Max Magazine, September 30-October 6, 1999
The date was Sept. 22, 1964, and for many television viewers, it marked the beginning of a life-long addiction. The object of their affection debuted in black and white, with an episode called "The Vulcan Affair" and, despite the name, it had nothing to do with "Star Trek".
Instead, the new NBC show featured a suave secret agent from a mysterious organization known as ‘U.N.C.L.E.’. The debonair leading man would eventually be partnered with a brooding blonde Russian -- quite a daring idea at a time when people were more likely to build bomb shelters than trust Russians -- and both would report to a distinguished British boss. Together the three -- Napoleon Solo, Illya Kuryakin and Alexander Waverly -- would stir the imaginations of a generation while fighting the evil THRUSH, a dastardly alliance of bad-guys and assorted villains dedicated to subjugating the world.
Flash forward to Sept. 22, 1999, exactly 35 years since "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." captured its first audience. The show was cancelled halfway into its fourth season -- gone, but not forgotten by either those who grew up with ‘U.N.C.L.E.’ or a whole legion of new fans who weren’t even born when Napoleon first opened his pen communicator and uttered those unforgettable words: "Open Channel D."
Today the fans of ‘U.N.C.L.E.’ are scattered throughout the world. They vary as much by age as by nationality, with both college kids and middle-aged grandparents finding common ground. Some claim the resurgence of interest in all things ‘U.N.C.L.E.’ can be traced to a wave of baby boomer nostalgia, seasoned by the current Austin Powers craze and served up as a cult television offering.
It’s obvious they just don’t get it.
"It was a weekly fantasy roller-coaster ride that helped us escape the turbulent decade we were living in," says Jon Heitland, author of the definitive book about the series, "The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Book -- The Behind the Scenes Story of a Television Classic." In compiling his book, Heitland interviewed virtually every living person associated with the and said the show’s timing added to its success.
"It would have been popular on its own, but the James Bond film ‘Goldfinger ’ premiered within days of ‘U.N.C.L.E.’ and started the spy phenomenon," Heitland said in an interview.
Like Ian Fleming’s master spy, ‘U.N.C.L.E.’ has also withstood the test of time. In fact, Fleming came up with the initial character of Napoleon Solo. According to Heitland, Fleming conceived Solo as a more down-to-earth Bond. "Solo was to be human, yet slightly superhuman," Heitland wrote in his book.
Fleming met with ‘U.N.C.L.E.’ series creator Norman Felton and the two hashed out details for a show centered around Solo and the secret organization for which he worked. It was tentatively titled "Solo".
But little of the original concept made it into the final product. The secret organization was dubbed U.N.C.L.E. by pilot scriptwriter and developer Sam Rolfe. At the time, the letters meant absolutely nothing. Eventually they were said to stand for the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, an international organization with no political allegiance. Rolfe fleshed out Solo’s character and added both Illya Kuryakin and Mr. Waverly to the mix.
The rest, as they say, is history.
When examining the reasons for ‘U.N.C.L.E.’s original success, it’s difficult to pinpoint just one factor. The concept was new and different. The scripts were witty and well-written. The production team was top notch and, more than anything, the casting was flawless.
Robert Vaughn was Solo, a smooth, sophisticated gentleman with an appreciation of the fairer sex. When he was cast in ‘U.N.C.L.E.’, Vaughn was already appearing in the television show, ‘The Lieutenant’ with Gary Lockwood -- a series about a Marine officer that was filmed at Camp Pendleton.
No industry novice, Vaughn had already appeared in a number of top-notch productions, winning an Academy Award nomination for his role in "The Young Philadelphians" and starring as "Lee" in what many consider to be one of the finest westerns of all times, "The Magnificent Seven". Daniel Bolton, a 22-year-old Australian with a degree in journalism whose webpage, "The Vaughn Lounge" pays tribute to his favorite actor, says Vaughn brought something special to the role of Napoleon Solo. "Vaughn just exemplifies ‘the American’, which was such an important quality for this pre-Detente role."
Vaughn was the man every other man longed to be. "Solo was more likeable than James Bond and Vaughn played him with more ease and sly humor," Bolton added.
William Koenig, an accomplished writer with a Web page devoted to things ‘U.N.C.L.E.’, centers much of his work around fictional spies. Koenig says Vaughn and his co-star, David McCallum, each brought something different to the show.
"Robert Vaughn gave the character a sense of style while David McCallum gave it the proper air of mystery," he said.
As the mysterious Russian, McCallum quickly developed his own fan following. The Scottish actor was immensely popular with women in the audience.
Sylvie Lafrance, a French-Canadian fan who was born in Montreal, says she first saw the show in reruns in 1973 when she was eight years old. "I just happened to see this blond, magnetic, deep-looking guy on the screen and even as a kid I got instantly hooked."
McCallum, the son of serious musicians, had enjoyed a measure of acting success in England before trying his hand with American audiences. Like Vaughn, he had a number of good movie roles to his credit, appearing in "Billy Budd" and as Eric Ashley-Pitt in "The Great Escape".
"My first crush," is what Lafrance called McCallum. It’s a term often used to describe him. In fact, Ellen Druda, who runs an unofficial McCallum Web page, quotes a fellow fan as saying that "Illya was everyone’s first boyfriend."
"I loved ‘U.N.C.L.E.’ because it was funny and sexy and looked very different from what was on TV at the time," Druda said.
The third member of the ‘U.N.C.L.E.’ team, the late, great Leo G.Carroll, was a veteran British actor with both stage and screen credits. Carroll was a counterbalance to the modern gadgetry, a tweed-clad older gentleman of impeccable manners and intelligence.
The three were blessed with scripts combining adventure, fantasy and tongue-in-cheek humor. The ‘U.N.C.L.E.’ storylines followed a loose format: The two heroes would embark on a mission involving an ordinary citizen. The ordinary citizen would be someone who just happened along at the wrong moment, and often was someone who thought his or her life was boring.
Key to the show’s success was the special camaraderie that existed between Solo and Kuryakin. The show’s writers salted their relationship with droll humor and emphasized the differences between the two men. But, as Heitland points out, there is no doubt of their devotion to one another. "You could tell that, beneath their bantering and the rivalry and obvious differences in their lifestyles and philosophies, these two were friends that would readily die for each other," Heitland said.
And that relationship is one reason their fandom has continued to exist long after the show was taken off the air.
"The Man from U.N.C.L.E." was a huge success, although it nearly didn’t stick around long enough to register. Heitland said it was almost cancelled after the first 13 episodes, but a second chance gave it another opportunity to win viewers with its stylistic portrayal of the world of espionage.
Soon it was the hottest thing in Hollywood. Vaughn and McCallum were on the covers of every major magazine and neither could make a move without being mobbed.
Vaughn has told the story of meeting the Beatles, who were also incredibly popular at the time. The Fab Four wanted to meet Napoleon Solo when they came to the U.S., so a meeting was arranged in the back of an armored truck in order to maintain security.
Vaughn and McCallum were much in demand where personal appearances were concerned. They rode in parades, cut ribbons, gave interviews and generally charmed the public with their graciousness. Neither developed a star complex and that, perhaps, explains why so many of the first cousins, as the original ‘U.N.C.L.E.’ fans are called, are still avid fans not just of the show, but of the actors.
Mary Edmonds, a 56-year-old Elkhart, Indiana, resident, says one reason she ’s such a McCallum fan is the actor’s accessibility." He is someone we would all like to be friends with."
That’s why people such as Lynda Mendoza go to all the trouble of maintaining a club and Wed site honoring the show and the actors. Along with Mendoza’s McCallum Observer club, there are sites with information on the episodes, FAQ’s that cover every aspect of ‘U.N.C.L.E.’, Vaughn sites, photo sites and merchandise sites.
That there still is a plethora of ‘U.N.C.L.E.’ merchandise to be found really isn’t really surprising -- there was a lot of it. That the core base of the show’s fans have remained loyal and active for 35 years, however, is unique.
Bolton, who lives in Brisbane, says when he started looking for ‘U.N.C.L.E.’ material he was amazed at how loyal the fans were. "It was the original fans who kept the memories alive with newsletters and conventions in the 70s and 80s that have allowed people like me to also become involved," he said.
'U.N.C.L.E.’ was big business when the show was hot. Nowadays, collecting U.N.C.L.E. is even hotter. And if you don’t believe it, check out eBay, the online auction site.
At almost any given time there are between 150 and 250 ‘U.N.C.L.E.’ items for sale. They range from autographed photos of the cast to books, dolls, lunchboxes, trading cards and diecast cars. Bidding on the rarest items can climb into the stratosphere. A copy of the final ‘U.N.C.L.E. paperback’, "The Finger In The Sky Affair" by Peter Leslie, sold for more than $75 at auction. That’s not bad for a book that fetched a whole 50 cents when it was brand new.
But if you’d like some ‘U.N.C.L.E.’ memorabilia without spending a fortune, the lower numbered paperbacks can be had for a couple of dollars and there’s always the ‘U.N.C.L.E.’ tape collection.
The collection features 22 tapes with two episodes each. They can be purchased from many large video companies on the Internet, including Critic’s Choice Video, Amazon and Blowout Video. Used tapes can also be found. The U.N.C.L.E. movies, of which there were nine, are not in current release. Only one, "The Return of the Man From U.N.C.L.E.", which featured a reunion between Solo and Kuryakin, can still be purchased.
Used bookstores sometimes carry the ‘U.N.C.L.E.’ books, comic books and files magazines, which premiered in the 80s. And if you want to know just about everything there is to know about the show, Heitland’s book doesn’t skip a beat. If it’s not in his book, then it simply didn’t happen.
So where does that leave "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." today? In pretty good shape for a show that’s been technically dead for 30 years.
The legions of ‘U.N.C.L.E.’ fans continue to grow. But it’s the first cousins who keep the ship afloat. As one fan, Gayland Williams, puts it: "I’m 47 and I have found that I am sort of the exact age that most of (McCallum’s) fans are these days."
McCallum, who is loved by his fans for his graciousness, has maintained a busy acting career with movies, television appearances and stage work. The soft-spoken actor has a happy marriage and four children to his credit. He’ll next appear on Broadway in a production of "Amadeus".
Vaughn continued his acting career while obtaining his doctorate in the 60’s and authoring a widely acclaimed scholarly book on the Hollywood blacklist from the McCarthy era. He has worked consistently in films and on British television and now is working on his autobiography. He, too, is happily married and the father of two children. Fans say Vaughn, like McCallum is kind to his followers and doesn’t hesitate to sign an autograph or two.
As for the future of ‘U.N.C.L.E.’, it still exists in many forms. Heitland says a "Man From U.N.C.L.E." movie is in development with the John Davis Company, which produced the recent "Dudley Do-Right" film.
"Recent movie remakes of 60s spy shows that were themselves copies of ‘U.N.C.L.E.’, have not done well," Heitland says, referring to "The Avengers" and "Wild, Wild West". Although "Mission Impossible" fared better at the box office, fans of the TV show didn’t care for the way it strayed from the original format.
Heitland says the biggest challenge facing a modern version of ‘U.N.C.L.E.’ would be to walk that fine line in staying true to the original show for the first cousins and adding believable action to draw in younger viewers used to the bigger-than-life antics of a "Rambo" or a "Lethal Weapon".
The author, who’s written an as-yet-unsold screenplay about ‘U.N.C.L.E.’, said he thinks the time’s right for a return to the kind of entertainment that brings a good story together with characters the viewer cares about and action that makes our pulses race.
"Wouldn’t it be great to go to a movie and feel that way again?" he asked.
To which thousands of ‘U.N.C.L.E.’ devotees add their own heartfelt "Amen".