Friday, March 31, 2006
Danger Man, oh boy
I got my first TV tape from Zip.ca and dived right into a warm bath of resurrected teenage cool.
Ah, nostalgia - Bunuel (Toronto, ON)
"Danger Man" was a favourite TV show of mine in the mid-60s. Season 1 brings back fond memories - or are they "pre-memories"? The series started in 1959, and I certainly would not have seen the first season then, if at all. Of the first 8 episodes on Disc 1, I can't say I have a specific recollection of any of them, although the style, the narrative structure, and the settings are certainly familiar.
These are half-hour episodes, and they zip (pardon the pun) right along. The dilemma is established immediately, before the credits - an assassination attempt on a foreign leader, a kidnapping of the daughter of an industrialist with sensitive plans, etc. Cut to the intro, Patrick McGoohan's voice-over explaining that he's "Drake, John Drake", and does "difficult" jobs for NATO Security. The simple three-note theme, then into the often foreign locale. Drake quickly locates the bad guy, dispatches him with a little judo and a few crisp punches; and off he goes, returning to the West. Often there is a beautiful woman, but Drake's relations with her are always chaste.
The gadgetry is kept to a minimum. Indeed, everything is kept to a minimum. McGoohan is a minimalist actor. In these early episodes, he's more charming than I recall him; less tight-lipped and grim. As for guest stars, they've been pretty modest so far; but I did see Donald Pleasance, Lois Maxwell (before she became Miss Moneypenny), and Sam Wanamaker.
It's all wonderfully refreshing and simple.
One curiosity, though: Drake is obviously British, yet he says he's an American. My understanding is that the series, which was produced by ITV in England, was not shown in the U.S. until much later. So why not just say he's British? Oh well, no more mysterious, I suppose, than the fact that no matter what fictitious country Drake visits, all the major characters there are also British.
Ah, nostalgia - Bunuel (Toronto, ON)
"Danger Man" was a favourite TV show of mine in the mid-60s. Season 1 brings back fond memories - or are they "pre-memories"? The series started in 1959, and I certainly would not have seen the first season then, if at all. Of the first 8 episodes on Disc 1, I can't say I have a specific recollection of any of them, although the style, the narrative structure, and the settings are certainly familiar.
These are half-hour episodes, and they zip (pardon the pun) right along. The dilemma is established immediately, before the credits - an assassination attempt on a foreign leader, a kidnapping of the daughter of an industrialist with sensitive plans, etc. Cut to the intro, Patrick McGoohan's voice-over explaining that he's "Drake, John Drake", and does "difficult" jobs for NATO Security. The simple three-note theme, then into the often foreign locale. Drake quickly locates the bad guy, dispatches him with a little judo and a few crisp punches; and off he goes, returning to the West. Often there is a beautiful woman, but Drake's relations with her are always chaste.
The gadgetry is kept to a minimum. Indeed, everything is kept to a minimum. McGoohan is a minimalist actor. In these early episodes, he's more charming than I recall him; less tight-lipped and grim. As for guest stars, they've been pretty modest so far; but I did see Donald Pleasance, Lois Maxwell (before she became Miss Moneypenny), and Sam Wanamaker.
It's all wonderfully refreshing and simple.
One curiosity, though: Drake is obviously British, yet he says he's an American. My understanding is that the series, which was produced by ITV in England, was not shown in the U.S. until much later. So why not just say he's British? Oh well, no more mysterious, I suppose, than the fact that no matter what fictitious country Drake visits, all the major characters there are also British.
# posted by Stephen @ 11:34 p.m. 
