Tradecraft: The U.N.C.L.E. Rights Affair

Remember just a few scant years ago when The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was still conspicuously absent on DVD?  Fans clamored for it forever, it seemed, before we finally got word that it would come out in season sets from Anchor Bay, and that Robert Vaughn and David McCallum had recorded new commentary tracks for the release.  It was very exciting.  Then that excitement was quickly dashed when Warner Bros. took the wind out of Anchor Bay's sails by issuing a cease-and-desist on the project, and asserting that they owned the rights to the classic spy series.  (It was particularly frustrating at the time, because then they didn't seem to have any plans to actually do anything with those rights.  Obviously that situation changed when they put out a really excellent and feature-laden collection through Time-Life a few years later.)  Well, all's well that ends well, and we all kind of forgot about that Anchor Bay situation when the official release happened.  But I always kind of wondered what went on there, and how a major distributor could be duped into thinking they had the rights to such a major license when they didn't.  (And what happened to those commentaries!)  Now we have some of those answers, thanks to a story in yesterday's Hollywood Reporter. 

According to the trade, "a Los Angeles jury has awarded $7.3 million to Anchor Bay Entertainment from a woman who was accused of selling rights to the classic TV series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. that she didn't own. Lindsay Dunlap and her Ember Entertainment were on trial for fraud and breaching a 2005 contract with Anchor Bay."  Apparently the fact that she could produce the masters and "footage for DVD extras" was enough to convince Anchor Bay she was on the level, and the company paid her $625,000.  Obviously, they've now been recompensated and then some.  But my biggest question remains: what happened to those commentaries that Anchor Bay recorded, and will they ever see the ligh of day?

More Extras For Network's Protectors

Network's recently announced UK release of The Protectors has been delayed by a few weeks... but it's for a good reason: so that the company can add some extra features.  Now don't get too excited; it's nothing huge, but the point is it's something.  The Protectors: The Complete Series will now come out in the UK on August 23, and feature French and Spanish title sequences in addition to the previously announced photo galleries and PDF features.  I don't know if that means Tony Christie singing in other languages or not, but I'd be curious to see...  It's still not a slew of bonus material, but I'm happy the company is so dedicated to putting on whatever they've got, even if it means a delay.  Read all about Network's Region 2 Protectors release here.

Upcoming Spy DVDs: The Protectors

Speaking of Robert Vaughn, his other spy-ish series is headed back to DVD. Network has announced The Protectors: The Complete Series for release in the UK on August 9. I really enjoy The Protectors (particularly the second season, which is far superior to the first one), but I'd be hard-pressed to actually describe the premise.  So I'll let Network handle that one:

Each of the world’s major cities has its best detective agency, and each of these has its best agents; super-agents like The Protectors. The most sensitive, baffling, dangerous assignments are handled by this trio of adventurers with no equal among private eyes. In their nerve-tingling assignments, they function as a highly trained team, but they know that the next mission might mean death – and they live as if each moment were their last. Robert Vaughn stars as Harry Rule, the suave American who leads their operations and works from a London office; Nyree Dawn Porter is the elegant, Rome-based Contessa di Contini, and Tony Anholt is Paul Buchet, a French agent operating out of a Paris apartment.

Okay, so that's the set-up?  Hm, I'm not sure the series itself, which aired from 1972-1974, ever made it totally clear.  (In fact, I always thought they all worked for Harry Rule's detective agency, not separate ones.) But that doesn't matter, because what it really amounts to (like just about any ITC series) is cool people (well, a cool boss, anyway, and a fairly attractive woman and a pretty useless "third guy" who's basically just a clothes horse for wonderfully horrible Seventies fashions–you know, par for the course!) travelling to exotic locations solving crimes and spying and fighting drug dealers and fencing frogmen and whatnot.  The very impressive actual location filming gives it the edge over many of ITC's more studio-bound series, and the music and theme song are incredible.  It's kind of tough to jam a wholly satisfying adventure plot into just a half an hour (or at least it was by this point; for some reason that art was lost after the original Danger Man series did it so well–and has yet to be rediscovered), but those stylistic elements overcome that minor fault.  The Protectors is very much style over substance, and that's fine by me.  Unlike most other live-action ITC adventure series, this one comes from the puppet-addled mind of the great Gerry Anderson, for once dabbling outside the realm of science fiction.  (And there are no puppets on The Protectors!) 

Since they've offered the superb soundtrack to the series (arguably its best feature, and possibly the best of all the ITC soundtracks yet available) for a year now I was actually surprised to realize that Network hadn't already issued The Protectors on DVD!  But they hadn't.  It was previously issued in the format (with a much less cool cover) by ITV Studios back in 2002, but has been long out of print in Britain.  In America, it's still available from A&E in two volumes (much, much cheaper used on Amazon than new!), and the first season is also included in their wonderful ITC sampler, The Spy Collection Megaset (also cheaper used).  Network's new release–sporting a cover stylish enough to befit this stylish show–is a 7-disc set containing all 52 half-hour episodes. Bonus materials are limited to PDF material (original brochure and press information) and a very extensive stills gallery. It will be available on August 9 and retail for £59.99, but can currently be pre-ordered through Network's website for just £38.99.

Bargain Alert: One Day Super Sale On The Man From U.N.C.L.E.!

Amazon is offering The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Series for less than half price as their Deal of the Day today!  Today's price is just $85.49 for the complete series–57% off the list price of $199.92 and half of what it was yesterday–the regular Amazon price of $170.99.  But if you're missing this crucial piece of any complete spy collection, and have been patiently waiting for the price to drop this low, you better strike quickly!  This offer is good only today, July 15.  Tomorrow it will be regular price again.  And, yes, what we're talking about here is the awesome attache case-shaped box originally offered as an even costlier Time-Life exclusive, containing all four seasons of the seminal Robert Vaughn/David McCallum series along with copious, copious extras.  It's a really good set.  Get it, and watch it before the dubious Hollywood movie version comes out!  Hurry!