THE HELICOPTER SPIES (1968)
Edited from episodes of “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.”
Article 2054 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-29-2006
Posting Date: 3-28-2007
Directed by Boris Sagal
Featuring Robert Vaughn, David McCallum, Carol Lynley

Two secret agents try to prevent a weapon called the Thermal Prism from being used to take over the world.

Despite the fact that I’m not a particular fan of the James Bond series, I find myself quite liking some of the TV shows that were inspired by it. I didn’t see this show much during its original run, but I’ve enjoyed seeing some of the movies made out of it, and I think it’s a good thing that they usually did this with two-part episodes that told whole stories rather than trying to glue two different stories together. This one is quite fun and has an interesting assortment of guest stars, including John Dehner, Carol Lynley, Julie London and John Carradine (who, as a high priest of a cult, will only speak when his cult has gained control of the world). H. M. Wynant is also a lot of fun as a group of acrobat brothers who just happen to all look alike; I look forward to seeing him in Larry Blamire’s upcoming movie TRAIL OF THE SCREAMING FOREHEAD. However, I do take issue with the title of the movie; though there are a couple of scenes with helicopters in the movie, they play no significant role in the proceedings; it’s almost as if the person who titled it, saw the first two minutes, decided that since it was a scene of two spies in a helicopter, he decided to call it THE HELICOPTER SPIES. Imagine if other movies titled themselves that way.

CITIZEN KANE – THE DEAD MAN’S PAPERWEIGHT
THE WIZARD OF OZ – FEEDING PIGS IN KANSAS
THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN – BYRON VISITS THE SHELLEYS
KING KONG – THE ACTRESS HUNT

You can add your own.