill Cosby plays Alexander Scott and Robert Culp plays Kelly Robinson, they work for the American Government as secret agents using the cover of being tennis bums to cover up their jet-setting ways. The focus of the show is really on their buddy relationship. Their hip banter back and forth is a bigger draw for watching this show than the espionage is. Kelly is the athletic playboy who's after the girl (most of the time) and lives by his wits. Whereas Scott is the working class Rhodes Scholar who speaks several languages and is more pragmatic. But these two different people complement each other it make their partnership work. It also helps that Culp and Cosby were actual friends and their amazing chemistry together is genuine. Kelly and Scott treated each other as brothers and you knew that by the end of the episode, no matter what they fought about or if anything tragic happened over the course of their assignment, they would end up together. Plus, they always worked together, which I like better than U.N.C.L.E., since Napoleon and Illya would spend most of every episode apart and you never really got to know their characters.

Here's a clip which sums up how much Scott and Kelly really cared for each other.

Now, why should you watch the show if you don't really like spy shows?

Well, for the reason why this makes the show almost entirely unique in the history of American television.

It's filmed on location.

Actual, exotic locations.

If Scott and Kelly are escaping the baddies by running across rooftops in Hong Kong, they are actually running across rooftops in Hong Kong.

If they're chasing someone on a Vespa in Rome, they are actually navigating Roman traffic.

You want to see Vegas back when it was cool in all it's neon glory?

Watch this show.

You want to see what Hong Kong looked like before the Chinese took it over and built skyscrapers?

Watch this show.

You want to see Venice with a slightly higher water level?

Watch this show.

You want to see San Francisco in the Sixties?

Watch this show, baby.

You want to see what everyday people wore and how cities looked on an ordinary day in the mid Sixties?

I know you do.

Screw Mad Men.

Watch I Spy.

I said earlier that this show is based on realism because of it's lack of gadgets. Well, it's much more than that. I said in my post on Danger Man that John Drake is more realistic than James Bond and it predated Bond on the screen. Well, I Spy is in direct contrast to the massively popular Sean Connery period. There are a number of references in it's pilot "So Long, Patrick Henry" (which was actually written by Robert Culp) to James Bond in order to highlight the direct contrast to James Bond. Bond is a fantasy, But Scott and Kelly are real. I Spy shows the tough, gritty world of being an agent. Yes, there is world travel and beautiful girls, but sometimes the girls are the enemy, or they die or they are just using Scott or Kelly. Plus Scott and Kelly know that they can't commit to a girl without giving their job and settling down. Their assignments are tough, dangerous and sometimes have no purpose. But they can't do anything about it because they knew what they were getting into and at the end of the day, they are like anyone else with a government job, but at least they have medical benefits and a pension. There aren't always happy endings in I Spy, but that's not to say that it's a strict dramatic show. There are episodes played purely for laughs (try watching "Will The Real Good Guys Please Stand Up") and there are some episodes that are really sad, but what makes the show great is it's combination of dramatic tension with the comedic banter and reactions of Scott and Kelly.

Here is an example of an action scene in Hong Kong. You can actually picture this happening to a real life spy team.

If I can just say a few words about the clothes.

Yes, the women were gorgeous Sixties fashions, but they also were what look like their own clothes.

But Scott and Kelly are really snappy dressers.

And they wear a lot of white jeans and repeat their clothes.

And they wear bright colours and a lot of knitwear for some reason.

So, there's a lot of fashion inspiration.

In terms of celebrity guest stars, there are some, but not as much as U.N.C.L.E.

But two notable ones are Anna Karina speaking in English in "A Gift From Alexander" and the fabulous Eartha Kitt playing a herion addicted singer in "The Loser", which was written by Robert Culp and is one of the best episodes of the series.

Now, you may have noticed something about the two stars of the show.

This is the first television show in history, maybe even in the entire Western history of performing itself, where a black man and a white man are shown as being not only co-stars, but as true equals. Yes, I Spy is a historically and culturally significant show in that regard, but I wasn't going to mention it, because it was never mentioned on the show. And that means that I Spy has aged well. It's also modest and admirable. Here they were, a groundbreaking show at the height of the civil rights movement and the two stars insisted not only on not making it a big deal, but on not mentioning it. They only wanted to entertain.

I Spy is available on DVD in Regions 1 and 4.

Cinema Tuesdays {Thoroughly Modern Millie}

I've loved this movie since I first saw it when I was six. It's truly delightful! Thoroughly Modern Millie is a 1967 light hearted spoof of the Twenties, complete with slang, speakeasies, flappers and title cards. I love the title cards! Julie Andrews plays Millie, a Modern who's determined to be an equal of men and marry her boss, regardless of love. Mary Tyler Moore plays Miss Dorothy, a rich orphan who's determined to keep her curls and write cheques for cab fare. James Fox (who's brother Edward stars in The Day of the Jackal. Watch it, you'll never look at a melon the same way) plays the adorable and carefree Jimmy Smith, who is more concerned with climbing buildings and getting Millie in his "employer's" red roadster than with actually working. And Carol Channing plays Muzzy, I wanted to be her when I grew up, but alas, I have yet to find a multimillionaire. And in her last movie, Beatrice Lillie plays the unforgettable Mrs. Meers.

Millie is a girl from a small town, trying to make it in the big city as a "stenog" and decide whether she should keep pursuing her swell boss Trevor Graydon who calls her John or if she should be poor but loved with her beau Jimmy Smith. Helping her on her adventure is her new best friend Miss Dorothy, who never carries any change with her. And along the way the girls get mixed up in a white slavery ring. But there's a happy ending for all.

This isn't really a cross-dressing comedy, but James Fox does wear a dress near the end and Carol Channing is a gay icon.

Okay, I just wanted to screen cap the fantastic costumes.

(borrowed from Andi since I have no idea how to stick images together)

"Sad to be all alone in the world"

Best elevator ever!

I love the top half of this dress, it's too bad we never get to see it in full

"Raspberry!"

Can you say Safety Last! reference boys and girls?

Classic Television {The Man From U.N.C.L.E.}

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was an immensely popular spy-fi show that ran for 105 episodes from 1964-1968 and was partly created by none other than Ian Fleming. It was also the last American show to premier in black and white.

UNCLE stood for the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, the secret international organization responsible for maintaining world peace that everyone knows about. UNCLE is international and not governed or funded by any single governing power, rather like the UN but with guns, spies and secret offices worldwide.

The enemy and foe of UNCLE in almost every episode is THRUSH, a secret evil organization of wealthy evil criminal masterminds and henchmen bend on total world domination by any means. THRUSH has no political motivations, they just want power. Besides, someone has to employ evil masterminds.

UNCLE is headquartered in the basement of a tailor's shop in New York and is control by Mr. Waverly, who never seemed to go home and always sounded that he'd just been enjoying a three martini lunch.

Robert Vaughn plays Napoleon Solo, an American enforcement agent for UNCLE. He's your typical spy: the man about town, has an excellent tailor, lots of pretty girls and a good haircut. His role is that of James Bond; save the world, get the girl, look good in a tux and try not to cause too many explosions.

David McCallum plays Illya Kuryakin, a Russian enforcement agent. Illya is a more interesting character. He has several degrees, is an expert at just about everything, he quotes poetry, speaks several languages, is a master of martial arts and disguises and can blend into just about any setting. He also will occasionally get the girl, or at least the one's with actual personalities.

Originally, Illya was just a minor character (Napoleon was supposed to be The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) but he received such an overwhelming fan reaction from his one small scene in the pilot that he was made Napoleon's full partner halfway through the first season.

It's an equal partnership, although you will often see Napoleon hanging out at a party while Illya climbs to the second floor balcony, because David McCallum did most of his own stunts and was an actual gymnast whereas Robert Vaughn was a movie star.

Illya was the more popular of the two and David McCallum became known as the "blond Beatle" due to his huge following of fans. Illya is the epitome of Sixties Cool, particularly when he's wearing a turtleneck, sunglasses and hanging out with beatniks.

I've found it really hard to find any clips from the show, so here is a trailer that someone made that explains more about what UNCLE does every week. Plus you can hear the awesome theme music by Jerry Goldsmith and the famous bongo drums that played throughout every episode:

As to the format for the episodes, you can probably guess what it was: THRUSH is planning something nasty, Napoleon and Illya are send to find out what it is and stop it, thereby saving the world and getting the girl.

The slightly usual aspect about the show is that every week there was the innocent guest star, usually a girl but not always, who had some connection to the THRUSH threat of the week and Napoleon and Illya had to recruit them and use their assistance in order to save the world.

Although the show focuses on just those two characters, there are none of those moving character development episodes that modern television shows seem obsessed by. We know what they characters of Napoleon and Illya are like and that they're friends and are able to work well together and still get in a few wisecracks between the action. We cannot know about their personal backgrounds or what they do on their days off because they're spies and are too busy saving the world to get into any of that nonsense. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was made as pure escapism.

Since I couldn't find any clips, here is a clip show that someone made to "The Masochism Tango" by Tom Lehrer. This was also the first American TV show to use hand held cameras in some of the fight scenes.

UNCLE started out as an adventure series with bits of comedy mixed in. However, during the third season, with the rise in popularity of Batman, it became incredibly silly. Some of the episodes are so silly that they're almost unwatchable and the ratings sank. Even though they switched back to their old format for the fourth season, they were cancelled halfway through.

UNCLE was made by MGM for television and was filmed entirely on location on the MGM back lot, which is why you might recognize some of the sets or costumes from other MGM movies, or even just the sound stages which can fill in for just about any location in the world.

Aside from the merchandising profits from books, lunch boxes and replica gadgets, MGM also cashed in by releasing eight UNCLE movies, which were really just two episodes stuck together with some extra sex and violence footage thrown in. These films did extremely well overseas, where UNCLE wasn't shown, in some cases beating that year's James Bond film at the box office.

Just about anyone famous who was willing to appear on television guest stared on the show. Including Joan Crawford, Janet Leigh, Victor Borge, Nancy Sinatra, Sonny and Cher, Eve Arden, Joan Blondell, Cesar Romero, Anne Francis, Angela Lansbury and of course, Vincent Price.

But most famously in the ninth episode of the first season, William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy appeared on screen together for the first time and a full two years before Star Trek started! This is the only clip I could find of the entire series and it's from that episode. Shatner plays the innocent of the week and Nimoy plays a Russian. Also appearing are the guy who played Colonel Klink and Illya doing his impression of Trotsky

Click here to watch

So, what about the costumes. Well, since there are too many episodes to screen cap and I didn't know which ones to pick to screen cap since they all have great costumes, here is one of the special features videos from the DVD which is a clip show of all of the girls from UNCLE and shows their awesome Sixties fashions, big hair and even bigger eye makeup.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is available on DVD in Region 1 and five of the feature films are available on Region 2 DVD. Or you could just download them from the bay of pirates if the DVDs aren't available to you. And you should, it's a terrific series and such fun to watch!