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"Dink, say goodbye to Felix."
This month marks multiple 60th anniversaries in spy entertainment. Three prominent examples:
Goldfinger (Sept. 17, 1964, U.K, premiere): The third James Bond film makes its debut. The movie turns Bond from being merely successful into a global phenomenon. The "Golden Girl" becomes an icon and is utilized in the main titles designed by Robert Brownjohn. The movie creates a market for all sorts of spies, from escapist (Flint, Matt Helm) to the grounded (The Spy Who Came in From the Cold). Sean Connery, already popular, is now a worldwide figure. For the Scotsman, it would be a mixed blessing.
Irony: As for Ian Fleming, Bond's creator, he was like Moses, not permitted to cross the River Jordan. Fleming died Aug. 12, 1964, mere weeks before Bond reached his zenith. Fleming had made the 1960s spycraze possible.
The cast of Jonny Quest
Jonny Quest (Sept. 18, 1964, debut on ABC): Espionage gets animated. The Adventures of Jonny Quest was made by Hanna-Barbera and aired in prime time on ABC. Jonny Quest's father, Benton Quest, was the foremost scientist for the U.S. Jonny had a bodyguard and tutor, Race Bannon, who was America's top secret agent. The cast was created by cartoonist Doug Wildey, except for Jonny's dog, Bandit. Jonny Quest, after its initial 1964-65 season, would later show up on Saturday mornings on CBS and NBC.
Irony: Laser beams are prominent in both Goldfinger and Jonny Quest, both of which came out days apart.
Cover to one of Jon Burlingame's Man From U.N.C.L.E. soundtracks released in the 2000s.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (Sept. 22, 1964, on NBC): The series originated from October 1962 meetings between television producer Norman Felton and Bond author Ian Fleming. They came up with a lead character, Napoleon Solo. Writer-producer Sam Rolfe took it from there, coming up with an international organization. Solo (Robert Vaughn) would work with a Soviet agent, Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum). It was a post-Cold War series that came out in the middle of the Cold War.
Irony: At last month's Gatherall event in New Jersey, I chatted with someone who has a Bond YouTube channel. He had no idea about Fleming's involvement with U.N.C.L.E. Fleming biographers typically pass the subject over even though the author was involved for eight months. He only dropped out because Bond producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman pressured him to do so. I feel like I've gotten blue in the face about the connection. But Bond fans don't want to hear about it. And a lot of U.N.C.L.E. fans feel the same way. Within 20 years, nobody will mention it again.
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