Episode # 29: "The Odd Man Affair" details

- July 01, 2019

The Man From UNCLE

Episode 29

The Odd Man Affair

Writer: Dick Nelson

Director: Joseph Sargent

Guests: Martin Balsam (Albert Sully), Barbara Shelly (Bryn Watson), Mister Zed (Ronald Long)

Filmed: 01-08 March 1965

Premiere: 19 April 1965

Places: English Channel, New York (USA), London (UK)

Martin Balsam

The affair:

On a plane to Paris, Marcel Raymond watches Illya Kuryakin. The pilot is ordered to arrest Raymond, who locks himself in the bathroom, explodes a bomb and gets out through the hole. At New York UNCLE HQ, Alexander Waverly says Raymond was on his way to London for a meeting with left-wing extremists. Solo and Kuryakin go to Albert Sully, a master of disguise. Sully once worked for the former OSS (the pre-CIA American intelligence organization) and was retired by UNCLE.

FYI - Martin Balsam (1919-1986) was one of the finest (and least acknowledged) actors in Hollywood in the 1960's. He starred in remarkable films like Psycho (1960), The Waterfront (1954), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), The Anderson Tapes (1971) and Catch 22 (1971). This script is very sharp, dealing with a universal problem: the denial of retirement. The end is a very positive one about it. As everybody knows, THRUSH villains have a retirement plan. This combination of espionage and old age brings to mind the future comic book (and 2010 movie) REDS. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. first season ends well, promising a very good second year

You'll find much more about UNCLE in