DANGER MAN ANYONE?
Watching an episode or two of DANGER MAN each morning for the past few months. Was never into Spy stuff when I was a kid. No James Bond or anything, though did love JONNY QUEST and later GET SMART.
So now seeing the DANGER MAN series and for the first time is lots of fun.
Plus you get to see a plethora of British actors from the 60s you don’t get to see today. From several British directors who became names in cinema.
What is DANGER MAN? Irish American actor Patrick MaGoohan plays JOHN DRAKE a Secret Agent for the British Government. He goes undercover to handle the most delicate and deadly situations across the globe.
Season One (or Series One as the Brits call their TV seasons) were half hour black and white gems with a twist or two at the end. Next series they went to hour long episodes and did those until the series ended.
My roommate is sick and tired of hearing that theme song let me tell you. Especially since I started DANGER MAN right after I finished THE SAINT another show with a theme song that can stick in your head as well.
(THE SAINT with Roger Moore as Simon Templar was shot at Elstree studios at the same time as DANGER MAN.)
There is a naivete’ about action shows from the late 50s to mid 1960s that portrayed evil as always “the other guy” waving the other flag. No stories about corruption of their own organizations, the abuse of their own power — as if it were never possible.
Back in the 60s Governments were more trusted (or we were more trusting and ignorant) because all but a few of the episodes had the British or the US government doing anything dastardly that agent Drake would question. Though he did refuse to ever act as assassin for his government.
Most striking about the shows for me: John Drake almost NEVER carried a gun or ever used one.