The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.

The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.
Genre	Spy fiction Action
Created by	Norman Felton
Directed by	Richard C. Bennett John Brahm Herschel Daugherty E. Darrell Hallenbeck Alf Kjellin Mitchell Leisen Sherman Marks Leo Penn Richard C. Sarafian Joseph Sargent Barry Shear Jud Taylor
Starring	Stefanie Powers Noel Harrison Leo G. Carroll Randy Kirby
Theme music composer	theme composed by Jerry Goldsmith, arranged by Dave Grusin
Composers	Dave Grusin Jack Marshall Richard Shores
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	29 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Norman Felton
Producer	Douglas Benton
Running time	50 minutes
Production companies	Arena Productions Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 16, 1966 (1966-09-16) – April 11, 1967 (1967-04-11)
Related
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. is an American spy fiction TV series starring Stefanie Powers that aired on NBC for one season from September 13, 1966, to April 11, 1967. The series was a spin-off from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and used the same theme music composed by Jerry Goldsmith, in a different arrangement by Dave Grusin. The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. stars Powers as American U.N.C.L.E. agent April Dancer and Noel Harrison as her British partner, Mark Slate. Leo G. Carroll plays their superior, Alexander Waverly.

Despite attempts at cross-promotion with its parent series, the show failed to build an audience and lasted only one season. Its failure was considered a contributing factor in Man's mid-season cancellation in early 1968.

Cast

• Stefanie Powers as April Dancer
• Noel Harrison as Mark Slate
• Leo G. Carroll as Alexander Waverly; chief of U.N.C.L.E.
• Randy Kirby as Agent Randy Kovacs

Notable guest stars

• Ed Asner
• Joan Blondell
• Tom Bosley
• John Carradine
• Jack Cassidy
• Ellen Corby
• Wally Cox
• Yvonne De Carlo
• Dom DeLuise
• John Erwin
• Bernard Fox
• Stan Freberg
• Boris Karloff
• Fernando Lamas
• Peggy Lee
• Raymond Massey
• Luciana Paluzzi
• Lyn Peters
• Pernell Roberts
• Ruth Roman
• Gena Rowlands
• Ann Sothern
• Olan Soule
• Olive Sturgess
• Leslie Uggams
• Robert Vaughn
• Carol Wayne
• Michael Wilding

Critical response

Contemporary reviews of The Girl From Uncle were mostly negative, with much of the critics' comments centered upon the lead actors, particularly Powers. A review in The Baltimore Sun noted that Powers is "prettier and shapelier than Ilya Kuryakin, of course, but she's not much of an actress and she's ill-suited to the role," but that "Harrison tends to steal scenes from Miss Powers, and [makes] an agreeable impression" A review in Newsday reported that "Miss Powers, for all of her sweater appeal, is a trifle limited." Kay Gardella of the New York Daily News opined that Powers "display[ed] less than undergraduate skill in the fine art of spying", with the performance of co-star Harrison being "the understatement of the new season. One suspected he was given a dose of Apathy." The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette commented that "Powers [is] somewhat of a timid UNCLE agent," that Harrison "gave evidence of stealing most of the credits," and that "the series is [...] only for UNCLE fans."

Episodes

Backdoor pilot (1966)

The backdoor pilot, titled "The Moonglow Affair", originally aired as 52nd episode (S02E23) of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. on February 25, 1966.

Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
"The Moonglow Affair"	Joseph Sargent	Dean Hargrove	February 25, 1966 (1966-02-25)
When Solo and Kuryakin are incapacitated, Waverly assigns agent April Dancer (Mary Ann Mobley) and Mark Slate (Norman Fell) to complete their mission.

Season 1 (1966–1967)

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code
1	"The Dog-Gone Affair"	Barry Shear	Tony Barrett	September 13, 1966 (1966-09-13)	8622
April Dancer is on her way to a Greek island with a dog whose fleas contain the antidote to a drug developed by THRUSH. A man named Fromage sits next to April on the plane and, suspecting he is a THRUSH agent, she contacts Mark and attaches a parachute to the dog, throwing it from the plane. Mark is captured briefly, but the dog escapes. Later, Mark and April meet and using a dog whistle April attracts the dog. However, it escapes again and when April gives chase, she is karate-chopped on the neck, faints and is kidnapped. When she revives, she is questioned by Zakinthios, who leads the mission for THRUSH. Refusing to talk, April is quickly knocked out again. She wakes up tied to a swing over a pool of piranhas, but escapes in the nick of time, manages to retrieve the dog yet again, and Mark defeats Zakinthios in a fight. April and Mark eventually hand the dog over to the authorities to enable them to make the antidote.
2	"The Prisoner of Zalamar Affair"	Herschel Daugherty	Max Hodge	September 20, 1966 (1966-09-20)	8611
Fatima, the daughter of the recently murdered Sheikh Ali Hassan, is the new ruler of Zalamar according to local law - but she has been kidnapped whilst Mark Slate was lucky not to eat the poisoned popcorn. Fatima happens to be an exact double of April Dancer who is sent to impersonate Fatima and to be crowned as ruler thereby ensuring that the oil fields do not fall under THRUSH control. The Grand Vizier, who is next in line to the throne, determines that both princesses shall die. Slade attempts a rescue of the real sheikhess but fails. April gets to meet Fatima's intended husband, Calif Ahmed, whose continued presence thwarts the intention of the Grand Vizier. Mark is captured and secured adjacent to Fatima with both undergoing brainwashing whilst April is being prepared for Fatima's marriage. The initial rescue mission is also captured - but the lorry taking the captives to their final destination in the desert luckily fails to start. A diversionary fire enables the captives to be freed briefly until the Grand Vizier turns the tables again. The Calif's hand to hand combat skills disarm the Grand Vizier who escapes during the resultant meleé before being captured. A divorce is negotiated and the oil wells are safe.
3	"The Mother Muffin Affair"	Sherman Marks	Joseph Calvelli	September 27, 1966 (1966-09-27)	8624
Somewhere in London and surrounded by Mother Muffin's (Boris Karloff) Murderous Men April Dancer and Napoleon Solo appear to be in trouble. April unwinds her knitwear to provide a long light pull which enables lights to come on and half of Mother Muffin's gang to use their machine guns to kill the other half. Thence to Brighton with an important ha'penny - except they are cornered by Mother Muffin who spends a good five minutes predicting their demise. April and Napoleon briefly escape but to absolutely no avail until a passing bus provides an escape route into a pig truck driven by Mother Muffin who deliberately engineers their escape to be able to follow them. A veritable merry-go-round ensues as the Muffin gang are slowly disabled and eventually they make their way back to HQ with their quarry.
4	"The Mata Hari Affair"	Joseph Sargent	Samuel A. Peeples	October 4, 1966 (1966-10-04)	8617
Having boarded a train in France from a helicopter, April Dancer has found a courier when explosives are detonated wrecking the train and the courier, who is also an exotic belly dancer and about to play Mata Hari at a London theatre, dies. April decides to impersonate the dead belly dancer and to prove her credentials is required to demonstrate her abilities to the cast of the play which ends when there is a further murder attempt and then later disappears allowing Slade to chase through London in a left hand drive E Type Jaguar, which he loses when surrounded by a gang of floppy haired ne'er do wells whom he outwits and reclaims the car. April meanwhile has been tricked into the backstage area of the theatre becoming locked into a boiler room which then explodes. A masked figure links a statue of the god, Kali (which means death) to the power supply and at the end of her dance Miss Dancer theatrically "dies". However the cable had been found earlier and the team are able to unmask the masked man.
5	"The Montori Device Affair"	John Brahm	Boris Sobelman	October 11, 1966 (1966-10-11)	8601
A raid on the U.N.C.L.E offices in Rome enables Thrush agents to remove a Montori device which leads Mr Waverley to instructing that all relay channels and communications may not be used until it is recovered. The device looks like a piece of jewellery and it is dropped through a letterbox where a child adds it to her necklace. The child is a daughter of Chu Chu who models for an Italian designer with an imminent private fashion show in Paris for Madame Freuchen-Nagy, whose husband the Count is organising an important conference of six world leaders. Using a mind control device the Thrush agents are able to separate the Count from his bodyguards and he reveals the location of the conference to be the Plit Hotel in Plit. Mr Slate has been captured by Thrush alerting April Dancer to potential problems, although she is soon captured by the Thrush agents. The children lead Mr Waverley to the suite where Mark Slate and April Dancer are being held and he is able, single handedly, to release them and save the world leaders from destruction.
6	"The Horns-of-the-Dilemma Affair"	John Brahm	Tony Barrett	October 18, 1966 (1966-10-18)	8606
April Dancer arrives at a possible Thrush location in Mexico where she sees a man being held prisoner, the ranch being run by Alejandro DeSada. Risvold one of three men working on Project Gamma who have all disappeared recently. Risvold has had most of his memory wiped - the other two have suffered the same fate. However a fourth scientist is needed to complete all the knowledge of the project which once extracted the computer can convert to usable format. DeSada very quickly establishes April's identity as an agent. Almost magically April avoids death in a car crash. DeSada also empties the mind of the man who built the memory extracting computer. Elsewhere Mark Slade gets into a tight spot but manages to extricate himself. Waverley disguises himself as the fourth scientist and arrives in Mexico whilst April finds the cellar and the inmates. Slade and Waverley arrive at the ranch by helicopter and this scares DeSada into impaling himself on the horns of a dummy bull used for bullfighting training whilst the computer is destroyed and the scientists have all made comprehensive records so project gamma can be completed.
7	"The Danish Blue Affair"	Mitchell Leisen	Arthur Weingarten	October 25, 1966 (1966-10-25)	8615
A Thrush agent kidnaps Stanley Umlaut (who was posing as a scientist) with knowledge of a particular a SPUD power circuit. The images of the circuit were embedded in a Danish Blue cheese which was regularly returned to the supplier. April and Mark head to Denmark and the source of the blue cheese to trace the route. Hidden behind the cheese shop front is an entire subterranean warren holding the SPUD machinery. April hitches a lift and finds Stanley but they both end up chained to a wall in the hidden tunnels. Mark Slade is ensnared by some disgruntled fishermen. April and Stanley are provided with an escape route but are soon being chased through a forest. They return to the tunnels and are re-captured. April has been secured on a buoy in direct line of fire from the SPUD machine before it reaches the ship Remus which is the demonstration target. Stanley is a serial impostor and convinces a guard to hand over his gun. He accesses a secondary control room and confuses the SPUD signal. The machinery then shorts out. April is rescued by the fishermen who also pick up Mark who now believe his story.
8	"The Garden of Evil Affair"	Jud Taylor	John O'Dea & Arthur Rowe	November 1, 1966 (1966-11-01)	8607
The mad king Cambodyses is about to be regenerated in the persona of his only living female descendant, living in Berlin, using a serum which they manage to hijack. Members of the associated cult are fed poison from a very early date and can kill by scratching a person with their nails. Greta Wolff, the much sought future Queen, is currently an actress and this allows Thrush agents to chase Mark Slade through the studio backlot, including horses which are part of the western which is being filmed, plus a London bus, a rowing boat and bicycles. By impersonating Greta, April is taken by the cult to the tomb where she releases the king. Thrush appears in large numbers to observe the coronation following which the serum will be applied to the Queen. Mark and another agent extract April just before the injection and then detonate planted bombs which destroy the tomb and the Thrush agents as well as the cult members.
9	"The Atlantis Affair"	E. Darrell Hallenbeck	Richard Matheson	November 15, 1966 (1966-11-15)	8609
On a Caribbean island Mark Slade is seeking information on Professor Antrim from a very nervous waitress. They find and board a boat, release the professor mooments before the boat explodes coming under fire from pursuers as they attempt to row away to safety. The Professor believes that the crystals of Atlantis could, if powered by the sun, destroy the world. Mr Waverley instructs them to attempt to find Atlantis and they soon come under fire again leading to April Dancer and the local jeep driver, Vic Ryan, being captured by men in frock coats. The frock coated men serve M Le Gallows who maintains a wish to live in the style of the eighteenth century and denies all knowledge of blasting which is taking place. April tells Mark that she does not trust the Frenchman - which is lucky as he pulls a gun on Mark to confirm her suspicions. They gain entrance to the mine where Vic falls into a river and is rescued by April and they are all soon captured. Having escaped April dances around with M Le Gallows in a sword fight and Colonel Faber seeks to escape with the crystals which catch the sunlight and blow up his boat, taking it all to the bottom.
10	"The Paradise Lost Affair"	Alf Kjellin	John O'Dea & Arthur Rowe	November 22, 1966 (1966-11-22)	8621
In the South Pacific April Dancer is communications officer on a Thrush sailing ship which has been setting sonar beacons for use by cargo submarines. However they fail to take over the ship which blows up when a mutiny commences. She eventually crawls ashore on the island of Paradise which does not welcome trespassers. The local ruler Ghengis Gomes VIII imposes strict discipline on unwanted visitors - in April's case to become Liverpool Henry's wife. Mark objects to the marriage which means he has to fight the groom to the death. April eventually knocks out Liverpool Henry. However after the captain of the ship also arrives Henry joins April and Mark to make money from the charts but then changes sides again. April and Mark lure the Thrush agents onto the bridge over the hot lava and all fall into the lava swamp. Waverley is giving a speech about the missing agents when Mark calls in from Acapulco to report their shipwreck.
11	"The Lethal Eagle Affair"	John Brahm	Robert Hill	November 29, 1966 (1966-11-29)	8626
12	"The Romany Lie Affair"	Richard C. Sarafian	Tony Barrett	December 6, 1966 (1966-12-06)	8630
13	"The Little John Doe Affair"	Leo Penn	Joseph Calvelli	December 13, 1966 (1966-12-13)	8628
14	"The Jewels of Topango Affair"	John Brahm	Berne Giler	December 20, 1966 (1966-12-20)	8614
15	"The Faustus Affair"	Barry Shear	Jerry McNeely	December 27, 1966 (1966-12-27)	8613
16	"The U.F.O. Affair"	Barry Shear	Warren B. Duff	January 3, 1967 (1967-01-03)	8623
17	"The Moulin Ruse Affair"	Barry Shear	Story by : Jay Simms Teleplay by : Jay Simms & Fred Eggers	January 17, 1967 (1967-01-17)	8610
18	"The Catacomb and Dogma Affair"	E. Darrell Hallenbeck	Warren Duff	January 24, 1967 (1967-01-24)	8629
19	"The Drublegratz Affair"	Mitchell Leisen	Boris Sobelman	January 31, 1967 (1967-01-31)	8625
20	"The Fountain of Youth Affair"	E. Darrell Hallenbeck	Story by : Robert Bloch & Richard DeRoy Teleplay by : Richard DeRoy	February 7, 1967 (1967-02-07)	8605
21	"The Carpathian Caper Affair"	Barry Shear	Arthur Weingarten	February 14, 1967 (1967-02-14)	8631
22	"The Furnace Flats Affair"	Barry Shear	Archie Tegland	February 21, 1967 (1967-02-21)	8603
23	"The Low Blue C Affair"	Barry Shear	Berne Giler	February 28, 1967 (1967-02-28)	8632
24	"The Petit Prix Affair"	Mitchell Leisen	Robert Hill	March 7, 1967 (1967-03-07)	8634
25	"The Phi Beta Killer Affair"	Barry Shear	Jackson Gillis	March 14, 1967 (1967-03-14)	8619
26	"The Double-O-Nothing Affair"	John Brahm	Dean Hargrove	March 21, 1967 (1967-03-21)	8638
27	"The U.N.C.L.E. Samurai Affair"	Alf Kjellin	Tony Barrett	March 28, 1967 (1967-03-28)	8636
28	"The High and the Deadly Affair"	Dick Bennett	Jameson Brewer	April 4, 1967 (1967-04-04)	8620
29	"The Kooky Spook Affair"	Dick Bennett	John O'Dea & Arthur Rowe	April 11, 1967 (1967-04-11)	8640

Syndication

Beginning in 1968, reruns of all 29 episodes of The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., including 99 of 105 of its parent series, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., were combined into a 128-episode syndication package in the United States. Years later, a few more episodes were added to the package, rounding it out to 132.

Home media

On August 23, 2011, Warner Bros. released the complete series in two parts on DVD in Region 1 via their Warner Archive Collection. The two 4-disc collections contain all 29 episodes of the series. These are Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) releases, available exclusively through Warner's online store and only in the United States.

Soundtrack

Jerry Goldsmith's theme for The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was adapted for the series by Dave Grusin in an energetic variation. Of the 29 episodes, eight had complete original scores and six were partial scores, with the rest being tracked by the previously written material.

Grusin wrote four complete scores ("The Dog-Gone Affair", "The Mother Muffin Affair", "The Mata Hari Affair" and "The Furnace Flats Affair"), Richard Shores — who would be the principal composer for The Man from U.N.C.L.E the following season — wrote three ("The Montori Device Affair," "The Prisoner of Zalamar Affair" and "The Danish Blue Affair") and Jack Marshall composed his only score for either U.N.C.L.E. series with "The Horns-of-the-Dilemma Affair". Jeff Alexander, also writing his only U.N.C.L.E. music, provided a partial score for "The Garden of Evil Affair", sharing "Music Score by" credit with Grusin and Shores, the latter two sharing the credit on all the other episodes, tracked and partial score alike. The opening and closing title themes and suites from the episodes "The Dog-Gone Affair", "The Prisoner of Zalamar Affair", "The Mother Muffin Affair", "The Mata Hari Affair", "The Montori Device Affair" and "The Horns-of-the-Dilemma Affair" are included on the third FSM album of music from The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Original novels

First Girl from U.N.C.L.E. novel. Pictured: Stefanie Powers as April Dancer. Note misspelling of Powers' first name.

The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. was featured in five original novels, only two of which were published in the United States:

• The Birds of a Feather Affair by Michael Avallone
• The Blazing Affair by Michael Avallone
• The Global Globules Affair – Simon Latter (published in United Kingdom, and in France as L'affaire des Globules)
• The Golden Boats of Taradata Affair – Simon Latter (published in United Kingdom only)
• The Cornish Pixie Affair – Peter Leslie (published in United Kingdom only)

Unlike the series, the novels were quite serious, with the plot of The Birds of a Feather Affair ending in tragedy for April when the "innocent" character usually featured in the TV show dies, despite what April does to stop the villains. In addition, the prohibition on April using deadly force on the TV series (described earlier) did not apply to the novels.

A The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. Annual was published for three issues in the UK, which included novellas not published elsewhere. Gold Key Comics also published a short-lived, five-issue comic book.

External links

• The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. at IMDb
• Television Obscurities – The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.