HOW TO STEAL THE WORLD (1968)
Article 2062 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 11-6-2006
Posting Date: 4-5-2007
Directed by Sutton Roley
Featuring Robert Vaughn, David McCallum, Barry Sullivan

When a well-intentioned former UNCLE agent comes by a formula that allows total control of anyone’s will, he kidnaps several noted scientists to help him put into effect a plan to use the formula to put an end to violence and evil in the world. Napoleon Solo and Ilya Kuryakin are called upon to stop him.

This movie was culled from the final two episodes of “The Man from UNCLE” TV series, and, quite frankly, you can see that the series had gone downhill. Both Vaughn and McCallum seem to show little interest in the proceedings, and, despite the fact that the story is interesting, the direction is uninspired. Still, there are some good performances here; in particular, Leslie Nielsen gives an excellent performance in an interesting role as a General who is a firm believer in the ends justifying the means, and the conflict between him and Barry Sullivan’s character (as the former UNCLE agent who has hired him as a security expert) adds a lot of interest to the proceedings. I also really took notice of Leo G. Carroll here; his ability to express in his face thoughts that cannot be revealed through his terse dialogue, and his performance in the final moments of this one is great. On a side note, I would like to point out that helicopters play a much bigger role in the proceedings here than they did in THE HELICOPTER SPIES.