Well, if you've been paying any attention at all, then tonight's Saturday Night Special should be of no surprise to you! Welcome to The Dungeon, and an English TV show that came on the scene in 1960! It was called "Danger Man" and was very successful in Europe, but not so much in America, but when the show came back as "Secret Agent" in 1964, it became very popular in America too!
I hate to be redundant, but to give credit where credit is due, you wouldn't be seeing this if it weren't for Lord Litter, film freak extraordinaire!! Cheerz!
The star of "Danger Man" was Patrick McGoohan as American agent John Drake! Patrick was born in New York but moved to Ireland as a child! Oddly enough, in the "Secret Agent" show, he is still the same character, John Drake, but in "Secret Agent Man" he's from either Britain or Ireland. It's never made clear!
A banker has stolen 4 million dollars worth of gold bricks, and then he got himself murdered, and it's up to John Drake to find the money! Next stop....Rome!!
This would probably be a good time to try and help some of the recent earthquake victims in Italy!
Delphi (The Man Who Cheated Death, Frozen Alive) Lawrence is the bereaved widow Stella Delroy! No big alligator tears from her because her relationship with her husband had completely deteriorated, and she doesn't really care if he's dead or not!
John Drake is trying to find the banker's girlfriend, and a couple of clues lead to a dress shop owned by a woman named Gina Scarlotti!
Gina Scarlotti is played by a gal named Barbara Shelley! Barbara's got a nice list of credits including films like "Cat Girl," "Blood Of The Vampire," "Village Of The Damned," and "The Gorgon!"
A cafe artiste gives John Drake more clues!
The cafe artiste is a fellow named Charles Houston who played a character named Clogger Roach in a 1960 movie titled "Hell Is A City!"
Back to talk to the widow after she finally gets out of bed!
This painting taken from the dead man's place yields some pretty good clues!
Almost like a street map to the home of the artiste!
Patrick McGoohan was offered both the roles of James Bond and Columbo in his career, which is kinda weird because he looks like he also has a glass eye sometimes!
If you want to be stealth, you've got to turn your collar up like this, otherwise you might get noticed!
Great shot of Patrick McGoohan who went on to produce and star in the iconic TV show, "The Prisoner!"
Barbara Shelley shows us the proper way to wear pearls!
John Drake and Gina Scarlotti find the gold in a crate that was only supposed to contain books, heavy books!
I love this shot through a dirty window!
Well, it looks bad, but don't worry because John Drake is going to be okay, and this show is going to go on for years!
If you want to find out for yourself, then this is your lucky day!
Enjoy every minute of your life, because no one knows what tomorrow might bring!
If you want to find out for yourself, then this is your lucky day!
Enjoy every minute of your life, because no one knows what tomorrow might bring!
In the original half-hour series, Drake seemed to be an American of Irish ancestry. He worked for NATO (which would include the US, Canada, and Great Britain), and his office appeared to be in Washington DC. In the later full-hour series, he seemed to be British or Irish, and worked for the British Secret Service, with HQ in London.
ReplyDeleteIn one of the hour episodes (I think it may have been "The Galloping Major"), he was definitely stated to be Irish, although he was working undercover at the time, and that could have been part of his disguise.
The half-hour series opened with a voice-over: "Every government has its secret service branch. America, CIA. France, Deuxieme Bureau. England, MI5. NATO also has its own. A messy job? Well, that's when they call on me, or someone like me. Oh, yes: my name's Drake. John Drake." (Sometimes, the intro left out the line about NATO.)
Two years later, the world's most famous secret agent (now there's an oxymoron!) introduced himself in a movie for the first time: "Bond. James Bond."
But then, IIRC, the Saint often introduced himself at the beginning of each episode as, "Templar. Simon Templar." So maybe I'm making too much out of what might just be a natural similarity.
I didn't know that McGoohan had been offered the part of Columbo. I know he guest starred on the show, playing the murderer. I heard different stories about why he turned down Bond. One was that he and director Terence Young did not get along. Another was that he disapproved of the sex and violence in the Bond series. Drake seldom used a gun, and did not have illicit affairs with women.
I love it when readers fill in the blanks TC! Never can have too much info, that's for sure, and that's what I read also, was that McGoohan turned down Bond, because he did not agree with his character. An actor with morals? Strange concept!
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