Customer Reviews

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. #10: The Arabian Affair / The Foreign Legion Affair [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a must have for Illya-philes. Both episodes showcase him extensively and, I think, well. There are some great shots of "The Illya Look" where everyone around him want to run screaming. Not too much by way of stupid moves in this one, definitely a plus.

"The Arabian Affair": Illya gets knifed and taken by a band of desert dwellers. The daughter of the leader is intent on selling him for a new camel. The Russian gains the support of the tribe by pretending to be Lawrence of Arabia's son. He then leads them on a raid on a THRUSH outpost where they are doing experiments on some flesh-melting chemical. All and all, an enjoyable romp. Even my 10 year old son liked this one.

"The Foreign Legion Affair": Not as good as the first, but still worth watching. Again, some great shots of "The Look". Illya is carrying microfilm that THRUSH wants. He ends up having to jump out a plane in a tandem jump with the stewardess and they land in the middle of the desert hundreds of miles from civilization. They find an old outpost of the Foreign Legion where the commandant and his faithful Lt. are the only ones left. The commandant does not realize the Legion is now defunct. A few moments of "Illya you know better than to do that", but what can we expect from the 60s? Another entertaining watch.

If you are a Robert Vaughn/Napoleon Solo fan, this is probably not the best video for you because there isn't much of him in it.

These two episodes are obviously designed for the fans of Illya. He's in both of them, and Solo is nearly non-existant. The Arabian Affair has fun with Illya convincing a tribe of Bedouins that he is the son of Lawrence of Arabia. Michael Ansara, as always, makes a good Arab sheik, and Phyllis Newman isn't bad as his headstrong daughter. She gets to hold her own in some exchanges with Illya. The plot, as always, is ever so slightly over the top, but everyone seems to be taking it with the non-serious attitude that made this show fun.

The second show, the Foreign Legion Affair has Illya parachuting off into the desert with a pretty stewardess to escape the Thrush villians. This results in an out -of-the-frying-pan into-the-fire situation, since they are promptly captured by a Foreign Legionnaire commandant, played by Howard da Silva, who thinks they are spies (well, he's partially right) but also doesn't know the legion has been disbanded. Like Phyllis Newman in the Arabian Affair, the stewardess gets to hold her own against Illya, and he actually smiles at her. They made a good match in this episode, inspite of her habit of biting people, Illya included, when she gets stressed out. One of the best scenes is on the plane when she asks him if he'd like coffee, tea, or milk, and to get rid of her, Illya retorts in a snappy way, "borscht". She doesn't turn a hair and answers, "cabbage or beet?" Obviously, this is an interesting woman, and unlike most of the heroines of the time (the mid 60s) she gets to take an active part in her own rescue! A good episode.

Volume 10 has "The Arabian Affair" and "The Foreign Legion Affair", both which appeared in Man from UNCLE's 2nd season. Although "Man from UNCLE" is my favorite TV show, as I said, these two episodes are not a good example of UNCLE's best, but still enjoyable in a way.
Episode 36, "The Arabian Affair" has Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) going to the Arabian desert to find THRUSH's new vaporizing machine. Instead he is captured by a local tribe. Though he emplores the tribe chief Sulador (Michael Ansara) to let him go, Sulador refuses, saying that his daughter, Sophie (Phyllis Newman), wants to keep Him to trade him for a camel. In New York, Napoleon Solo (Robert Vauhn) finds out that THRUSH agents are always eliminated when the retire. With this valuable information, he convinces a retiring THRUSH agent, David Lewin (Robert Ellenstein), to learn where THRUSH's base in Arabia is. Lewin and Napoleon are taken to the base, where they meet up with Illya and the tribe, whose confidence he had gained. Together, they launch an attack on the base. * Kind of a stupid plot if you ask me. Some of the humor was funny, some weren't. The next episode if you ask me is much more fun.
Episode 51, "The Foreign Legion Affair" finds Illya stealing THRUSH code documents. While flying over a desert in a private airplane, the plane is hijacked by THRUSH agents. Illya manages to parachute out of the airplane with a stewardess, Barbara (Danielle DeMetz) with the documents. They wander in the desert and after a time finds an abandoned Foreign Legion post run by Captain Basil Calhoun (Howard Da Silva). The Captain, thinking that Illya and Barbara are enemies, holds them prisoner while Napoleon races to find them before THRUSH does. * A much better episode than "The Arabian Affair". One reason is because of Danielle DeMetz. She is one of my favorite UNCLE guest stars, her starring in also "The Come with Me to the Casbah Affair" (3rd season) and also "The Five Daughters Affair" (3rd season). In all three episodes she plays a great role. She's so funny! Another reason is that this episode has plenty of David McCallum to see.
If you want my advice and you want to by some UNCLE tapes, I suggest you buy Volume 1, 3, 9, 17, and 21 before you buy this tape.

Volume 10 has "The Arabian Affair" and "The Foreign Legion Affair", both which appeared in Man from UNCLE's 2nd season. Although "Man from UNCLE" is my favorite TV show, as I said, these two episodes are not a good example of UNCLE's best, but still enjoyable in a way.

Episode 36, "The Arabian Affair" has Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) going to the Arabian desert to find THRUSH's new vaporizing machine. Instead he is captured by a local tribe. Though he emplores the tribe chief Sulador (Michael Ansara) to let him go, Sulador refuses, saying that his daughter, Sophie (Phyllis Newman), wants to keep Him to trade him for a camel. In New York, Napoleon Solo (Robert Vauhn) finds out that THRUSH agents are always eliminated when the retire. With this valuable information, he convinces a retiring THRUSH agent, David Lewin (Robert Ellenstein), to learn where THRUSH's base in Arabia is. Lewin and Napoleon are taken to the base, where they meet up with Illya and the tribe, whose confidence he had gained. Together, they launch an attack on the base. * Kind of a stupid plot if you ask me. Some of the humor was funny, some weren't. The next episode if you ask me is much more fun.

Episode 51, "The Foreign Legion Affair" finds Illya stealing THRUSH code documents. While flying over a desert in a private airplane, the plane is hijacked by THRUSH agents. Illya manages to parachute out of the airplane with a stewardess, Barbara (Danielle DeMetz) with the documents. They wander in the desert and after a time finds an abandoned Foreign Legion post run by Captain Basil Calhoun (Howard Da Silva). The Captain, thinking that Illya and Barbara are enemies, holds them prisoner while Napoleon races to find them before THRUSH does. * A much better episode than "The Arabian Affair". One reason is because of Danielle DeMetz. She is one of my favorite UNCLE guest stars, her starring in also "The Come with Me to the Casbah Affair" (3rd season) and also "The Five Daughters Affair" (3rd season). In all three episodes she plays a great role. She's so funny! Another reason is that this episode has plenty of David McCallum to see.

If you want my advice and you want to by some UNCLE tapes, I suggest you buy Volume 1, 3, 10, 17, and 21 before you buy this tape.

Volume 10 has "The Arabian Affair" and "The Foreign Legion Affair", both which appeared in Man from UNCLE's 2nd season. Although "Man from UNCLE" is my favorite TV show, as I said, these two episodes are not a good example of UNCLE's best, but still enjoyable in a way.

Episode 36, "The Arabian Affair" has Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) going to the Arabian desert to find THRUSH's new vaporizing machine. Instead he is captured by a local tribe. Though he emplores the tribe chief Sulador (Michael Ansara) to let him go, Sulador refuses, saying that his daughter, Sophie (Phyllis Newman), wants to keep Him to trade him for a camel. In New York, Napoleon Solo (Robert Vauhn) finds out that THRUSH agents are always eliminated when the retire. With this valuable information, he convinces a retiring THRUSH agent, David Lewin (Robert Ellenstein), to learn where THRUSH's base in Arabia is. Lewin and Napoleon are taken to the base, where they meet up with Illya and the tribe, whose confidence he had gained. Together, they launch an attack on the base. * Kind of a stupid plot if you ask me. Some of the humor was funny, some weren't. The next episode if you ask me is much more fun.

Episode 51, "The Foreign Legion Affair" finds Illya stealing THRUSH code documents. While flying over a desert in a private airplane, the plane is hijacked by THRUSH agents. Illya manages to parachute out of the airplane with a stewardess, Barbara (Danielle DeMetz) with the documents. They wander in the desert and after a time finds an abandoned Foreign Legion post run by Captain Basil Calhoun (Howard Da Silva). The Captain, thinking that Illya and Barbara are enemies, holds them prisoner while Napoleon races to find them before THRUSH does. * A much better episode than "The Arabian Affair". One reason is because of Danielle DeMetz. She is one of my favorite UNCLE guest stars, her starring in also "The Come with Me to the Casbah Affair" (3rd season) and also "The Five Daughters Affair" (3rd season). In all three episodes she plays a great role. She's so funny! Another reason is that this episode has plenty of David McCallum to see.

If you want my advice and you want to by some UNCLE tapes, I suggest you buy Volume 1, 3, 10, 17, and 21 before you buy this tape.

Illya still makes my heart flip after all these years. It was wonderful to see the old shows and remember. This shows how far TV shows have come in terms of technology. The old shows, however, still have a charm you don't see as much now.