This week's Saturday Night Special is the "Man From U.N.C.L.E." movie called "The Spy In The Green Hat" from 1967, that was originally two episodes from season three of "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." TV series called "The Concrete Overcoat Affair" Parts One and Two that aired the previous year!
"The Spy In The Green Hat" is a nice distraction from the current events of the day! It's silly, but not stupid, it's sexy, but not dirty, and it's got a stellar cast and a swinging soundtrack by Nelson Riddle! The theme song was written by Jerry Goldsmith!
What else can you ask for?
"The Spy In The Green Hat" starts off with our heroes Robert Vaughn as Napoleon Solo, and David McCallum as Illya Kuryakin in pursuit of a Nazi scientist with an evil plan to turn Greenland into Freshland, and the Northern hemisphere into a frozen wasteland!
They don't get too far!
The always amazing Leo G. Carroll reprises his role as Alexander Waverly, the man in charge of U.N.C.L.E.
Just in case you don't know, U.N.C.L.E. is an acroynm for "United Network Command for Law and Enforcement!"
Jack Palance is absolutely charismatic as the top bad dog Louis Strago. Here he's joined by Ludwig Donath as Dr. Heinrich von Kronen. Ludwig Donath was also in "The Twilight Zone" episode titled "He's Alive."
I thought Janet Leigh of "Psycho" fame was excellent as Miss Diketon!
She's gorgeous, smart yet dingy, sexy, and very dangerous!
There are actually a couple of stories going on here. While in Sicily working on this case, Solo gets caught up in an Italian family affair. He needed to hide, so he hid under the bed in a young lady's room. When Strago's men find him, they think he's the wrong guy, so they let him go, but now he's in big trouble, because this incident will ruin the girl's reputation! That's when her Uncles, The Stiletto Brothers get brought into the story!
Hey, this doesn't look like something that should be on TV in 1967!
The dishonored gal with the beautiful back is Letícia (The Evil Eye) Román as Pia Monter!
Talk about a shotgun wedding!
Solo is about to get hitched, but lucky for him the ceremony gets broken up, and he can get back to the States!
The always fabulous Joan Blondell has a very small part as the wife of one the Stilletto Brothers named Fingers, and they do an homage to James Cagney in "White Heat!"
Joan acted from 1930 to 1981 and she was in "The Twilight Zone" episode titled "What's In The Box?"
Almost every scene that Jack Palance is in is a crack up! He's freakin' hilarious!
You can't go wrong with some of Hollywood's finest character actors in bit roles! Here's Elijah Cook, as Stilletto henchman Arnold! Elisha Cook Jr. might have just been on the set in more cool movies than anybody, like "The Killing," "House On Haunted Jill," Black Zoo," "Blacula," "Voodoo Island," "Hellzapoppin'," "The Maltese Falcon," "The Haunted Palace," and "Messiah Of Evil," just to name a few!
Another member of the gang is another Dungeon fave, and former professional boxer, Slapsy Maxie Rossenbloom as Crunch Battaglia!
Solo is caught by the Stilletto Brothers and another wedding ceremony is planned for him and Pia, this time at the klassy Kit Kat Klub!
Janet Leigh seems like she must have been a good sport.......
....And she looks great in electric blue!
Finally, the head of T.H.R.U.S.H., the man in the green hat shows up!
Why this movie is called "The Spy In The Green Hat," I'll never know. "The Man In The Green Hat" sounds so much better, and is actually what he's called in the movie!
Will Kuluva has the distinction of being in two of "The Twilight Zone" episodes, "The Mirror," and "The New Exhibit!"
They throw a party for the boss, and he seems much more interested in drinking and dancing than he does in taking over the world!
There's a funny scene toward the end when the T.H.R.U.S.H. chief asks an uncomfortable Illya, who is pretending to be one of Strago's men, for a tour!
When it's all over, Solo asks Illya how he's doing, and he says "I'm pooped!"
7 comments:
Whoa! Izzat dear ol' Ellen Corby in the "wedding" scene holding the shotgun? God, how I love her! She's half the reason I watch TRACKDOWN Saturday mornings on MeTV!!!
Hate to disappoint you but it's Penny Santon!
Okay, now I know I'm really losing it...getting excited over thinking I'm seeing Ellen Corby, and it's not even her! LOL
The opening has great views of P.O.P. - which looks it's on it's last legs. Thanks (watching now)
I know, and I had originally meant to use a photo of them on the aerial tram, but there were too many good pictures so it got left on the cutting room floor. P.O.P. was a cool spot. I went there a couple of times as a kid, and totally lamented it's closure.
I know what KD means. For a long while, I was sure that Jeanette Nolan in THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT was Ellen Corby.
It's been accused of being preachy, and maybe it is, but I've always liked the TZ episode you mention, "The Mirror," including Will Kuluva's big scene with Peter Falk.
Will Kuluva played the original head of U.N.C.L.E. in the pilot for the series.
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