Second 'Man From U.N.C.L.E.' Feature Offers Undemanding Entertainment
There was more of an expectation for the release of "The Spy With My Face" as it was the first feature released after 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.' had established itself as a TV favourite and I must admit, I was pretty pleased with it in 1965 and I find I run it at least three times a year fifty years later.I saw it on its initial theatrical run with a fairly full house and you can tell the audience were enjoying it all, knowing that when a sign went up saying 'Somewhere In Australia' or 'The Austrian Alps', we were really seeing the back lot of MGM, but we all went along with the joke.
The story wasn't that original – a double being planted in an organization, but it's done with a certain amount of flair and originality (although the scene where Solo meets his double by opening the door is exactly the same as the scene in "Thunderball"), and there are some unintentionally hilarious moments, like no one thinks it's unusual for a man with a completely bandaged head to sit behind Solo in a restaurant, THRUSH headquarters are designed in such a way that they can be blown up by a dying agent flicking one switch, and the other agents who join Napoleon and Illya are from U.N.C.L.E. in Sicily and UNCLE in Africa. So a small island in Italy has its own operation, but there is only one for the entire continent of Africa – and the Sicilian is such a cliché with the sharp suit and when asked how things are going at home he says 'If it's not THRUSH, it's the Mafioso'. But there are some really good moments Donald Harron as the Australian agent, and quite an imaginative sequence where the McGuffin is transferred in the air plane, and we get to see the (rather impractical) agent's entrance to the Washington U.N.C.L.E. office.
So you get all this and Senta Berger who looks gorgeous and Sharon Farrell (in the first of three appearances in 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.') and an exciting breakout then a shootout. Great escapist stuff.
Here's what I wrote about it in my book "What We Watched In The 1960s (In The Cinema)" when it arrived in Glasgow during week commencing 26 September 1965.
'The Man From UNCLE' had started quietly on TV in June but was now a staggeringly popular top 10 show, especially with the younger age group, so although the pilot "To Trap A Spy" had arrived without much of a fanfare, the crowds flocked to see "The Spy With My Face", the second feature length spin-off which arrived at the Regal and Bedford. This one was based on 'The Double Affair', an episode not due for broadcast on TV in the UK – with additional footage from 'The Four Steps Affair' and some extra footage mainly of Napoleon solo having romantic liaisons with Senta Berger and Sharon Farrell. Despite being made for TV it didn't seem out of place on a cinema screen and audiences got two Napoleon Solos for the price of one when villains THRUSH make a double of him. "Son Of A Gunfighter" on the same bill was an old fashioned western, but more than adequate and pleasing.
Something to look out for – the sequence where the duplicate Solo enters U.N.C.L.E. HQ and walks through to Mr Waverley's office is re-used under the opening credits of "One Of Our Spies Is Missing".
Jim Doyle is the author of 'What We Watched In The 1960s (In The Cinema)', 'What We Watched In The 1970s (In The Cinema)" and 'What We Watched In The 1980s (In The Cinema And On Video)'
score 7/10
jimdoyle111 10 December 2015
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3369607/35364
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