fajrdrako | The Man From U.N.C.L.E. 1x01

While exercising this morning, I watched "The Vulcan Affair" - the first episode on the U.N.C.L.E. DVDs. I must have missed this when I first watched the series, since I didn't discover it until December and the series started in September. Exciting to think there are more U.N.C.L.E. episodes I've never seen, after all this time.

The Vulcan Affair

Interesting that there is no dialogue for the first few minutes.
Del Florio doesn't seem to fast on the uptake - he should have acted as soon as he saw the coat over the television. Maybe he did.
When the enemy agents set off all the alarms in U.N.C.L.E. hq, it's quite a racket. I was thinking that a silent alarm would be a good thing at that point.
Mr. Waverly seems rather sweet. Iron underneath, though.
I like the U.N.C.L.E. communications officer using the sun lamp on the job. Cute.
Illya is so lovely! I think I failed to appreciate him when I was twelve.
Napoleon isn't bad, either.
I like the Jerry Goldsmith music. No surprise there. I used to have the LP.
Elaine May Bender Donaldson seems rather disingenuous, in the early sixties way that most women on television seemed stupid. Things were changing, but it was another couple of decades before this was properly fixed. (Assuming it is now!) Interesting assumptions: that she is "just" a wife and mother, and that the job is boring, and that she enjoys doing something else instead. I note she doesn't seem to think about her kids while she's on assignment.
Elaine, however, looks a little like the Barbie doll I had at the time. Especially in the black dress. Which I quite like. (Liked it on Barbie, too. Gad - is watching this show going to bring back all these flashbacks to my childhood?)
Loved the lipstick line. "Still the same lips underneath." Heh. I like it when the women are... forward.
I like Fritz Weaver as Andrew Vulcan. Too bad he's a villain. Good name, too. I like most of the names in U.N.C.L.E., except perhaps Elaine May Bender Donaldson.
When Elaine says she doesn't believe Vulcan is so terrible, Napoleon says, "then watch them fish my car out of the river tomorrow", I expected him to say, "then watch them fish my body out of the river tomorrow."
Too bad Illya is missing from the action. I wonder if Napoleon misses Illya more than Elaine misses her children. I wonder how long Napoleon and Illya have been partners at this point.
I like the THRUSH agents wearing uniforms that look like Nazi army uniforms.
Those dogs aren't very sharp; they don't notice Napoleon's scent. Is he wearing dog repellent?
There's some amazing photography here.
I like the twist about who is the killer and who is the target.
Solo bondage! I remember it well. It's rather like X-Men that way.
Napoleon's shoes are interesting. Shiny. I expected laces.
Ooh. Wet Napoleon. Nice. No wonder I liked him at twelve. I still do. That's me: consistent over time.
Is Elaine expressing the female angst that was the earmark of the early sixties? And why do I feel that this has reversed as a common attitude in the intervening decades? Perhaps because the woman who doesn't work outside the home is no longer common, and those who do so do it by choice, knowing the alternatives.
I like the bit of flame that follows Napoleon through the door when the place explodes.
For just a moment, at the end, I thought Robert Vaughn looked a little like Sean Connery, and saw why they cast him.
Cute flirtation with the cute stewardess.
Trying to see who was responsible for the good cinematography. The director of photography is Joseph Biroc. Art direction is by George W. Davis and Merrill Pye. Good team.