TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

bensonmum2 Overall, Danger Man is a good series. Most of the episodes are entertaining and interesting, with good acting, action sequences, suspense , and occasionally some interesting location shots. Patrick McGoohan is the glue that holds the whole thing together. While he occasionally annoyed me (usually when playing a drunk), he's a very fine actor. He makes John Drake appropriately tough, smart, and resourceful. The supporting casts McGoohan had to work with are top-notch, featuring actors like Donald Pleasence, Hazel Court, Barbara Shelley, Moira Redmond, Charles Gray, Zena Marshall, and Burt Kwouk. There are a few episodes that are really hurt by the limited runtime, but, on the whole, the writers/directors did a magnificent job. I feel my overall rating of 8/10 is about right. One day soon, I'll tackle the next series. My five favorite episodes: - #36 Under the Lake - #27 Bury the Dead - #19 Name, Date and Place - #33 The Hired Assassin - #15 Colonel Rodriguez (with honorable mentions going to #6 The Girl in Pink Pajamas and #5 The Lovers)And, my five least favorite episodes: - #31 The Trap - #22 The Honeymooners - #38 The Dead Man Walks - #14 The Traitor - #17 Find and Return

RJC-99 There are so many things Ralph Smart got right in the earliest Danger Man, it's almost a pity he couldn't stick to the commercially problematic 30-minute format. The stories are taut, clever Cold War mystery-thrillers. Within the hurried time constraints it isn't all plot as Smart finds room for characterization and texture, even to interject some interesting ideas and questions. A lot of this is done by way of the mercurial Patrick McGoohan but Smart had no shortage of talented collaborators in directors and actors.McGoohan's early performances are fluid yet quirky. While he projects a kind of reserved elan, he also draws on a trove of itchy, improvisational mannerisms that allow us into more than a few nooks--not all of them pleasant--of John Drake's anxious cynicism. (McGoohan is to the TV spook what the late Jeremy Brett was to Sherlock Holmes: a perturbable, high-strung exotic, haunted but smirking.) I prefer him here to the more celebrated Prisoner, in fact, where he's customarily arch and lacks the variety of situation and emotional register. His narration is another treat, delivered in one of the most delectably ironic voices in dramatic TV history. The writing bests most on TV, then or now. The tone in the better scripts is wry, veering toward acid, with more than a hint of melancholy. This is not the Cold War as a stage for Kennedyesque moxie, and certainly not the idiotic glamorization found in Bond, but rather as in Le Carré, a stage for the peeling away of deceptions that are as likely to originate at home as in dens abroad. This is not to say it isn't above the occasional stereotype; see, for instance, the leering North Koreans in the episode The Honeymooners. But a mark of this generally very humane work is that it more typically treats nationalistic conceptions of the enemy with skepticism, and even pits Drake in frustration against his own morally ambiguous NATO bosses. Nor is the day always won, and some seeming victories prove Pyhrric. How refreshing this is to watch in 2007, for obvious reasons.The production design, fairly cheapo and simplistic, never detracts (charmingly, old file inserts make do for exterior locations) and in fact the studio sets somehow hold surprise delights: here a gloomy early 60s facsimile of a Munich street recalling Carol Reed's chiaroscuro in The Third Man, there the lobby of an International Style hotel with its sexy mid-century modernism. That it's all in gorgeous high-contrast black and white only deepens the interest: shadow play for shadowy deeds.A word too about the memorable score by Albert Elms, particularly his incidental music. The understated jazz is part and parcel of the sensibility here--aloof and insinuating. There is so much intelligence pulsing through Elms' music and the series as a whole that it seems vaguely unlikely; watching this work, I can't help but admire its virtues while ruing what's become of the medium.Danger Man in this early incarnation is grown-up art on TV, the likes of which in the U.S., anyway, we rarely hope to find today outside of HBO, practically its last refuge. A treasure.

glamber I'm not sure what the other reviewer was talking about as far as Drake's seducing women. On the contrary, one of the most interesting aspects of Drake's character is his apparent ambivalence towards romance. As dashing and debonair as he is, Drake does not even so much as kiss anyone during the entire series—something which actually adds to the sexual tension he exudes. There are several times when he flirts with women in order to get the information he wants, but he always manages to skirt their advances and slip away, leaving broken hearts in his wake. (Incidentally, Patrick McGoohan twice turned down the role of James Bond because he didn't want to perform the sex scenes. Danger Man's Drake is sexless without being prudish—he's a charming and captivating spy, not a gigolo.)For having such outdated spying technology, Danger Man manages to dodge being laughable, probably because of its focus on strategy and Drake's cleverness to capture criminals, etc. Admittedly, some episodes are better than others—the first couple were not my favorites, but they get much better.Interesting aspects of the show are:Each episode takes place in at least one different foreign country, and many times the location is ambiguous, with the country never being statedConversations that occur in foreign languages are not translated, even when they may be helpful to understanding the plot (I still enjoy those episodes that have conversations I don't understand, though)Many episodes reference real world events—for example, the Spanish Civil War and issues with CubaSome episodes actually seem to express moral criticism of the government Drake works for, with him being given not enough information, time, or resources by his superiors (don't worry, this isn't a spoiler--Drake just has to work with incompetent bosses sometimes)Overall, it's a great show for anyone who enjoys Hitchcock, The Prisoner, or vintage Bond.

rcj5365 "DANGER MAN"-"SECRET AGENT"-Produced by ITC Productions. The Half-Hour Episodes,30 minutes each,1960-1961,black and white. The Hour Long Episodes,60 minutes each,1964-1966,black and white. Episodes ran on British Television from 1960-1961,1964-1966. Episodes that ran on American Television from 1965-1966,CBS-TV.Out of all the espionage shows that came out in the 1960's,this show was among the tops of the list and set the standard for the next batch of espionage,intrigue shows to follow suit. This was indeed a highly entertaining series that was full of quick dialogue,twist endings,and some of the most inventive story lines anywhere. Besides,this was way better than James Bond! The series starred Patrick McGoohan as British secret agent John Drake. As for some of the episodes,this series was one action-packed show which feature McGoohan traveling to certain parts of the world to handle situations given to him by his superiors under orders of his Majesty's Secret Service. This was a show that had a lot of action-packed fighting scenes(where Patrick McGoohan's boxing experience shows in some of the episodes)which some were very inventive and very useful in taking out the baddies. The gadgets were amazing and for the most part which could actually exist,and are brought in as part of a plan in some dangerous situations. The gadgets were really cool items like The Exploding Pen,The Watch with a hidden camera and lots more cool stuff! And had a fare for a ladies as well and also show it in some of the love scenes where he trades affairs for sex secrets on the show and in some segments made him a detail well-crafted character. As for the diabolical villains,Drake had the deal with the evil doers out to destroy the world,but saves the day and the organization he works for.ABOUT DANGER MAN-SECRET AGENT............... The series consisted of four seasons done in a unusual manner. In the first season,televised from 1960-1961,Patrick McGoohan's character of John Drake is a NATO intelligence officer working for the UN in New York. There were only 39 half-hour episodes filmed in black and white and some of the earlier Danger Man material hasn't been seen since its original broadcast,and most recently they are now on DVD for your enjoyment. The series was cancelled after its first season,and it was not until 1964 that it was reprised,when the "spy craze" of the time exploded with not only James Bond 007,but for every aspects of a lot of television shows that followed including,"The Avengers","The Man From U.N.C.L.E.",and so many more. It was here during its new format and under its second season,that John Drake not longer works for NATO,but for the British Government Intelligence Agency,"M9",which consisted of hour long episodes for seasons two and three(combined total of 45 episodes),which are filmed in black and white. It wasn't until the summer of 1965,that American audiences were interested in this series as well seeing the exploits of John Drake each week,and from that period in 1965,the ratings soared in which the "Danger Man" was shown as an summer replacement here in the states. The last two episodes of the series,also an hour long each,were filmed in color,and these two episodes were combined into a two hour TV-movie entitled "Koroshi" from 1966. This was actually a compilation of two Danger Man episodes,"Koroshi",and "Shinda Shima". Unfortunably,this was the last of the series,before Patrick McGoohan would made the transition from this role to the next series,"The Prisoner". The storyline deals with John Drake who is being sent to Japan to investigate the murders of two British agents who were under the society of the Koroshi who in turn plan to execute world leaders. However,Drake is sent to destroy the organization and at the end becomes sufficient in destroying the society and from there Drake sets out to destroy the society that is handling the affairs. If you wonder where the producers for the Sean Connery/James Bond thriller,"You Only Live Twice" came up the ideas,then you'll see why the last episodes of Danger Man were brilliant to the core.