Man from Uncle-MGM TV

Posted on by Phantom of the Backlot
Two men dressed in suits, holding guns and posing in a dramatic manner, with a logo that reads 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' in stylized font.
A black and white scene featuring three men in a control room filled with electronic equipment. One man stands to the left wearing a suit and tie, another man is seated in the center looking surprised, and the third man stands to the right holding a gun and wearing a serious expression.
Aerial view of a complex with multiple buildings, surrounded by residential homes and roads.

The MGM sets most used by the TV Series-Man from U.N.C.L.E

A detailed map featuring various streets and locations such as Copperfield Court, Wimpole Street, Park Avenue, and Eastside Street. The map includes numbered sections and labeled streets.

Block 37- UNCLE Headquarters- Block 35 (Singing in the Rain)- (American in Paris)= sets

A young boy, wearing a checkered suit, stands against a background of greenery, with the text overlay reading 'Guest Star Kurt RUSSELL as Christopher Larson'.
A serious-looking man in a suit is showing a small object to a young boy dressed in a plaid suit, both standing in front of a window with a brick wall behind them.
A young boy with short hair smiles while holding a small box, engaging with an adult man in a suit, seated in an airplane cabin.

1964- MGM Lot 3 episode-“The Finny Foot Affair” Kurt was 13. Aired Dec 1-1964-Directed by Marc Daniels. Classic TV with a classic director…

Text listing significant television series directed, including 'I Love Lucy', 'Star Trek: The Original Series', and other notable shows.
and -Man From Uncle…(The Shark Affair)-Episode 4- first season. (The Finny Foot Affair)-episode 10. (The Secret Sceptre Affair)-episode 19. (The Love Affair) -episode 26…All first season.
A vintage movie poster for John Carpenter's 'Escape from L.A.', featuring a male character with an eye patch in a dramatic pose, surrounded by various other characters in action scenes, with a backdrop of flames and the Hollywood sign.

This guy is that kid–Kurt Russell-The busiest kid in showbiz. I met him on “Escape From L.A’ and he is like a grown up kid playing Snake Plissken with a patch covering his eye. ShowBiz Kids-nothing quite like it!- John Carpenter was the Director John Carpenter handled the Snake Plissken version of Kurt Russell.

Close-up portrait of a man with a serious expression, featuring dark hair and dressed in a black jacket, on the cover of TV Guide. The title reads 'TV Guide' with text referencing the show 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'
A retro comic book cover featuring a man in a suit holding a gun while ascending stairs, with bold text reading 'THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.' and a tagline about a Chinese puzzle.
A smiling man in a brown suit holding a small device to his ear, sitting in front of control panel buttons.

Napoleon Solo–

Black and white photograph of a city street featuring brownstone buildings with prominent staircases, street lamps, and a tree. The scene captures a nostalgic urban atmosphere.

Exactly the set prior to the fiery ending. Notice hand rails after fire scattered in debris.

Black and white photo of a vintage police van parked in front of a row of historical buildings with staircases and large windows.

I often saw Police on this lot- This vehicle is Big enough for me and my trespassing friends, even room for my dog.

Black and white photograph of the Charing Cross Club entrance, featuring sandbags piled around the doorway, a street lamp, and a post box on the sidewalk, dated April 17, 1964.

Directly across from fire- on Brownstone Street. A “zip cord” is tucked along curb to feed or energize the “street light” needed for a night scene.

A detailed stone relief featuring an eagle and two figures on either side, with ornate decorative elements above and below.

A close up I took of the crest above the Officers Quarters-a set used in Combat.

Interior view of a dilapidated building, showcasing broken windows and beams with sunlight streaming through, illuminating the dusty space.

Upstairs in this building on Brownstone. Notice the fire damaged front of this set. Below-those stairwells now occupied the Uncle Headquarters Brownstone area. Last filming was Soylent Green. The shootout between Charlton Heston and Chuck Connors took place below me in a cemetery. That cemetery was moved to 5 different locations while also being used in Young Frankenstein, Logan’s Run, and The Phantom of Hollywood to name a few. Originally located by Esther Williams pool.

Construction site showing wooden framework and support beams, with a view of buildings and equipment in the background.

Where those trailers are parked is Brownstone-1972. That open dirt area was the Brownstone Tenements and Waterfront Street, only the sidewalks, curbs and fire hydrants remain-5 years later. The white two story building is The Filmways Building- formerly-MGM Cartoon Building. A very important “save” by the responding fire departments. This was an expose of how to fight a backlot fire. The challenge of 4 story all wood buildings being extinguished without jumping elsewhere is slim to none. Sparks carry everywhere-blocks away – like fire flies. Everything in this picture is extremely flammable, like a book of matches.

A large, inflatable dome structure with a blue door, surrounded by people engaged in outdoor activities. A parked black vehicle is seen in front of the dome, and bicycles are nearby.

Soylent Green – this tent is set up on the old UNCLE Headquarters spot. Real studio employee bikes with big baskets used by various departments. This film fed the crew in the old backlot commissary. The backlot had its own commissary next to main gate on Overland.

Blurred industrial scene with buildings and parked cars under a hazy sunlight.

Backlot Commissary in front of that van. Pardon me-I’m hiding -peeking down N.Y Street-I was scared when I took this-so you know. A guard was located in close proximity, this was as close as I could get. A very scary hobby- so much can go wrong inside here. Thank God my mom constantly prayed for my safety.

View of an industrial archway leading to an outdoor area, with distant buildings visible through the opening.

Alley to Brownstone in 1977–What use to be all tenements–4 story building.

A dimly lit graveyard with old gravestones and a gothic building in the background, illuminated by a faint blue light.

Cemetery used in Soylent Green stands where Brownstone sets were. This was where Chuck Connors (The Rifleman) took on Charlton Heston (The Omega Man) in the memorable chase seen done in October 1972- Halloween Night!

Historical black and white photo of the American Red Cross Service Club, showing people sitting and standing on the steps, with vehicles parked nearby and buildings in the background.

Brownstone- tenements behind cars…

Black and white historical photograph of a street scene featuring buildings with banners and flags, including a Turkish flag and Soviet symbols, along with construction elements visible in the background.

Brownstone dressed for Comrade X-1940

A night view of a brownstone building with stairs leading to the entrance, featuring large windows with curtains. A vintage street lamp is illuminated on the sidewalk, adding a nostalgic atmosphere to the scene.

Night shot in daylight-the street is tarpped to block sun. Notice above the streetlight-a seem in the tarp job. The catwalks are the tallest perches on the backlot. This is where the owls overlook all things below. Daylight is cheaper for hourly employees, no night premiums. Much of MGM New York Street “night scenes” done in daylight. This is an example of how the studio can control their surroundings. Water pipes run up here in the catwalks for rain effects. Another advantage is- actors dislike working all night.

A black and white photograph looking up a wooden ladder towards a structure, with slats and supporting beams visible on either side.

This is the easy way up- ladders are another option. Rickety old 4 story ladders. You can’t be a grip, set lighting, or effects and be afraid of heights. Part of this catwalk burned down in 1967.

A black and white photograph depicting a street scene at night, featuring a storefront with a display window, street lamps, a fire hydrant, and signs indicating public transport services.

Used also in-several Twilight Zones…

A man and a woman engage in an intense conversation on a city street, with the man looking assertive and the woman appearing concerned.

Two men in suits stand facing each other in a crowded outdoor setting, appearing engaged in conversation, with several people walking in the background.
"A Penny for Your Thoughts" overlayed on an image of scattered coins.

“The Self-Improvement of Salvador Ross” and “A Penny for Your Thoughts”

A promotional poster for 'The Twilight Zone' episode titled 'The Jungle,' featuring a lion walking down a deserted street with vintage-style text listing the writer and director.
A man in a trench coat holding a rotary phone inside a phone booth, with a sign reading 'TELEPHONE' visible in the background.

” Yes – I need a cab…Quickly!” …”The Jungle” starring John Dehner

A vintage black and white photograph featuring a classic car parked on a cobblestone street in front of a stylized urban scene, including storefronts for a diner, ice cream parlor, and grill, with ornate street lamps and a historical building backdrop.

Brownstone Street MGM Lot 2- Uncle Headquarters location. Pre 1967 fire…The Blackboard Jungle.

Black and white image of a street scene featuring several brownstone buildings with stairs and railings. People can be seen walking on the sidewalk, and vintage cars are parked on the street.

The truck is a work truck – the cars are picture cars. Electrical rigging uses trucks like this. Cable is constantly being added and removed-24/7 Electric rigging took place striking and prepping sets. 3 shifts non-stop.

A black and white news image depicting a large fire engulfing a building structure with flames and smoke billowing, accompanied by firefighters working to control the blaze.

Then this happened- I was there with my dad. A former Tacoma Fire Man. We saw the smoke and rushed from Market Basket at Culver Center and ran over like first responders. My dad was so pumped up, I never got to see him fight fires in Tacoma, but this was the closest I would get to seeing him in action. We were right where this photo was taken- Next to the Filmways Building-MGM Cartoon Studio formerly. This is the Montana Parking lot for employees. The entire fence you see along Montana Avenue would be knocked down for full containment. A marvelous job limiting this fire to one square block. I would later in life see two entire New York Streets burn to the ground completely at Universal Studios.

A construction site featuring partially completed buildings, with scaffolding and an assortment of vehicles, including trucks, in a dusty landscape.

Brownstone Street, only the cobblestone street and sidewalk remain. Picture in 1979, 12 years post fire. The cars in background are wrecks from the TV series “CHiPS,” each night, crashed cars would be brought from various locations and disposed of here on lot 2. Each car heavily modified to protect “stunt drivers.” The backlot became a vehicle dumping ground. MGM also parked its fleet of outdated transportation. The Blue trailer behind the 40′ stake bed trailer is a star dressing room. No longer in use. Inside was a bed, a couch, closets and mirrors that light up. Air conditioned and luxurious, This is where T.V stars in the 60’s would be assigned. This very well could be a trailer used by the series “Man from U.N.C.L.E” for the lead actors. All the MGM transportation fleet was painted blue, truck wise. Just out of view is a 6 door luxurious car-white in color, with a lion logo and letters MGM. I can only imagine what this car has been privilege to!

Two men standing amidst rubble and debris in a black and white scene, with damaged structures and burnt materials surrounding them.
“We need a new Headquarters”–Almost exactly same angle as previous color pic-12 years later.
Two men examining an industrial site with visible damage and debris, under a cloudy sky.
A dog sitting in a grassy area in front of a derelict building site with scattered debris and construction materials.

What was Brownstone-That’s my highly trained to trespassing dog, here running from security -Tashka. “Lets get out of here!”

A view of a partially constructed and damaged building with brick and stone facades, showcasing broken windows and exposed structures, alongside a construction vehicle in the foreground.

Fire damage never repaired – the set across the way on the cobblestone street was used in (American in Paris.)

Movie poster for 'An American in Paris' featuring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron, showcasing a vibrant city backdrop and elegant costumes.

It’s Wonderful, It’s Marvelous, it’s MGM

A quaint street scene in a vintage town, showcasing charming buildings with tall chimneys and colorful signage, including a cinema and a café. Pedestrians and a flower cart add life to the picturesque atmosphere.
A matte painting accentuates the Paris that burned…Waterfront Street-the opposite side of Brownstone also burned down that Sunday afternoon.
A historical photograph showing a stone building facade with an arched entrance. Near the entrance, there are tables displaying various items, including paintings and decorative plates. The scene includes a person walking by and a couple of artists' easels.

American in Paris- Lot 2-Waterfront.

Historical street scene featuring vendors selling fruits and vegetables in baskets, with women dressed in traditional attire. A building with a decorative door is in the background.
Black and white image of a street scene featuring two buildings: one labeled 'CANDLE SHOP' and the other 'Dressmaking'. The buildings display vintage architecture with detailed brickwork and windows.
Historic black and white photograph of two buildings on Waterfront Street, labeled '459' and '460'. The left side features an upholstery store named 'Tribby's Polishers' with large windows, while the right has a dining establishment with a sign reading 'Dining Rooms' and a 'Early Morning Café' sign.
A man in a gray suit joyfully dancing in the rain, holding an umbrella and a hat, in front of a storefront with the sign 'Macy'.
Waterfront Street -My Art Department photos match doorways and windows. Always touch ups-awnings, signs, slight remodels – then bring in cars, horses etc. Set dressing is key for audience not to recognize (Singing in the Rain) is same set as-(American in Paris.) The most historic part of the lot for musicals.
A man dancing in the rain with an umbrella in front of the Mount Hollywood Art School, while a policeman watches from the side.
I danced here- the cobblestone street and sidewalks survived the fire, allowing my pals and I to live out this sequence. In 1974 I met Mr. Kelly on That’s Entertainment. He was so kind and genuine. I mentioned to him, “When it rains, we go on the backlot a sing the song -Singing in the Rain-while we dance, well more so just splash.” He gave me the biggest ear to ear grin-the one you see in his movies. I think we made his day-I didn’t wash my hands for a week after we shook hands and parted ways. My favorite MGM moment all time!
A man in a gray suit and hat joyfully dances and sings while holding an umbrella near a streetlamp, drenched in rain, with water pooling at his feet.
Waterfront Street 1955-Singing in the Rain
Historic black and white photograph of a street scene featuring a Western Union Telegraph sign, a trash bin, and a staircase leading to a brick building. The background includes lamp posts and an old car.

Waterfront Street-backside of U.N.C.L.E Headquarters – every picture has set lighting cables and a “spider box,” you got to have power to do…anything.

September 22, 1964

First Broadcast NBC. Secret Agents Napoleon Solo-and IIIya Kuryakin played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum work for a counter espionage law enforcement agency called U.N.C.L.E.

United Network Command for Law Enforcement, better known as U.N.C.L.E, and much easier to say.

This series completed its run Jan 15, 1968. It was part of a craze where a dozen imitators copied this Spy vs’s Spy format in 1966. Several episodes ended up in theaters as B-Movies or double features. MGM also did a spin off-(The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.)

Comic books and novelties sprung up in the merchandise world. Lunch pales were hot sellers. (Tom and Jerry) did a pastiche of this series in cartoon form. Titled (The Mouse from H.U.N.G.E.R) -1967. That same year a the fire burned the set down. Ironically, the Cartoon Building almost burned down the same year they made this cartoon. The narrative was to steal a refrigerator full of cheese from evil mastermind “Tom Thrush.”

U.N.C.L.E completed 105 episodes in 4 seasons.

Props from the series are exhibited in The Ronald Reagan Museum and The Museum of the Central Intelligence Agency. The series won a Golden Globe Award in 1966. Creator Sam Wolfe wanted to leave the title ambiguous-referring to Uncle Sam or The United Nations but the MGM legal department got involved saying “we can’t use the acronym ‘U.N’ for commercial purposes”. So U.N.C.L.E was considered the safe way to present this. The credits refer to “We wish to thank” acknowledgement in the U.N.C.L.E end titles.

More legal stuff…

“Solo” was not allowed by Ian Fleming – belonging to James Bond features and Albert Broccoli demanded the series drop the (SOLO) reference. At that time-(Goldfinger) was in production with a character named Mr. Solo. Ian Fleming had to sign an affidavit that nothing in the U.N.C.L.E pilot infringed on Bond characters. A sticky mess indeed in the battle of…SPY vs Spy.

The original Pilot was (SOLO) – not- Man from U.N.C.L.E-so an agreement was made to change title from SOLO-to- Man from U.N.C.L.E. Fittingly (Goldfinger) the movie who had “Mr. Solo” character it. Ironically, (Goldfinger )and (TheMan from U.N.C.L.E) debuted only a few days apart from each other in September 1964.

The Girl from U.N.C.L.E

Starring Stephanie Powers, this brief series aired for one season-September 13,1966 to April 11, 1967. Agent April Dancer, that character name was not challenged by Albert Broccoli or any “Dancers” in the world in their one year on NBC. 29 episodes. Despite cross promoting these two MGM series, they failed to build an audience and was a factor in cancellation of (The Man from U.N.C.L.E) series.

A female character from 'The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.' holds a pink toy gun, wearing a black turtleneck and a pinstripe suit, set against a green background with a globe graphic.
A retro poster for 'The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.' featuring a woman in a bright yellow outfit holding a firearm while leaning against a vintage car, with a vibrant red background.

United Network Command For Law Enforcement…U.N.C.L.E- This series could and should return, reengineered – Artificial Intelligence spin…A.I.-U.N.C.LE. Something I would actually watch.

A young woman in a sleeveless top and mini skirt stands confidently with a toy gun in her hand, posing in front of a textured wall.
A woman with dark hair and makeup, holding a retro communication device and looking intently at the camera.
Black and white vintage image featuring a man holding a gun surrounded by four women, posed in a retro control room setting.
Written and Lived by…Donnie Norden
Promotional image for the event 'The Phantom Returns', featuring the text about a free show at the Culver City Historical Society on July 28th at 7pm. Includes a vintage sign 'KEEP OUT' from Culver City Studios and various historical images from the Desilu/40 Acres Backlot.

No -Risk, No-Reward…Here’s your invitation into my world, see ya there!

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Published by Phantom of the Backlot

They called me the "phantom of the backlot." Join me on my adventures through the historic and celebrated MGM studios, in Culver City, during the height of its glory.

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