The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Children's Day Affair (1965)
The Series
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was a spy show starring Robert Vaughn as Napoleon Solo and David McCallum as Ilya Kuryakin. It ran from 1964 to 1968. U.N.C.L.E. stood for United Network Command for Law Enforcement; they fought the good fight against the villainous THRUSH (Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity) organization. The first episode co-starred William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. I think that this is how they met originally.
The Episode
(For notes, quotes and relevant links go to the next page.)
Stevens plays Capt. Dennis Jenks in the second-season episode, The Children's Day Affair, which aired on December 10, 1965. It was written by Dean Hargrove and directed by Sherman Marks. Jenks and Jeanne Cooper (Mother Fear) are THRUSH operatives planning to assassinate some UNCLE bigwigs at a conference using students from their private boys school Figliano in Switzerland. The fiends!
Capt. Jenks carries a riding crop and has a yen for Mother Fear, laying his head on her lap and allowing her to soothe him to sleep when he's upset. And there are hints that they get up to no good with his riding crop and her leather strap, which comes in handy for schoolboys and UNCLE agents alike. S&M on family TV? I say, what!
In the great tradition of the James Bond films, which the series draws from, the villain can't just torture someone, or kill someone. There has to be an elaborate device: Jenks forces Solo to play with toy trains which carry nervegas in order to get him to divulge the new location of the UNCLE conference.
Eventually Jenks allows Solo and Ilya to escape and have them followed to divine the location. Arriving at the conference lodge ahead of the agents Jenks, Mother Fear and their boy assassins slip into the conference disguised as a choir and its conductor and accompanist. The plan is to shoot up the conference after singing Frere Jacques - the boys having their guns under their robes.
Needless to say Solo and Ilya shoot the henchmen and blows up Mother Fear with a cake. Last we see of Jenks he's upended by Solo flying from the rafters.
It's a such a goofy episode you just have to like it. I love the sweetly sadistic angle to the characters of Jenks and Mother Fear. They are obviously an ideal couple - one hates to see them broken up *grin*. And a strong female character always warms the old cockles, whether she's nuts or not.
As in the rest of the series there are cool quips and one-liners. I don't know if the actors had fun making the episode but it sure looks like it.
For notes, quotes and relevant links go to the next page.
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