{"id":2979,"date":"2015-08-14T20:37:54","date_gmt":"2015-08-14T20:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/?p=2979"},"modified":"2019-01-14T21:16:45","modified_gmt":"2019-01-14T21:16:45","slug":"return-of-the-return-of-the-man-from-u-n-c-l-e","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/2015\/08\/14\/return-of-the-return-of-the-man-from-u-n-c-l-e\/","title":{"rendered":"Return of the Return of the Man From U.N.C.L.E."},"content":{"rendered":"
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N. Felton Papers, MsC 265<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In September of 1964, a new series premiered on American television. It was a spy series influenced by Ian Fleming\u2019s James Bond novels and the films that began with 1962\u2019s, Dr. No<\/em>. I was eleven years old at the time and couldn\u2019t wait to see it. America had caught spy fever and television and Hollywood were feeding demand. The show was called, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.<\/em>, and it was a major hit, the source for what is widely recognized as the first real media fandom, two years before the debut of Star Trek <\/em>and Trekkies. <\/em>This fandom grew and sustained itself from the 60\u2019s through to the present, rewarded with a new film interpretation that seeks to cash in on both Boomer nostalgia and the current fascination with hyper-lethal, shadow agent heroes.<\/p>\n

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N. Felton Papers, MsC 265<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We are fortunate to hold the papers of the executive producer and co-creator of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.<\/em>, Norman Felton, in the University of Iowa Library\u2019s Special Collections http:\/\/aspace.lib.uiowa.edu\/repositories\/2\/resources\/271<\/a>. As a kid, I ran around the house with my U.N.C.L.E.<\/em> gun and my U.N.C.L.E.<\/em> communicator and glued myself to the screen when the show aired. Not content to be mere consumers, many teens began newsletters and fan clubs. Teenage girls were an enormous share of the show\u2019s audience and were particularly smitten with the show\u2019s English actor, David McCallum. He played agent Illya Kuryakin, a cool, cerebral opposite to his partner Napoleon Solo\u2019s suave man-of-action, played by American actor Robert Vaughn (The Magnificent Seven<\/em>, The Young Philadelphians<\/em>). Vaughn\u2019s character was the show\u2019s ladies\u2019 man but it was McCallum that pulled in record-breaking fan mail, more than Clark Gable at his most popular.<\/p>\n

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Ad describing 100,000 card carrying fans in the U.K. Norman Felton Papers, MsC 265<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n


\n<\/a>By 1966, the show was a huge success and the stars of the series were on a promotional tour. They travelled to New York to appear at Macy\u2019s department store. They were to drive their limo straight into a freight elevator and go up to meet the fans, but it was not to be. 15,000 teenage girls showed up and quickly became unmanageable. It was decided to cancel the appearance. When they learned of the cancellation, the girls rioted, doing extensive damage to Macy\u2019s with a few injuries as well. The police influenced Vaughn and McCallum to return immediately to the West Coast. McCallum later vowed to never appear at an American promotion again, fearing that fans or he himself would be injured. This devotion didn\u2019t end when the series was finished in 1968. It expanded into more clubs, newsletters, conventions, and fan art and fan fiction. One of those fans was Lynda Mendoza and we are privileged to have her fine collection of David McCallum fan materials http:\/\/aspace.lib.uiowa.edu\/repositories\/2\/resources\/778<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With the new film, U.N.C.L.E. <\/em>returns to center stage in pop culture. I\u2018m currently binge-watching the first season of the series on DVD, enjoying it and watching with a more critical eye than I did fifty years ago. The show alternates between a self-reflexive campiness and a realism that makes it palatable to a contemporary audience. Interestingly, in light of the huge McCallum fandom, the Kuryakin character makes only intermittent appearances, sometimes not at all. Perhaps this peekaboo added to the hunger teens felt for McCallum. He was often referred to as \u201cthe blond Beatle\u201d because of his hair. He is still acting, in the hit series, NCIS<\/em>, as is Robert Vaughn, seen recently on Law and Order: Special Victim\u2019s Unit<\/em>.<\/p>\n