UNCLE: THE SORT-OF-DO-IT-YOURSELF-DREADFUL AFFAIR

Model A-77 (Willi Koopman) goes on the rampage 

THE SORT-OF-DO-IT-YOURSELF-DREADFUL AFFAIR (1966). The Man from Uncle; season three; episode two. Teleplay by Harlan Ellison. Director: E. Darrell. Hallenbeck. 

Trying to get at some files from the evil organization Thrush, UNCLE agent Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) encounters a strange guardian of the files: a beautiful woman who is impervious to bullets and seems super-strong. She turns out to be a cyborg, mostly artificial but with some human parts. The cyborg's face is modeled on a young lady who was the roommate of "Andy" Francis (Jeannine Riley), who gets involved with Solo and Illya (David McCallum) on their investigation. 

David McCallum and Robert Vaughn

Thrush, which is already a very wealthy organization, wants a billion dollar loan and Napoleon poses as a representative of the bank. Thrush's goal is to build a great many of these cyborgs "to help mankind," although their true purpose will be to act as unexpected soldiers. The scientist behind this is the unwitting Dr. Pertwee (Woodrow Parfrey), while his Thrush liaison is the sensual Margo Hayward (Pamela Curran). Eventually our heroes, along with Andy, manage to get into Thrush's New York headquarters, where they find themselves up against not only the forces of Thrush, but a whole bevy of beautiful and deadly killer cyborgs. 

She-Cyborgs on the loose! 

By the third season of the show, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. had become increasingly absurd and campy, trying too hard to imitate Batman or Get Smart. Nevertheless, some of the third season episodes at least had some amusing entertainment value. While one could argue that "The Sort-of-Do-It-Yourself-Dreadful Affair" is an example of why TV was called the "boob tube," the episode still has several points of interest. It is one of only a couple of episodes scripted by speculative fiction writer Harlan Ellison, for one thing. Underneath the bizarre aspects, there is something unsettling about the premise, as well as the fate of the innocent woman whose face and fabric is stolen after her accidental death. 

Pamela Curran

Both Vaughn [Solo] and McCallum hold on to their dignity despite the far-out quality of the story, and with her mature sex kitten and sinister persona Pamela Curran makes her mark as Margo. Veteran actor Fritz Feld [The Catman of Paris] is a delight as a representative of the bank, who is nearly apoplectic at all the goings-on, and Naomi Stevens has a funny bit as a phony fortune teller with a bad case of heartburn. The music when the cyborgs go on the rampage is wild. The A-77 cyborgs are played by Willi Koopman (whose first name is misspelled "Willy" in the closing credits), a very attractive actress who had only a few credits, mostly in decorative roles. This episode may well have been inspired by Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, which came out the previous year, and its 1966 follow-up, Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs, both of which were much, much worse than "Do-It-Yourself Dreadful." 

Verdict: Frankly there have been much better episodes of this series, but this one is oddly engaging. ***.

THE CATMAN OF PARIS

Who is the Catman?

THE CATMAN OF PARIS (1946). Director: Lesley Selander. 

Charles Regnier (Carl Esmond) is a well-regarded French writer who has come out with a controversial novel based on a famous murder case, a book that has the authorities nervous. Therefore, he is not that surprised when he becomes the suspect in a series of strangulations where the victims are clawed as if by a cat. Inspector Severen (Gerald Mohr) is convinced the murders are the work of a man and not an animal. Charles' friend Henry (Douglass Dumbrille) suggests that Charles should get out of Paris and take his lady love, Marie (Lenore Aubert) with him. Then the Catman strikes again. 

Fritz Feld and Gerald Mohr

The Catman of Paris is a low-budget horror flick from Republic studios, and it does boast some period atmosphere and interesting settings. Carl Esmond, in a rare starring role, is okay as the author, but the picture is stolen by Dumbrille. Fritz Feld plays a dramatic part for a change as the Prefect of Police, and is as good as ever. Aubert and Adele Mara as Charles' cast-off fiancee are perfectly decorative and adept and even Mohr makes his mark as a French policeman (!). Charles shows little concern over the victims in the story. The Catman's make up is well-done, but the movie itself is completely unexceptional. Once you find out who the Catman really is, a sequence concerning a murder in a coach is utterly impossible the way it's played. 

Verdict: Fair to middling Republic horror. **1/4.