UNCLE was created by Sam Rolfe, Norman Felton and Ian Fleming over fifty years ago and it was a television serial by Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM). The UNCLE is supposedly a secret international organisation which was headquartered in New York near the United Nations and this fictional organisation was originally named as United Nations Command for Law and Enforcement. The UN did not want its name to be associated with a fictional organisation and hence this adaptation. The network consisted of agents from all around the world and their job was to maintain moral and political order around the world. They defended nations regardless of size or political persuasion. UNCLE operated in Communist, Third World and Western countries too. Their primary opponent was THRUSH which is an acronym for Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and Subjugation of Humanity. UNCLE supposedly had offices in New York, Caracas, Nairobi, New Delhi (wow) and Berlin with Alexander Waverly as its head while the main people at Law and Enforcement were Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin. It had armed field agents and others who did the cover up acts. Technology of the times was used in a befitting manner by the operatives. Gadgets were galore and the agents rushed for thrill without any fear or favour. Righteousness was important and the world had to be based on peace and ethics. It was just that evil had to be done away with the best and quickest methods possible.
Though a fictional organisation UNCLE was presented in style those days and it was kind of a "James Bond" on Television. The headquarters was apparently located near that of the UN and the Brownstone apartments served as the façade. On one end the helipad and antennas were disguised as bill boards and the underground docking area had a tunnel which ran under the UN headquarters in order to give access to the boats. The entrance was through "Del Floria's", a small nondescript tailoring and dry cleaning store. On entering the office, the receptionist used to pin badges in accordance with the importance of the person - say yellow meant the highest security clearance. There was also a three storey white stone building which had a Masque Club on the first and second floors where waitresses wore masks. The third floor incidentally had a propaganda wing in the form of a charity fund raising organisation. The UNCLE logo is quite interesting and it consists of a black Nicolosi projection of the globe with some longitudes and latitudes picked out in white while black concentric circles surround it. To the right is the silhouette of a man in a black suit with a gun in his hand and logo is superimposed with yellow and brown continents without national borders - Its a tribute to the one world philosophy of UNCLE.
The UNCLE went through a number of productions and it included - To Trap a Spy, The Karate Killers, How the Steal the World, The Man from UNCLE, Return of the Man from UNCLE. A number of books were written around the theme "UNCLE" and apparently David McDaniel was rated the best. The other authors include Peter Leslie, John T.Phillifent, Thomas Stratton, J.Hunter Holly, Frederic Davies, Joel Bernard, John Oram etc.," The Thousand Coffins Affair" by Michael Avallone is on top while "The Doomsday Affair" by Harry Whittington is rated next. The credit goes to Sam Rolfe for creating the format and the serial went on well during his period of work. Robert Vaughn, David, Leo.G.Caroll, Stefanie Powers, Noel Harrison etc., have played nice roles in connection with UNCLE and The GIRL from UNCLE those days. One can get a lot of collectibles of UNCLE from e bay and other places on and off the internet. An original sealed mint in box Napolean Solo attache case starts at a whopping $1000! UNCLE comes with gadgets like the trick pen, cigarette case communicator etc., There are UNCLE quizzes and crosswords too plus fan clubs! An UNCLE movie was made as recent as 2015 and it grossed $114 million dollars.
While Alexander Waverly was the head, Napoleon Solo was most important in the hierarchy and April Dancer was "The Girl from UNCLE". However "The Girl from UNCLE" was discontinued very quickly for commercial reasons. Septugenarian K.Govindarajulu and his friends R.Prabhu (Former Minister in the Rajiv Gandhi Government), Late G.Ravindran and the lover of music R.Baba Chandersekhar at the Coimbatore Institute of Technology during the sixties of the last century were avid readers who had a hand in music too. They had a fine collection of books, comics and music which included the UNCLE books. Those days they set the trend for UNCLE in Coimbatore.
The Girl from UNCLE Annual makes a spectacular read. The list of contents include assignments like "Double Trouble for April", "Serpent on the Nile" etc., The illustrations were done by Edgar. A.Hodges and David Brian while the stories and features were done by the team consisting of Peter Carrick, A.Tyson, Lillian Porter, K.McLean and Mae Broadley. April Dancer, the main agent is given the code 17225 where it is stated that she was born at Maine in the USA and that she has Raven hair with brown eyes at 5 feet and 5 inches. She seems to have interests in bull fighting, clay pigeon shooting and dancing. The other important agent Mark Slate likes pretty girls, good food, gadgets, skiing and singing. The write up ASSIGNMENT ANTI FREEZE has all the details for making an UNCLE girl outfit with all the details required to produce it. A quiz is part of the repertoire while a comic, "The Fatal Accidents Affair" forms part of the book which is a hard bound one with 93 pages. A snug and flattering neck tie "For April Days" is described in one of the pages. The part "April Magic" gives the recipe for a Frosty Carnival Torte. The page "Pretty Long" shows the number of hair styles of April Dancer". The recipe for a soft mohair scarf is given with a picture ! The part "Mix and Match" has the right ingredients for style and goes on to state - "Choose the right accessories with extra care and you will look as though you have just stepped out of the pages of a glossy fashion magazine"!!! A kit for travelling girls is explained with nice sketches in the book and the "Supper with April", "The way to Mark's Heart" are tantalising. The SOUP A LA DANCER is among April's favourite quickies. Interestingly "The Girl from UNCLE" has got a logo too. The star cast was by Stephanie Powers who came in as April Dancer while Noel Harrison played as Mark Slate.
The Man from UNCLE and The Girl from UNCLE were icons of fashion and thrill about half a century before. Even now, the UNCLE phenomenon continues to rule the roost with games, new movies, stories, interviews, memoirs and memorabilia being loved by the fun loving, well meaning, do gooder energetic crowd.
Though a fictional organisation UNCLE was presented in style those days and it was kind of a "James Bond" on Television. The headquarters was apparently located near that of the UN and the Brownstone apartments served as the façade. On one end the helipad and antennas were disguised as bill boards and the underground docking area had a tunnel which ran under the UN headquarters in order to give access to the boats. The entrance was through "Del Floria's", a small nondescript tailoring and dry cleaning store. On entering the office, the receptionist used to pin badges in accordance with the importance of the person - say yellow meant the highest security clearance. There was also a three storey white stone building which had a Masque Club on the first and second floors where waitresses wore masks. The third floor incidentally had a propaganda wing in the form of a charity fund raising organisation. The UNCLE logo is quite interesting and it consists of a black Nicolosi projection of the globe with some longitudes and latitudes picked out in white while black concentric circles surround it. To the right is the silhouette of a man in a black suit with a gun in his hand and logo is superimposed with yellow and brown continents without national borders - Its a tribute to the one world philosophy of UNCLE.
The UNCLE went through a number of productions and it included - To Trap a Spy, The Karate Killers, How the Steal the World, The Man from UNCLE, Return of the Man from UNCLE. A number of books were written around the theme "UNCLE" and apparently David McDaniel was rated the best. The other authors include Peter Leslie, John T.Phillifent, Thomas Stratton, J.Hunter Holly, Frederic Davies, Joel Bernard, John Oram etc.," The Thousand Coffins Affair" by Michael Avallone is on top while "The Doomsday Affair" by Harry Whittington is rated next. The credit goes to Sam Rolfe for creating the format and the serial went on well during his period of work. Robert Vaughn, David, Leo.G.Caroll, Stefanie Powers, Noel Harrison etc., have played nice roles in connection with UNCLE and The GIRL from UNCLE those days. One can get a lot of collectibles of UNCLE from e bay and other places on and off the internet. An original sealed mint in box Napolean Solo attache case starts at a whopping $1000! UNCLE comes with gadgets like the trick pen, cigarette case communicator etc., There are UNCLE quizzes and crosswords too plus fan clubs! An UNCLE movie was made as recent as 2015 and it grossed $114 million dollars.
While Alexander Waverly was the head, Napoleon Solo was most important in the hierarchy and April Dancer was "The Girl from UNCLE". However "The Girl from UNCLE" was discontinued very quickly for commercial reasons. Septugenarian K.Govindarajulu and his friends R.Prabhu (Former Minister in the Rajiv Gandhi Government), Late G.Ravindran and the lover of music R.Baba Chandersekhar at the Coimbatore Institute of Technology during the sixties of the last century were avid readers who had a hand in music too. They had a fine collection of books, comics and music which included the UNCLE books. Those days they set the trend for UNCLE in Coimbatore.
The Girl from UNCLE Annual makes a spectacular read. The list of contents include assignments like "Double Trouble for April", "Serpent on the Nile" etc., The illustrations were done by Edgar. A.Hodges and David Brian while the stories and features were done by the team consisting of Peter Carrick, A.Tyson, Lillian Porter, K.McLean and Mae Broadley. April Dancer, the main agent is given the code 17225 where it is stated that she was born at Maine in the USA and that she has Raven hair with brown eyes at 5 feet and 5 inches. She seems to have interests in bull fighting, clay pigeon shooting and dancing. The other important agent Mark Slate likes pretty girls, good food, gadgets, skiing and singing. The write up ASSIGNMENT ANTI FREEZE has all the details for making an UNCLE girl outfit with all the details required to produce it. A quiz is part of the repertoire while a comic, "The Fatal Accidents Affair" forms part of the book which is a hard bound one with 93 pages. A snug and flattering neck tie "For April Days" is described in one of the pages. The part "April Magic" gives the recipe for a Frosty Carnival Torte. The page "Pretty Long" shows the number of hair styles of April Dancer". The recipe for a soft mohair scarf is given with a picture ! The part "Mix and Match" has the right ingredients for style and goes on to state - "Choose the right accessories with extra care and you will look as though you have just stepped out of the pages of a glossy fashion magazine"!!! A kit for travelling girls is explained with nice sketches in the book and the "Supper with April", "The way to Mark's Heart" are tantalising. The SOUP A LA DANCER is among April's favourite quickies. Interestingly "The Girl from UNCLE" has got a logo too. The star cast was by Stephanie Powers who came in as April Dancer while Noel Harrison played as Mark Slate.
The Man from UNCLE and The Girl from UNCLE were icons of fashion and thrill about half a century before. Even now, the UNCLE phenomenon continues to rule the roost with games, new movies, stories, interviews, memoirs and memorabilia being loved by the fun loving, well meaning, do gooder energetic crowd.