U.N.C.L.E. a day is my obsessive-compulsive approach at working through The Complete Man for U.N.C.L.E., now available on DVD. One episode, one review a day (usually – occasional hiatuses may occur due to travel).
OK, I got a double-feature for ya: first, go watch Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof, and marvel at the performance of Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike. Yes, it is very violent but trust me on this one…
Then, once you are done, watch this episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., from 1964, which features… Kurt Russell. Russell is the “innocent-of-the-week” who ends up getting tangled up with (and eventually saving) Solo. Like other performances from his youth, he’s quite good. Russell has had quite a career, and it’s a little… strange to see both “ends” of his journey as an actor.
Lots of interesting things here, especially in the first act. The episode has an Andromeda Strain type opening, where Illya and Napoleon fly into an island off Scotland using the U.N.C.L.E. helicopter (it has the logo on the side and everything – so much for being a secret organization…) in protective suits to find… lots of old dead people. A plague, or some man-made catastrophe? The latter, of course… and a dead seal in a crate is the key to the mystery.
There is some clunker moments – the choice of whimsical music during a chase scene, the now-cliched exposition from the bad guy on his plot… but it’s a pretty entertaining episode all in all.
And somehow, Napoleon’s cigarette case radio in this episode also functions in one scene like a tricorder from Star Trek… wow, U.N.C.L.E. technology was sure something when the plot demanded it!
Oh, and look for LOTS of stock footage in this episode – the “Coast of Norway” shot in the first act is really bad… as is the “U.N.C.L.E. Headquarters London” shot.