The Moonglow Affair is the twenty-third episode of the Second Season of 'the Man from U.N.C.L.E.' and stars Robert Vaughn as chief enforcement agent Napoleon Solo and David McCallum as his partner, agent Illya Kuryakin. This episode is considered to be a back-door pilot for 'The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.' and as such is where agent April Dancer makes her onscreen debut.
Synopsis[]
When Solo and Illya are incapacitated, Alexander Waverly assigns agents April Dancer and Mark Slate to complete their mission.[1]
Plot[]
After Solo and Ilia are exposed to radiation, Waverly recruits April Dancer and Mark Slate - an overage agent - to find the antidote and destroy THRUSH's plan to use the radiation to fuel a moon rocket. April infiltrates the company of Arthur Caresse, the man in charge of building the rocket, and he dubs her "Miss Moonglow," the model who will spearhead his Moonglow perfume line. Mark, meanwhile, also enters the Caresse company building and finds a map to a top secret site that Arthur Caresse intends to undermine with explosives. Subduing the German scientist who has written the map, Mark impersonates him and joins the mission to destroy the site, which takes him through the city's sewers. April is outed by Arthur's sister Jean and captured then exposed to the deadly radiation, but manages to find Solo and Ilia. Mark, meanwhile, leads his THRUSH friends to what he claims is the site of the basement of the top secret area, and they drill through the wall - into the locker room of Mark's favourite baseball team! The team members capture the THRUSH agents, and April uses the Moonglow lipstick to trick Jean into shooting and killing her own brother. The three stricken agents are later successfully restored to health - and Waverly has plans to reconsider the retirement age of his agents from now on!
Trivia[]
- A previous title for this episode was 'The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. Affair'.[2]
- This is the first official appearance of agents April Dancer and Mark Slate. Both characters were recast for the Girl From U.N.C.L.E. series.
- Stefanie Powers was the first choice for the role of April Dancer however she was acting in a film and so could not appear in this episode, so Mary Miles Mobley was cast instead.
- Norman Fell was the original American Mark Slate; he was replaced by Noel Harrison for the Girl From U.N.C.L.E. series in an attempt to appeal to a younger audience.
Cast[]
- Robert Vaughn as Napoleon Solo
- David McCallum as Illya Kuryakin
- Leo G. Carroll as Alexander Waverly
- Mary Ann Mobley as April Dancer
- Norman Fell as Mark Slate
- Kevin McCarthy as Arthur Caresse
- Mary Carver as Jean Caresse
- Woodrow Parfrey as Andy Watson
- Rick Traeger as Carl
- Kay Michaels as Sally
- Andy Albin as Farmer
- Herbert Bress as Garbage Man
- Roy Sickner as Steward
- Dallas Mitchell as Policeman
- Byron Morrow as U.N.C.L.E. Medical Staff
- William Quinn as U.N.C.L.E. Medical Staff
- Noel de Souza as U.N.C.L.E. Medical Staff
- R. Wayland Williams as U.N.C.L.E. Medical Staff
Crew[]
- Director: Joseph Sargent
- Writer: Dean Hargrove
- Producer: David Victor
- Executive producer: Norman Felton
- Format developer: Sam Rolfe
- Production executive: Boris Ingster
- Music score: Gerald Fried
- U.N.C.L.E. Theme: Jerry Goldsmith
- Director of photography: Fred Koenekamp
- Art direction: George W. Davis
- Art direction: James Sullivan
- Supervising film editor: John Dunning, A.C.E.
- Film editor: Henry Berman
- Assistant director: Bill Finnegan
- Set decoration: Henry Grace
- Set decoration: Charles S. Thompson
- Assistant to producer: George M. Lehr
- Music supervisor: Frank E. Anderson
- Recording supervisor: Franklin Milton
- ↑ Wikipedia, 'List of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. episodes': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Man_from_U.N.C.L.E._episodes
- ↑ The Fans from U.N.C.L.E., 'Episode Guide: Season Two': https://www.manfromuncle.org/episode2.htm