Day, Robert

The Quick and the Dead

In 1876 Wyoming the gun is the only law. And for Duncan and Susanna McKaskel (Tom Conti and Kate Capshaw) newly arrived settlers beset by outlaws rugged frontiersman Con Vallian (Sam Elliott) is the only hope. From the book by famed Western author Louis L'Amour THE QUICK AND THE DEAD is a rousing adventure. It shares tried-and-true ingredients of those sagebrush sagas: a tale of peaceable folk driven to action under the guidance of a mysterious stranger.Running Time: 90 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. UPC: 085392458622

Not to be confused with Sam Raimi's flamboyantly stylized Western of the same name, this made-for-cable adaptation of the Louis L'Amour novel is a lean, taut pioneer adventure set in the wilderness of the northern Midwest. Sam Elliott, sporting his trademark bushy mustache and eyebrows so thick they keep the rains off his face, stars as the mountain man and tracker Con Vallian. Tom Conti is Scottish storekeeper Duncan McKaskel bringing his wife Susanna (Kate Capshaw) and son from Pennsylvania to a homestead in Wyoming. When a scraggly gang (led by the wonderfully sleazy Matt Clark) marks the family as an easy target, Vallian makes himself their gruff guardian angel, partly out of attraction to Susanna ("You're a handsome woman," he likes to repeat). Pride, jealousy, and rivalry make Duncan and Vallian uneasy allies and Conti's musical lilt is a marvelous contrast to Elliot's gravely drawl. Capshaw is somewhat colorless but comes to life in a surprising explosion of angry violence. The beautiful landscape culminates in a stunning meadow where the homesteaders find their cabin, a location that must be the closest thing to heaven on Earth, but for the devils still on their trail. --Sean Axmaker

Secret Agent (aka Danger Man) - The Complete Collection Megaset 2007

It was 1965 when American audiences first welcomed handsome principled secret agent John Drake (Patrick McGoohan of The Prisoner ) into their homes as CBS ran the unique spy series known as SECRET AGENT.Now at last John Drake s entire crime-solving career including the first season that aired only in the U.K. under the name Danger Man as well as all 47 episodes of the international hit Secret Agent is available in one unique collection. Each episode of this exciting spy thriller is complete and uncut and presented in the original broadcast order from the original Danger Man episodes through the two rarely seen color episodes of Secret Agent that provided a vivid finale to the long-running suspense thriller.The complete Secret Agent series including the first season that aired only in the U.K. is now available togther for the first time in one high-margin 18-disc set.Features all 86 episodes from the SECRET AGENT A.K.A. DANGER MAN series at a 50% discount from buying the Danger Man and Secret Agent Megaset™ collections separatelyStarring the Emmy® Award-winning Patrick McGoohan (The Prisoner ). Special Features: Patrick McGoohan Biography/Filmography WComplete Full-Length Original U.S. Opening Featuring SecretAgent Man Sung by Johnny Rivers WPhoto GallerySystem Requirements:Run Time: 3420 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC: 733961768589 Manufacturer No: AAE-76858

Secret Agent AKA Danger Man, Set 1

Danger Man first aired in 1960 as a half-hour spy program on British television. Phenomenally popular, it returned in England in 1964 as an hour-long series that CBS imported in 1965 for prime-time programming. Taking heed of the James Bond craze and the ratings success of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., the show was renamed Secret Agent.

This collection contains six vintage 1964 episodes. Patrick McGoohan stars as John Drake, who is dispatched around the globe to quell cold war intrigue. Danger Man was a gritty spy series, relying more on realistic stories of espionage than on the gadgets and beautiful women popularized by 007. The episode "Yesterday's Enemies" is particularly brutal and cynical, as an increasingly conflicted Drake travels to Beirut to uncover a traitorous former British spy's network of double agents. In "Fair Exchange," Drake races to stop a relentless fellow agent from killing the East German secret policeman who tortured her. In "No Marks for Servility," the often undisciplined Drake must pose as "the perfect English butler" to a ruthless blackmailer and extortionist. Also included in this collection are "The Battle of the Cameras," "A Room in the Basement," and "Fish on the Hook." --Donald Liebenson

Before there was The Prisoner, there was Secret Agent. American audiences welcomed handsome secret agent John Drake (Patrick McGoohan) into their homes when CBS ran the unique spy series known as Secret Agent (originally titled Danger Man in the U.K.) in 1965. The show was the epitome of cool, with its now famous theme song ("Secret Agent Man," sung by the indomitable Johnny Rivers) reaching No. 3 on the Pop Charts. Enjoy the first 6 hour-long episodes as broadcast in the U.S. of this exciting international spy thriller, digitally restored and uncut.
Episodes: The Battle of the Cameras, A Room in the Basement, Fair Exchange, Fish on the Hook, No Marks for Servility, Yesterday's Enemies.

Secret Agent AKA Danger Man, Set 4

The Man With Bogart's Face

Nostalgic send-up of Bogart detective films of the '40s boasts a spot-on impression of the famous star by Robert Sacchi, who made a career doing mostly the same. (That's him in the Robert Zemeckis-helmed "You, Murderer" episode from Tales from the Crypt). The premise is that Sacchi plays a retired cop who gets plastic surgery to make himself look like Bogart, and then sets up shop as a private dick named Sam Marlow. But the plot is really just an excuse to pay tribute to Bogart's detective films. Sacchi's channeling of Bogie is so uncanny you'll be positively mesmerized for about 30 minutes. And that's the problem. While this amiable pastiche might help while away the evening in nostalgic reverie, it does a major disservice to the films it appears to idolize. That's the problem with nostalgia: it usually jettisons all the depth and complexity of the original, leaving an indistinct fifth-generation clone, a fuzzy Xerox of a Xerox of a Xerox. So when the novelty of the flick begins to wane, there's only the plot to fall back on for interest. And the plot is only there to have something upon which to hang references to Bogart flicks. The story largely mirrors The Maltese Falcon, with the great whatsit, the things dreams are made of, being a pair of sapphires known as the "eyes of Alexander." The cast is composed of simulacra of past film greats: Gene Tierney (Michelle Phillips), Sidney Greenstreet (Victor Buono), and Peter Lorre (Herbert Lom)--not so successful, that last one. --Jim Gay

Secret Agent AKA Danger Man, Set 5

She [Region 2]

Secret Agent AKA Danger Man, Set 3

Much like the U.S. series The Man From U.N.C.L.E., this cool, clever cold war spy show is built on elaborate espionage shell games and diplomatic chicanery, and Patrick McGoohan's John Drake is the ingenious con man behind the bluffs and feints. The eight episodes on set 3 feature the usual array of plots pulled off with tongue-in-cheek charm--the nationalistic fervor of "Have a Glass of Wine" turns espionage into a veritable sporting event between spies, and in "You're Not in Any Trouble, Are You?" Drake gets to the bottom of a murder for hire ring by taking out a hit on himself. But the humor is interspersed with more ambivalent episodes. "That's Two of Us Sorry" offers up a casualty of the cold war mentality, and the assassins school of "Such Men Are Dangerous" rings with an undercurrent of fascism. For sheer invention, "The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove" delivers a mind game worthy of The Prisoner's Number 2. The set also features "A Man to Be Trusted," "The Affair at Castelevara," and "Don't Nail Him Yet."

The episodes feature the complete British cuts, with the Danger Man title and bouncy spinet theme song, but if you miss the Johnny Rivers theme song from the American version of the show, just click to the supplements and you can enjoy the U.S. credits as well as a still gallery and a biography and filmography of star Patrick McGoohan. --Sean Axmaker

Secret Agent AKA Danger Man, Set 2

Before he was the title character in The Prisoner, Patrick McGoohan was the suave, smooth British intelligence agent John Drake in Danger Man (Secret Agent in the U.S.), Britain's cool and clever cold war espionage series. The eight episodes on Set 2 dabble in darker themes than the shows in the more playful Set 1: the coercion of a defector to return ("The Professionals"), the destabilization of a Latin American government ("Whatever Happened to George Foster"), and a conspiracy surrounding an attempted coup on the eve of elections in an African nation ("The Galloping Major"). For Prisoner fans, however, the highlight is easily "The Colony." This spy school behind the Iron Curtain has a twist: it's an exact replica of a British town with captive citizens. In this episode you can see the inspiration for "Your Village" (as well as an unusually ambivalent conclusion). The spy game is no longer lighthearted gentleman's sport. Also features the episodes "A Date With Doris," "The Mirror's New," "It's Up to the Lady," and "The Colonel's Daughter."

The uncut episodes feature the complete British versions, with the Danger Man title and bouncy spinet theme song. But if you miss the Johnny Rivers theme song from the American version of the show, just click to the supplements and you can enjoy the U.S. credits as well as a still gallery and a biography and filmography of star Patrick McGoohan. --Sean Axmaker

China Rose