The British espionage series Danger Man, starring Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake, ran as a half-hour series 1960-62. It was revived as a one-hour series 1964-68, and retitled Secret Agent when it aired in the U.S. The original "The Danger Man Theme" and "High Wire" themes were composed by Edwin Astley. The U.S. theme "Secret Agent Man" was composed by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri, and recorded by Johnny Rivers.
Danger Man Opening
Danger Man Theme - Edwin Astley Orchestra - 1965 45rpm
Secret Agent AKA Danger Man: The Complete Collection It was 1965 when American audiences first welcomed handsome secret agent John Drake (Patrick McGoohan of The Prisoner) into their homes as CBS ran the unique spy series known as Secret Agent. Wielding brains and a moral outlook instead of weapons, Drake traveled to the corners of the globe on the trail of international criminals, corrupt politicians, and stolen secrets.
Now, all 86 episodes from John Drakes entire crime-solving career are available together on DVD. Each episode of this exciting spy thriller is presented in the original broadcast order, from the original season that aired only in the U.K. as Danger Man to the 47 episodes of Secret Agent that were seen internationally, including the two color episodes that provided a vivid finale to the long-running suspense thriller.
An immensely popular series broadcast on PBS from 1978 to 1992, RUMPOLE OF THE BAILEY set a new bar for all courtroom dramas to come. Balancing suspense and satire as deftly as the scale of justice, Horace Rumpole tirelessly defends the downtrodden while undressing the upper classes. A timeless mixture of comedy and drama, RUMPOLE OF THE BAILEY was one of televisions most celebrated courtroom dramas.
Flawlessly adapted by John Mortimer from his best-selling Edgar Award-winning novels, and starring the esteemed Leo McKern (A Man for All Seasons), this 14-disc DVD Megaset includes all 42 episodes from the seven seasons of RUMPOLE OF THE BAILEY.
BONUS FEATURES: Feature-Length Bonus Movie Rumpole's Return; Mortimer's Musings--An Interview with John Mortimer; McKern's Memories with Actress Abigail McKern (Daughter of Leo McKern); Episode Introductions with John Mortimer; Spot the Barrister-Highlighting John Mortimer's Impromptu Appearances; Newspaper Evidence; John Mortimer Biography; John Mortimer Bibliography and Selected Credits; About the Old Bailey; Official Executioners of Newgate Prison
Spotlighting the great main titles from classic mystery/crime television shows ...
IT TAKES A THIEF Jazz artist Dave Grusin provided the snazzy theme for this 1968-1970 adventure series. A young Robert Wagner starred as Alexander Mundy, a smooth, sophisticated playboy and burglar recruited by the government. As described by TV.com: Alexander Mundy was a cat burglar and professional thief who had style, class and talent. He made only one mistake -- getting caught. While serving a sentence in San Jobel Prison, he was contacted by representatives of the US Government spy agency, SIA. They offered to get him out if he would put his talents to work stealing for the government. Accepting the offer, he worked closely with an SIA department head, Noah Bain, who was his boss, aide, associate, friend and watchdog. During the second season he was now a free agent and his new SIA contact was Wallie Powers. Alexander's dad Alister became a semi-regular who was also a retired thief, from whom he had learned all his skills, and who occasionally teamed with his son on special jobs.
As I found out about Montalban's death, TCM happened to be airing the MGM: When the Lion Roars documentary, which features the former MGM contract player and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan star as an interviewee. The lengthy doc traces the rise and fall of "the Tiffany studio," and Montalban, in his smooth Latin playa voice, laments how "the lion stopped roaring."
Montalban was one of the few remaining survivors of the era of the studio system--a system that both helped and hurt his career. In an interesting 2002 Palm Beach Post article that unfortunately is no longer online, Montalban, who at the time was promoting TCM's Hispanic Heritage Month tribute to Hispanics in cinema, recalled his days as one of Hollywood's few Latino movie stars:
Montalban, a star in his native Mexico -- his parents were Castilian Spanish, but his physician father moved the family to Mexico before he was born -- had his troubles in Hollywood. When he was signed by MGM in 1946, there was a movement afoot to change his name to -- wait for it -- Ricky Martin.
"They couldn't pronounce my name," he says today. "Joe Pasternak, the producer, would introduce me to people as Richard Mandelbaum. Eight times out of 10, I was Richard Mandelbaum, but a couple of times I was Richard Mountbatten, and at least once he said Richard Musclebound. He had a hell of a time with it.
"So they thought my name was impossible, and they were going to change it, but then they consulted with the man who was in charge of the Latin America market, and he said, 'He has a following here, you can't change his name.' And that's the only reason I managed to retain my dignity."
The studios' strengths were in stereotyping -- the blond bombshell, the ultra-masculine leading man, etc. -- so the Hispanics they had under contract were no exception.
"I approached directors, producers, executives and tried to convince them to create other characters besides the Mexican bandit and the hot senorita. Call it ignorance, but they would tell me, 'We're trying to put as many colorful characters in the movies as we can.' They called these stereotypes 'colorful.' "
Not only that, but Montalban was aware of an even subtler prejudice. Montalban played Cubans, played Argentinians, played Brazilians, but it took years before he could play a Mexican.
"Mexico didn't sound quite right, even though we have the best muralists in the world, some of the best painters, the best heart specialists. Where were they on the screen, people of dignity, wealth and culture? Or even the very honorable middle-class man who struggles to give his kids a better education. 'An architect is not colorful,' they would tell me."
MGM didn't stint on Montalban; he worked opposite the studio's top leading ladies, from Lana Turner to Jane Powell, and was given several films in the early '50s as a stand-alone lead, though he points out that they were B films.
Even when Montalban resented the roles he was assigned, his options were limited. "When I would say, I don't want to do it, it's vapid, they would say, 'All right, you don't have to do it. But we'll put you on suspension for six months.' So that vapid role became a great role. I had a wife and four children; I never went on suspension because I couldn't afford it."
There was no cohesion within the Hispanic community in Hollywood -- everybody worked at different studios, and went home to their different houses. That would eventually lead Montalban to found Nosotros, an organization to promote Hispanic talent so that, as he puts it, "we could be judged on our ability or lack of ability, not by our names."
Because of the lack of substantial big-screen roles for Latinos and the decline of the studio system, Montalban made the jump to TV. But the small screen wasn't much of an improvement for Latinos (and everyone else who was a minority), because Montalban guest-starred as a '90s dictator from India (Khan Noonien Singh on Star Trek), a Frenchman (Combat!) and a Japanese gangster (Hawaii Five-0) and then ruled the '70s and '80s Saturday night airwaves as a mysterious island resort owner of indeterminate race (Fantasy Island).
Whether the role was inane (the taped-eyelidded act on Five-0) or not (Khaaaaaaaaaan!), Montalban the serial guest star--and serial Fakasian--brought to each of his live-action or animated performances a certain regal movie-star charisma that boosted the show. That same charisma helped add an edge to Wrath of Khan that was missing from the first Trek feature film. Returning to a character he played 15 years earlier, Montalban was pitch-perfect as the genetically engineered title villain, or as Robin Harris would have called him, "Test-tube baby!"
Montalban also played equally pivotal roles in the Planet of the Apes and Spy Kids franchises. Speaking of spies...
Another great actor has died: Patrick McGoohan, star and co-creator of both Danger Man, a.k.a. Secret Agent, and its unofficial sequel The Prisoner, which he memorably parodied on The Simpsons in one of his last bits of acting.
The Danger Man creators used the Bond novels as a springboard to conceive a spy hero who was different from Ian Fleming's "blunt instrument." John Drake wasn't much of a skirtchaser and was less violent and glamorous than 007. McGoohan actually turned down the film version of Dr. No because the actor, a devout Catholic, wasn't comfortable with playing a womanizer. But he had no objections to playing the cerebral Drake, the antithesis of Bond.
Like Montalban, McGoohan excelled in villainous roles, from Silver Streak to Columbo. He played four different killers on both the NBC and ABC versions of the Peter Falk TV-movie franchise and won Emmys for two of those characters. By Dawn's Early Light is my favorite Columbo installment because McGoohan is so mesmerizing as an unflappable military school commandant.
Here's the classic Prisoner opening title sequence, scored by Ron Grainer, who also composed the Doctor Who theme, and featuring guitar work by Vic Flick, who performed the guitar riffs during the Dr. No version of "The James Bond Theme":
Spotlighting the great opening themes from mystery/crime TV shows ...
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE In this influential spy series (1966-73, 1988-90) a super-secret government agency called the "Impossible Missions Force" is given secret anonymous covert missions, often relying on high-tech equipment and elaborate deceptions. The original series won several awards, with a rotating cast that included Steven Hill, Peter Graves, Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Greg Morris, Peter Lupus, Leonard Nimoy, and more. Fifteen years after the original, Jim Phelps (Graves) was pulled out of retirement to assemble a new team of agents.
One of the most copied tunes of all time, the familiar theme to Mission: Impossible was created by composer and conductor Lalo Schifren. Best known for his music for film and television—ranging from Dirty Harry, Enter the Dragon and Rush Hour to Mannix, Medical Center, Starsky & Hutch and Planet of The Apes—the composer and pianist has also had historic impact in the jazz and classical worlds. See his bio here.
Spotlighting the great main titles from classic mystery/crime television shows ...
IT TAKES A THIEF Jazz artist Dave Grusin provided the snazzy theme for this 1968-1970 adventure series. A young Robert Wagner starred as Alexander Mundy, a smooth, sophisticated playboy and burglar recruited by the government. As described by TV.com: Alexander Mundy was a cat burglar and professional thief who had style, class and talent. He made only one mistake -- getting caught. While serving a sentence in San Jobel Prison, he was contacted by representatives of the US Government spy agency, SIA. They offered to get him out if he would put his talents to work stealing for the government. Accepting the offer, he worked closely with an SIA department head, Noah Bain, who was his boss, aide, associate, friend and watchdog. During the second season he was now a free agent and his new SIA contact was Wallie Powers. Alexander's dad Alister became a semi-regular who was also a retired thief, from whom he had learned all his skills, and who occasionally teamed with his son on special jobs.
and the 14-disc 
.
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