One Spy Too Many (1966)

Megalomaniac Alexander wants to be like Alexander The Great. His plan is to commit the world's greatest crimes to expand his industrial empire. Every crime is specifically designed to ... See full summary »

Director:

Joseph Sargent

Writer:

Dean Hargrove (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert Vaughn, David McCallum, Rip Torn

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Vaughn	...	Napoleon Solo
David McCallum	...	Illya Kuryakin
Rip Torn	...	Alexander
Dorothy Provine	...	Tracey Alexander (archive footage)
Leo G. Carroll	...	Alexander Waverly
Yvonne Craig	...	Maude Waverly
David Opatoshu	...	Mr. Kavon (archive footage)
David Sheiner	...	Parviz
Donna Michelle	...	Princess Nicole
Leon Lontoc	...	Gen. Bon Phouma (archive footage)
Robert Karnes	...	Col. Hawks (archive footage)
Clarke Gordon	...	Arnold Claxon (archive footage)
James Hong	...	Prince Phanong (archive footage)
Cal Bolder	...	Ingo Lindstrum (archive footage)
Carol Williams	...	Receptionist (archive footage)

Storyline

Megalomaniac Alexander wants to be like Alexander The Great. His plan is to commit the world's greatest crimes to expand his industrial empire. Every crime is specifically designed to contradict the ten commandments. U.N.C.L.E. goes after him when he steals a secret chemical from the US military. Solo and Kuryakin team up with Alexander's former wife, Tracey, to stop him from becoming the most powerful man in the world. This movie is made from the "The Alexander The Greater Affair", parts one and two, from season two of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

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Plot Keywords:

hero | edited from tv series | judo | karate | fist fight | 

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Taglines:

Watch Out Brothers, Here Comes U.N.C.L.E. Again!

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Thriller | Action

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 February 1966 (UK)

Also Known As:

Un espía de más

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arena Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A sequence involving Alexander's parents - played by Madge Blake and Charles Seel - was deleted from the feature film version. The sequence involved him breaking the 5th Commandment by dishonoring his parents and making them work in a mine as slaves. The number 5 is quite visible over the mine, during the car chase through the rock quarry.

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Connections

Followed by The Helicopter Spies (1968)

User Reviews

For the last time, this is not a spoof.

The first theatrical spinoff from "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." to come from two RELATED episodes ("To Trap A Spy" was "The Vulcan Affair" + extra footage, and "The Spy With My Face" was "The Double Affair" + extra footage*, but this movie was first shown on American TV as the show's two-parter "The Alexander The Greater Affair"), "One Spy Too Many" has Solo and Kuryakin go up against evil millionaire industrialist (aren't they all?) Alexander, who as part of his plan to take over the world by breaking all of the Ten Commandments has stolen a will gas, which our heroes have to get back.

This is often and misleadingly called a spoof by people who can't understand the difference between an espionage show with a sense of humour (which "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." was in the beginning) and an out-and-out comedy (which is what it became in its third year, giving the show a very misguided "Batman" feel - I defy anybody to watch Solo dancing with a man in a gorilla suit in "The My Friend The Gorilla Affair" without screaming). Though it's pretty tongue-in-cheek, the danger our heroes are in is real more often than not; it does betray its TV roots more than any of the other "movies," with several of the show's trademark going-out-of-focus-at-the-end-of-an-act shots preserved, an all-too-obvious "To be continued" moment and at least one really bad use of stock footage.

But with Messrs. Vaughn and McCallum in fine fettle, and Rip Torn having a high old time as the evil madman (and he wasn't even Larry Sanders' producer then), this is as entertaining today as it must have been when it debuted on TV nearly forty years ago. Would I be lynched if I said I actually like these more than Bond?

*Said extra footage was eventually turned into "The Four Steps Affair." That episode has never been shown on British TV, and indeed neither have most of the other episodes that became movies - except for "The Five Daughters Affair" (i.e. "The Karate Killers"), shown in its original two-part format on the UK answer to TV Land, Granada Plus.