The last of the eight theatrical features produced out of the "Man From U.N.C.L.E" TV series, "How To Steal The World" has some unusually (God) complex villains, some intelligent dialogue ("You pursue a merciful ideal....mercilessly"), and some thought-provoking ideas, but it suffers from a plodding pace, some technical faults in a few of the action scenes, certain not very well-explained parts of the ambitious plot (just how do they plan to make sure that every last person on earth inhales the "docility gas"?), and the sensation that the two leads, Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, do not seem to be fully engaged to the proceedings; there is hardly any of their customary byplay. ** out of 4.
7 Reviews
Just about watchable
coltras3512 August 2021
Solo and Kuryakin follow a dangerous trail searching for the answer to a baffling mystery that begins with the disappearance of a key U. N. C. L. E. Agent. In Hong Kong they seek a clue from his wife and are soon caught between two enemy camps - each a threat to the future of the world ... The battle of wits between the menfromU. N. C. L. E. And THRUSH continues in the high Himalayas.
The U. N. C. L. E. Feature films are made out from episodes, and they all flow well and don't look out of place, however, How to Steal the world, looks disjointed, lacks plot clarity, the pace plods, but most of all lacks the sense of fun and humour that gave the films/series its charm. It's the weakest U. N. C. L. E. Film, though Eleanor Parker and Barry Sullivan ( has some intelligent dialogue) prep up the proceedings to a degree, and Robert Vaughn and David McCallum are at their heroic best, though they're lacking the quips, the interplay. Still, it's just about watchable with a thought-provoking idea and some good action at the end.
The U. N. C. L. E. Feature films are made out from episodes, and they all flow well and don't look out of place, however, How to Steal the world, looks disjointed, lacks plot clarity, the pace plods, but most of all lacks the sense of fun and humour that gave the films/series its charm. It's the weakest U. N. C. L. E. Film, though Eleanor Parker and Barry Sullivan ( has some intelligent dialogue) prep up the proceedings to a degree, and Robert Vaughn and David McCallum are at their heroic best, though they're lacking the quips, the interplay. Still, it's just about watchable with a thought-provoking idea and some good action at the end.
How to succeed in conquering the world and making a campy film at the same time.
mark.waltz3 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
A job well done Eleanor Parker says in this compilation of a two-part episode that ended the series, and indeed, it is not quite a job well done but an amusing one at least. They really went overboard in some campy casting with the life of over-the-top performances by Parker, Leslie Nielsen, Ruth Warrick. Hugh Marlowe and Peter Mark Richman, among others. Parker is the wife of Barry Sullivan, one of the agents from Robert Vaughn and David McCallum's agency, suddenly involved in a plot to take over the world along with Nielsen, of course making the audience laugh simply through his serious presence, a ridiculous plotline that really doesn't get going until halfway through the film. That's when the red robes appear which is one of the campiest costumes in TV history.
Inger Stratton as a young ingenue here seems like Georgia Engle's long-lost sister with her barely able to hear voice, and Warrick is the wife of scientist Dan O'Herlihy who is kidnapped by Nielsen, Sullivan and his gang right in front of her and their son Tony Bill. For some reason, Warrick's hair is dyed an odd shade of red so she looks closer to Myrtle Fairgate than her "All My Children" character of Phoebe Tyler. This film is action-packed but full of silliness, and it definitely is entertaining enough to pass 90 minutes without becoming cumbersome. But it's also not very challenging, unless you consider stifling a laugh in serious moments to be a challenge.
Inger Stratton as a young ingenue here seems like Georgia Engle's long-lost sister with her barely able to hear voice, and Warrick is the wife of scientist Dan O'Herlihy who is kidnapped by Nielsen, Sullivan and his gang right in front of her and their son Tony Bill. For some reason, Warrick's hair is dyed an odd shade of red so she looks closer to Myrtle Fairgate than her "All My Children" character of Phoebe Tyler. This film is action-packed but full of silliness, and it definitely is entertaining enough to pass 90 minutes without becoming cumbersome. But it's also not very challenging, unless you consider stifling a laugh in serious moments to be a challenge.
"The final spin-off"
jamesraeburn20033 March 2004
How To Steal The World was the eighth and final spin-off from "The Man From UNCLE" spy series. It was compiled from the final episodes of the series, "The Seven Wonders Of The World Affair" (part one: 8/01/1968) and (part two: 15/01/1968). The story began life as a single episode but was stretched to feature length so that producer Norman Felton could release another theatrical movie overseas. As with the others, the TV version was not aired in the countries where the movie was released such as Britain.
Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuriyakin link the abduction of various VIP's with a plot to dominate the world. The mastermind behind it is Robert Kingsley (Barry Sullivan) an ex-UNCLE agent who plans to end all evil by launching a docility gas that Dr Kurt Erikson (Albert Paulsen),a top bio-chemist has developed with the help of the abducted VIP's.
All in all, How To Steal The World is a disappointment and clearly shows that it was padded out from a one-hour episode to make a feature film. The plot is lacklustre and its absurdities do not carry the same weight here as they did in its predecessors mainly because the tongue-in-cheek chemistry between Vaughn and McCallam, which made the series so popular has faded. Even Barry Sullivan's villain, Robert Kingsley, is a poorly conceived part as he seems like a big softy compared to his predecessors such as Luther Sebastian (Bradford Dillman) in "The Helicopter Spies" (1967). The supporting cast includes a young Leslie Nielsen who offers the best acting as an ex-army general who will go to any lengths to protect Kingsley's scheme even if it means killing people and both he and Kingsley are always colliding over each other's different ways of dealing with saboteurs.
Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuriyakin link the abduction of various VIP's with a plot to dominate the world. The mastermind behind it is Robert Kingsley (Barry Sullivan) an ex-UNCLE agent who plans to end all evil by launching a docility gas that Dr Kurt Erikson (Albert Paulsen),a top bio-chemist has developed with the help of the abducted VIP's.
All in all, How To Steal The World is a disappointment and clearly shows that it was padded out from a one-hour episode to make a feature film. The plot is lacklustre and its absurdities do not carry the same weight here as they did in its predecessors mainly because the tongue-in-cheek chemistry between Vaughn and McCallam, which made the series so popular has faded. Even Barry Sullivan's villain, Robert Kingsley, is a poorly conceived part as he seems like a big softy compared to his predecessors such as Luther Sebastian (Bradford Dillman) in "The Helicopter Spies" (1967). The supporting cast includes a young Leslie Nielsen who offers the best acting as an ex-army general who will go to any lengths to protect Kingsley's scheme even if it means killing people and both he and Kingsley are always colliding over each other's different ways of dealing with saboteurs.
A sad way to end an "Affair."
Victor Field12 September 2001
"How to Steal the World" was the last of eight (!) movies MGM culled from "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." and released to cinemas outside North America, and in fact it was put together from the final story of the series (the two-part episode "The Seven Wonders Of The World Affair"). Alas, even if you didn't know it was from the last episodes you could tell the end was near - neither Vaughn nor McCallum has his heart in this latest U.N.C.L.E. vs T.H.R.U.S.H. escapade, and indeed no one else (except for Leslie Nielsen) can be bothered to act with conviction. Limply written and directed, and with Jerry Goldsmith conspicuously absent from the credits for his theme, this is a depressing experience all round. (Mind you, so was the fourth season of the show.) Stick with the other seven ersatz movies.
The Episode Nobody Wanted (For A Good Reason)
aimless-466 November 2007
Every long-running television series has an episode (sometimes several) that got red-lighted after the first rough edit and never broadcast. "The Seven Wonders of the World Affair" a/k/a "How to Steal the World" (1968) started out as "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." episode with this dubious honor. Unfortunately the footage was placed in storage rather than destroyed; then once the series had been notified of its cancellation (in the middle of its fourth season) and could not be hurt by such a bad episode; the original footage was resurrected, reassembled, expanded, and broadcast.
And since the ill-conceived episode was not needed as a tax write-off, the producers decided to expand it into feature length and give it a theatrical release overseas. They had already enjoyed success with the technique, releasing all the two-part episodes in a similar manner (although unlike this one these others had been originally intended to be double the one-hour running time). In any case the dusted off version ran for two weeks in late 1967 on US television; as the last two episodes of the series. This allowed the series to go out with a whimper; few cared at the time because the counterculture revolution ("Bonnie and Clyde" "The Graduate" etc.) had made the spy premise pretty much irrelevant.
"The Seven Wonders of the World Affair" feels more like a "Star Trek" episode or even "Logan's Run" than anything to do with U.N.C.L.E. They were building the new terminal at LAX at the time and were able to shoot most of the original footage at the building site. It probably looked futuristic in 1966-67, but looks extremely lame today (and probably looked moronic by 1968 when people would have recognized it as the new airport). The el-cheapo production design is not helped by the use of really ill-matched stock footage; some so scratched that it is quite laughable.
The episode inexplicably lacks what had been the two main strengths of the series; the banter between Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, and the casting of many of Hollywood's hottest young starlets in substantial supporting roles.
The premise is the standard idealistic scientist (Barry Sullivan) whose discovery (a gas that makes people peaceful and less aggressive) is about to be misused by evil people. In this case T.H.R.U.S.H. The only thing to watch for is late 1940's-early 50's film star Eleanor Parker, who plays Sullivan's wife, who just happens to be in league with T.H.R.U.S.H. Parker is extremely talented and somehow manages to breathe a bit of life into the lame script. And she has one cool scene where her head is pressed against the top of a glass table; the camera shoots her face from below-distorted by the glass.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
And since the ill-conceived episode was not needed as a tax write-off, the producers decided to expand it into feature length and give it a theatrical release overseas. They had already enjoyed success with the technique, releasing all the two-part episodes in a similar manner (although unlike this one these others had been originally intended to be double the one-hour running time). In any case the dusted off version ran for two weeks in late 1967 on US television; as the last two episodes of the series. This allowed the series to go out with a whimper; few cared at the time because the counterculture revolution ("Bonnie and Clyde" "The Graduate" etc.) had made the spy premise pretty much irrelevant.
"The Seven Wonders of the World Affair" feels more like a "Star Trek" episode or even "Logan's Run" than anything to do with U.N.C.L.E. They were building the new terminal at LAX at the time and were able to shoot most of the original footage at the building site. It probably looked futuristic in 1966-67, but looks extremely lame today (and probably looked moronic by 1968 when people would have recognized it as the new airport). The el-cheapo production design is not helped by the use of really ill-matched stock footage; some so scratched that it is quite laughable.
The episode inexplicably lacks what had been the two main strengths of the series; the banter between Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, and the casting of many of Hollywood's hottest young starlets in substantial supporting roles.
The premise is the standard idealistic scientist (Barry Sullivan) whose discovery (a gas that makes people peaceful and less aggressive) is about to be misused by evil people. In this case T.H.R.U.S.H. The only thing to watch for is late 1940's-early 50's film star Eleanor Parker, who plays Sullivan's wife, who just happens to be in league with T.H.R.U.S.H. Parker is extremely talented and somehow manages to breathe a bit of life into the lame script. And she has one cool scene where her head is pressed against the top of a glass table; the camera shoots her face from below-distorted by the glass.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
Not with a bang, but with a whimper
frhall-3765911 November 2020
As a kid I absolutely loved The Man From UNCLE. That being said this "movie" is horrible. It was cobbled together from the last two episodes of the series that were not shown on TV. It's apparent that everyone involved were aware that the series had been cancelled because no one was really trying. Not the
writers, director or actors. Stuff just didn't make sense. Napoleon and Ilya walk into an obvious trap and are surprised when they are captured. For no apparent reason the members of the evil cabal are wearing monks robes. The traitorous general carries a riding crop. Really, a riding crop? What an ignominious end to a once entertaining series.
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