"The Man from U.N.C.L.E." The Project Strigas Affair (1964)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Joseph Sargent

Writer:

Henry Misrock (written by)

TV Series:

"The Man from U.N.C.L.E." (1964)

Original Air Date:

24 November 1964 (Season 1, Episode 9)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Plot:

A diplomat seeks to heighten tensions between East and West. UNCLE is to neutralize him but not, Waverly says...

Plot Keywords:

Exterminator | Fake Weapon | Walkie Talkie | Infrared Vision | Clothing Press

Cast

Robert Vaughn	...	Napoleon Solo
David McCallum	...	Illya Kuryakin
Leo G. Carroll	...	Alexander Waverly
William Shatner	...	Michael Donfield
Peggy Ann Garner	...	Anne Donfield
Werner Klemperer	...	Laslo Kurasov
Leonard Nimoy	...	Vladeck
Narda Onyx	...	Madame Kurasov
Susanne Cramer	...	'Mr. Smith'
Sheila MacRae	...	Nurse (as Sheila Stephenson)
Will J. White	...	Policeman
Woodrow Parfrey	...	Linkwood

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Trivia:

Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner played together in this show just prior to starting the Star Trek original series.

Where No U.N.C.L.E. Has Gone Before!

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This was one of the first 'M.F.U.' episodes to be released on video, mostly due to the pairing of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, two years before the debut of 'Star Trek'. They do not get many scenes together though, and there's none of the interaction that characterised their relationship as 'Captain Kirk' and 'Mr.Spock'. Hardly surprising, given they are on opposing sides.

Laslo Kurasov ( Werner Klemperer ) is a warmongering East European diplomat whom U.N.C.L.E. wants 'removed'. Rather than invade his country and hang him, Solo and Kuryakin launch a scam ( why do real-life Governments never think of these things? ) that would not seem out of place in 'Mission: Impossible' - they con Kurasov into buying the formula of a nerve gas called 'Strigas' ( 'strike gas' ). He pays for it with Party funds, only to find the formula is for floor wax.

Shatner is 'Michael Donfeld', owner of a debt-ridden extermination company whom U.N.C.L.E enlists to sell 'Strigas'. Peggy Ann Garner plays his wife 'Anne'. Werner Klemperer went on to become 'Colonel Klink' in the sitcom 'Hogan's Heroes'. Nimoy is as his sidekick 'Vladeck'. Woodrow Parfey makes the first of several 'U.N.C.L.E.' appearances; here he is villain 'Linkwood'.

Like Martin Landau's 'Rollin Hand', Illya spends a fair amount of the story in disguise.

Somewhat oddly, Henry Misrock, this episode's writer, never wrote for the Bruce Gellar-created spy show.

Despite there being virtually no action, this is an entertaining instalment, with some nice flourishes of humour. For instance, spotting a pram in the middle of a city street, Solo pulls it to safety. Inside the wailing 'baby' is none other than a tape recorder. He turns it off and burps it! Good climax as the disgraced Kurasov is taken to an airport for deportation where he meets Illya and Donfeld, two of the men responsible for his downfall. His angered expression is wonderful!

The 'U.N.C.L.E' directorial debut of Joseph Sargent.