''One Spy Too Many'', starring

Robert Vaughn Robert Francis Vaughn (November 22, 1932 – November 11, 2016) was an American actor and political activist, whose career in film, television and theater spanned nearly six decades and who was best known for his role as secret agent Nap ...

and

David McCallum David Keith McCallum (19 September 1933 – 25 September 2023) was a Scottish actor and musician, based in the United States. He gained wide recognition in the 1960s for playing secret agent Illya Kuryakin in the television series '' The Man fr ...

, is a 1966

spy film The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a film genre, genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many Jame ...

. It is the 1966 feature-length film version of ''

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents Napoleon Solo, played by Robert Vaughn, and Illya Kuryakin, p ...

''s two-part season two premiere " Alexander the Greater Affair". It is the third such feature film that used as its basis a reedited version of one or more episodes from the series. In this instance, the film took the two-part episode and added in a subplot featuring

Yvonne Craig Yvonne Joyce Craig (May 16, 1937 – August 17, 2015) was an American actress who is best known for her role as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl in the 1960s television series ''Batman (TV series), Batman''. Other notable roles in her career include Dorot ...

as an U.N.C.L.E. operative carrying on a flirtatious relationship with

Napoleon Solo Napoleon Solo is a fictional character from the 1960s TV spy series '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' The series format was notable for pairing the American Solo, played by Robert Vaughn, and the Russian Illya Kuryakin, played by David McCallum, a ...

(Robert Vaughn); Craig does not appear in the television episodes. Both episodes were written by

Dean Hargrove Dean Hargrove (born July 27, 1938) is an American television producer, writer, and director. His background includes graduating from the St. John's Military School, Wichita State University, and attending the UCLA Film School as a graduate studen ...

and directed by

Joseph Sargent Joseph Sargent (born Giuseppe Danielle Sorgente; July 22, 1925 – December 22, 2014) was an American film director. He is best known for his feature-length works, like the action movie '' White Lightning'' starring Burt Reynolds, the biopi ...

. It also added in and substituted scenes that, while not out of place in a 1960s U.S. spy film, were more explicitly sexual than generally shown on U.S. television at the time. Whereas the earlier U.N.C.L.E. films added material to a single episode to create a feature-length movie, "One Spy Too Many" removed certain elements of the two-part episode (e.g., scenes with Alexander's parents) to allow for the added subplot with Craig and other enhanced scenes within the film's overall running time. This was the last film culled from the series to be theatrically released in the U.S. (in late 1966).

Plot

The film opens with Alexander (

Rip Torn Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn Jr. (February 6, 1931 – July 9, 2019) was an American actor whose career spanned roughly 60 years. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing Marsh Turner in '' Cross Creek'' (1983). Tor ...

) stealing a

chemical weapon A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as ...

from a military base. The weapon causes an enemy's troops to lose the will to fight, thereby making conquest in battle far easier. This is part of Alexander's dual goal: to conquer the world in the manner of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

and to break each of the major moral codes in so doing (which essentially means the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...

as detailed throughout the movie). U.N.C.L.E. becomes involved after the theft of the weapon and agents Napoleon Solo (Vaughn) and

Illya Kuryakin Illya Kuryakin (Russian: Илья Курякин) is a fictional character from the 1960s TV spy series, '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' He is a secret agent with a range of weapons and explosives skills, and is described in the series as holding a ...

(McCallum) are assigned. Also searching for Alexander is his estranged wife Tracey (

Dorothy Provine Dorothy Michelle Provine (January 20, 1935 – April 25, 2010) was an American singer, dancer and actress. Born in 1935 in Deadwood, South Dakota, she grew up in Seattle, Washington, and was hired in 1958 by Warner Bros., after which she first ...

), although her motive is to serve him with divorce papers. Through a series of coincidences (and Tracey's focused efforts to trail the U.N.C.L.E agents to find her husband), Solo, Kuryakin, and Tracey end up joining forces. As a result, they are at various times captured, tortured, left to die in an elaborate way in an Egyptian tomb, and otherwise thwarted by Alexander throughout the film. Alexander believes that if he is able to assist a

military junta A military junta () is a system of government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''Junta (governing body), junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the Junta (Peninsular War), national and local junta organized by t ...

in the takeover of a small country (implied to be Vietnam) he can use that country as a base for world conquest. By careful planning, he combines his final violation of a commandment - killing the country's leader - with the takeover of the country and the start of his march toward global domination. Intervention by U.N.C.L.E. prevents the assassination, and during his escape Alexander is killed by his own accomplice Kavon (

David Opatoshu David Opatoshu (born David Opatovsky; January 30, 1918 – April 30, 1996) was an American actor. He is best known for his role in the film '' Exodus'' (1960). Biography Opatoshu began his acting career in the Yiddish theater. Following his te ...

Cast

as Alexander *

as Tracey Alexander * Leo G. Carroll as

Alexander Waverly Alexander Waverly is a fictional character from the 1960s television show '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,''its spin-off series '' The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.'' and the 2015 film version. The original series was remarkable for pairing an American Napol ...

as Maude Waverly *

as Mr. Kavon *

David Sheiner David S. Sheiner (born January 13, 1928) is an American retired actor. He appeared on Broadway, but is best known for his supporting roles in several films and television series. He started his career in television in 1952, but he was most succes ...

as Parviz *

James Hong James Hong (born February 22, 1929) is an American actor, producer and director. Known as one of the most prolific character actors of all time, he has worked in over 400 productions in U.S. media since the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1950s. ...

as Prince Phanong *

Donna Michelle Donna Michelle Ronne (née Fick; December 8, 1945 – April 9, 2004) was an American model, actress, and photographer. Known professionally as Donna Michelle, she was ''Playboy'' magazine's December 1963 Playmate of the Month and 1964 Playmat ...

as Princess Nicole *Cal Bolder as Ingo Lindstrum

References

External links

* *
New York Times Review from 1966

Part 1/2

Part 2/2
{{Joseph Sargent 1966 films 1966 action films 1960s spy films 1960s action adventure films Parody films based on James Bond films Films directed by Joseph Sargent Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films scored by Gerald Fried Films edited from television programs The Man from U.N.C.L.E. 1960s English-language films English-language action adventure films Films about chemical war and weapons

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links