Taking a riff from "The Most Dangerous Game", Darrin McGavin, armed with a rifle and a leopard (!) hunts Solo, armed with his wits and with a pretty girl in tow, through an abandoned part of town, while the clock ticks towards Illya's death. Surprisingly grim at times (for a 1960's network show), and a little less predictable than usual, 'The Deadly Quest Affair' is one of the better 4th season MFU episodes. The reciprocal open and closing scenes play on the relationship between the two UNCLE agents, which, when done well, was one of the best parts of the series. This episode was a welcome break from super-villains/super-weapons shtick, which was getting a little tired.
3 Reviews
Mission: Find Illya
ShadeGrenade6 June 2009
Warning: Spoilers
When David Victor issued a directive to the 'M.F.U.' writers following Season 3, he pointed that the problem went beyond that of there being too much comedy, many plots were repetitive with THRUSH out to seize some outlandish new super-weapon each week via 'the threadbare cliché situation of the scientist and his daughter'. Writers were told to come up with something new.
In 'The Deadly Quest Affair', neither Solo nor Kuryakin are on a mission; it opens with Illya in hospital, recovering from injuries sustained on a recent assignment. After Solo has departed, fake medics abduct the Russian.
The trail takes Solo to a 10 block section of Manhattan scheduled for demolition. Here an old ( believed to be deceased ) enemy called Viktor Karmak ( Darren McGavin ) lies in wait, wanting revenge. Teaming up with avant-garde artist Sheila ( Marlyn Mason ), the man from U.N.C.L.E. is hunted like big game. He cannot escape as an electric fence surrounds the area. He must locate Illya before a deadline expires, then the chamber his friend is imprisoned in fills with poison gas...
Written by Robert E.Thompson, author of the same season's 'The Summit Five Affair', this is an exciting episode, with McGavin ( future star of one of my all-time favourite shows 'Kolchak: The Night Stalker' ) enjoying himself hugely as a villain in dark glasses and a pet leopard for company.
Jerry Goldsmith is credited with the score but in fact it was compiled from earlier episodes he had worked on, no bad thing.
There's an amusing coda which reverses the opening - Solo is now in hospital and a tuxedo-clad Illya is looking forward to a night on the town. The look of disgust on Solo's face as a thermometer is put in his mouth is hilarious!
In 'The Deadly Quest Affair', neither Solo nor Kuryakin are on a mission; it opens with Illya in hospital, recovering from injuries sustained on a recent assignment. After Solo has departed, fake medics abduct the Russian.
The trail takes Solo to a 10 block section of Manhattan scheduled for demolition. Here an old ( believed to be deceased ) enemy called Viktor Karmak ( Darren McGavin ) lies in wait, wanting revenge. Teaming up with avant-garde artist Sheila ( Marlyn Mason ), the man from U.N.C.L.E. is hunted like big game. He cannot escape as an electric fence surrounds the area. He must locate Illya before a deadline expires, then the chamber his friend is imprisoned in fills with poison gas...
Written by Robert E.Thompson, author of the same season's 'The Summit Five Affair', this is an exciting episode, with McGavin ( future star of one of my all-time favourite shows 'Kolchak: The Night Stalker' ) enjoying himself hugely as a villain in dark glasses and a pet leopard for company.
Jerry Goldsmith is credited with the score but in fact it was compiled from earlier episodes he had worked on, no bad thing.
There's an amusing coda which reverses the opening - Solo is now in hospital and a tuxedo-clad Illya is looking forward to a night on the town. The look of disgust on Solo's face as a thermometer is put in his mouth is hilarious!
A highlight of season four that looks pretty tough by UNCLE's usual standards.
jamesraeburn200324 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Whilst recovering from an injury in hospital, Illya Kuriyakin is kidnapped and Napoleon Solo is assigned by UNCLE chief Mr Waverley to find him. It transpires that Viktor Karmak (played by Darrin McGavin), an evil villain whom they believed was dead, is behind it and wants revenge on the UNCLE men. He lures Solo to a condemned tenement in New York City and subjects him to a deadly game of cat and mouse. Kuriyakin is imprisoned in a gas chamber, which is primed to release cyanide pellets at six o' clock in the morning exactly and Solo, accompanied by Sheila Van Tilsen (Marlyn Mason), an artist squatting in an abandoned nightclub, must battle his way through all of the deadly booby traps laid for him to rescue his friend and colleague.
Another highlight of season four with Darrin McGavin on fine form as the sinister Karmak who keeps a pet leopard on a chain exerting a genuine sense of menace and evil. There are some suspenseful moments including Solo and Van Tilsen's narrow escape from death in a booby trapped refrigeration unit. But, best of all, is Solo's fight with Karmak's pet leopard which is really hair-raising and it is pretty tough by The Man From UNCLE's usual standards. It is solidly directed by Alf Kjellin and the chemistry between Vaughn and McCallam ensures there are some light hearted moments in what is a pretty dark storyline.
Another highlight of season four with Darrin McGavin on fine form as the sinister Karmak who keeps a pet leopard on a chain exerting a genuine sense of menace and evil. There are some suspenseful moments including Solo and Van Tilsen's narrow escape from death in a booby trapped refrigeration unit. But, best of all, is Solo's fight with Karmak's pet leopard which is really hair-raising and it is pretty tough by The Man From UNCLE's usual standards. It is solidly directed by Alf Kjellin and the chemistry between Vaughn and McCallam ensures there are some light hearted moments in what is a pretty dark storyline.
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