Off to LA: 50th anniversary, "Man from U.N.C.L.E."

[Benzadmiral]

Uncle2 and others, I'm off to LA this week for the 50th anniversary of the premiere of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E."!

http://thegoldenanniversaryaffair.weebly.com/ It's sort of a mini-science fiction convention, with fans plus members of the cast and crew. (Yes, some of them are still alive. I'm looking forward to meeting Sharon Farrell. Who is 73.)

One of the organizers owns the famous U.N.C.L.E. car, and will have it there for photo ops. (I of course will ask him what kind of oil he runs in it. Wonder if he's ever been asked that.) I'll take some shots, and see if he'll let me get a couple of the engine!

 

[eljefino]

Dig around youtube for various ads of Robert Vaughn shilling for different personal injury attorneys.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I'm sure his "Helsinki Formula" commercials are on there too -- along with a lot of his old TV work and scenes from "Magnificent Seven."

 

[MCompact]

I remember watching that show when I was a kid-I had almost all the U.N.C.L.E. guns and toys. Too bad it tried too hard to be "campy" after the first two seasons.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I purchased the DVD set when it came out in '07. The good episodes I remembered fondly were still good; the campy ones were as terrible as I recalled, though some were actually funny -- and not in that so-awful-they're-entertaining, "Mystery Science Theater 3000" way, either.

We've got people coming from Japan, Scotland, Chile, and Argentina for the 50th event. So this is not just an LA or an American phenomenon. After all, in its heyday, the show was the most famous in the world. When the Beatles came to America for the '65 tour, they wanted to meet Robert Vaughn!

 

[daves87rs]

Very cool indeed....

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I would swear Kuryakin Is Ducky on the TV show NCIS now

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
I would swear Kuryakin Is Ducky on the TV show NCIS now

A whole new career for him. Must be tough for a Russian to maintain a Scots-American accent.

 

[earlyre]

Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
I would swear Kuryakin Is Ducky on the TV show NCIS now

A whole new career for him. Must be tough for a Russian to maintain a Scots-American accent.

he is.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_McCallum
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0564724/?ref_=tt_cl_t4#actor

Born in Glasgow, moved to London @ 10(Father was 1st Violinist in the London Philharmonic), then evacuated back to Scotland during the war. after the war Continued Schooling in England.

one of the first Brits to study Method acting.

From the Wikipedia page:
Since 2003, McCallum has starred in the CBS television series NCIS as Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, the team's chief Medical Examiner and one of the show's most popular characters. In one episode, NCIS agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) is asked, "What did Ducky look like when he was younger?" Gibbs response: "Illya Kuryakin."

 

[UncleS2]

Hope it turns out to be a great time for everyone! Any chance Robert Vaughan &/or David McCallum will show up? I've always thought that NCIS was missing a very good bet by never having a show with Vaughan as a guest star. Of course, he & Ducky wouldn't know each other- but at show's end, each, when alone, would tilt his head, squint, look back over his shoulder- and then say,"Nah!"

Congrats, & let us know how it goes.

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
I purchased the DVD set when it came out in '07. The good episodes I remembered fondly were still good; the campy ones were as terrible as I recalled, though some were actually funny -- and not in that so-awful-they're-entertaining, "Mystery Science Theater 3000" way, either.

We've got people coming from Japan, Scotland, Chile, and Argentina for the 50th event. So this is not just an LA or an American phenomenon. After all, in its heyday, the show was the most famous in the world. When the Beatles came to America for the '65 tour, they wanted to meet Robert Vaughn!


Enjoy the trip! My son and I still try to attend Wonderfest every year.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted By: UncleS2
Hope it turns out to be a great time for everyone! Any chance Robert Vaughan &/or David McCallum will show up? I've always thought that NCIS was missing a very good bet by never having a show with Vaughan as a guest star. Of course, he & Ducky wouldn't know each other- but at show's end, each, when alone, would tilt his head, squint, look back over his shoulder- and then say,"Nah!"

Congrats, & let us know how it goes.

Robert Vaughn and David McCallum each sent a message to the site's organizers, and they are on the front page: http://thegoldenanniversaryaffair.weebly.com/

McCallum's been quoted as saying he's pleased at the attention about Illya, but has "moved on," whatever that means. Neither of them has been asked to do a cameo in the 2015 movie (and for that I'm sorta glad; much as I love in-jokes, ones like that always jerk me out of the story).

 

[MCompact]

I hope the movie "gets" the charm and feel of the early shows. Cinematic reboots of television shows get that wrong far more often than they get it right.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted By: MCompact
I hope the movie "gets" the charm and feel of the early shows. Cinematic reboots of television shows get that wrong far more often than they get it right.

Believe me, when I think of how the filmmakers butchered "I Spy," I think we'd be better off with the old episodes of U.N.C.L.E. on DVD rather than a mangled film reboot.

But . . . Guy Ritchie is the director, the fellow who helmed the two recent Sherlock Holmes films with Robert Downey Jr. While they had a new take on Holmes, there were plenty of references to the original material; the films dealt with Doyle's creations with respect. Holmes was an expert boxer, Watson was a young man recently returned from Afghanistan, etc.

And the new MFU film is a period piece set in the early Sixties, showing us (apparently) how U.N.C.L.E. starts and how Solo and Illya first work together. There's going to be an Innocent and a femme fatale. I'm not sure, but I think Thrush will be in it. And Cavill as Solo and Hammer as Illya look right, with that contrast between dark hair and light hair, dressy clothes and casual, that was one of the hallmarks of the original.

There are some fans who won't ever accept anybody but Vaughn and McCallum in the roles. But a lot of us are very very hopeful.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I'm back from LA, which was very pleasant (but expensive. Fourteen bucks for an omelet at a diner???). For BITOGers, the most important thing was the famous U.N.C.L.E. "Piranha" car:





No A/C and the windows don't pop out of the doors; the only ventilation comes from the fact it has no rear glass. The owner, one of the organizers of the event, told me he doesn't run it much, as it has a very tiny gas tank and leaks oil a lot. "I use 30 weight in it," he said when I asked. For a 1960s Corvair engine, I'd guess straight 30W would probably work well. (As I predicted, he'd never been asked that before.)