Round Table - Sorry I'm Late...

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

The Girls from Nazarone Affair is one of my favorites.  It has the style and atmosphere that made Season 1 so irresistible, and it has shots like this:


Arguably one of the most appealing photographs within the series is this table side discussion between our heroes.  Illya, with drink in hand contemplates what his partner is telling him regarding the ominous activities of Dr. Egret and her blonde assassins. Each of them will meet with some type of danger, and as I watched the episode this past week, I wondered if the writers turned Kuryakin into the physically agile, human monkey that he sometimes is? Or did David McCallum's natural athleticism inspire scenes like him being thrown to the bottom of a well and climbing straight up and out of it?
Would they have ever put him on a stationary bicycle to peddle his way to exhaustion, as they did Napoleon?  And again, once Solo and the innocent are tied to rafts and left to die it is Illya who dives (with very good form, by the way), into the pool and saves them both.
Someone may know definitively how it all came about, but I'm still wondering if it was a natural evolution or just what seemed right to those in charge of scripting such things.
Anyone?

Comments

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

I recall reading somewhere that David pushed to be able to do more of his own stunts and worked with the stuntmen at creating his moves. He took Ju-Jitsu lessons, and in his younger years he was on a swim team. (I think) He was, after all, instrumental in the development of the 'mysterious' Illya Kuryakin character. So him being in the water a lot made sense...give the fact that Robert couldn't swim.

It would make sense that David would have been involved in Illya's athleticism as well.

Robert Vaughn has always come across as more cerebral, and a make love not war kind of person. So his stunt work parallel that, (I think) less athletic and requiring minimal movement and effort. He remained the suave and smooth moving guy.

Though when David had him doing his own stunt work added to his contract, I believe Robert was miffed about that and made sure the same clause was added to his...even though he didn't do a lot of stunts from what I gather.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

I know someone's going to say Vaughn ran track or something, but he has a number of physical gaffes; he misses a step getting into the little sports car in See Paris and Die, and periodically just comes off as awkward. Of course McCallum has his weird little sideways running thing... definitely not typical 'perfect' heroes.

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

David ran funny because of a congenital hip problem he had as a child and considering he was blind in one eye he did pretty darn good.

Handsome heroes, but back in the 60's the hero prototype wasn't what it is today.

[jantojones.livejournal.com]

Whatever the initial reason, the writers would have to have been stupid not to use such a natural resource. David was amazingly agile, so it made sense to utilise that talent.

(Thinking about it, he's still a very fit man. Maybe not as agile as 50 years ago, but for a man of 82 he's a lot fitter than I am.)

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

For an action series it figures the people in charge would need to take advantage of the athletic abilities of one or both actors. David's size, or lack of it, made him seem even more agile and bouyant. It amazes me how he can jump up on something and land with his feet tucked beneath him... I find it endearing.

[otherhawk.livejournal.com]

I have no idea what started it, but it also plays into the dynamic, doesn't it? Because Napoleon is left there in his immaculate suit, without a hair out of place and it just makes for a great contrast, in my opinion anyway.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

It is a peculiarity of the show that, regardless of what they've been into, Kuryakin comes out scruffy and dirty while Napoleon doesn't look as though he broke a sweat. And it works, and we love that Illya is the guy who doesn't mind getting his hands dirty in order to accomplish his task.

[lindafishes8.livejournal.com]

Re:Or did David McCallum's natural athleticism inspire scenes like him being thrown to the bottom of a well and climbing straight up and out of it?

I think you've hit the nail on the head here. I watched the well scene over and over. It seems as though it was filmed in an actual well! David fell to the bottom and how he didn't get hurt, I have no idea. The scene in Foxes and Hounds where he jumps off a concrete staircase and landed on concrete like a cat was done without a stunt double. That scene had to be written because of his athleticism.

David mentioned when he was older how he was constantly choreographing scenes on MFU. He also said he and Fred were working on a scene they devised together but never filmed because the series was cancelled.

[otherhawk.livejournal.com]

You know, between that and the number of times that they threw Robert Vaughn in the water, you have to wonder whether the writers had taken life insurance policies out on the two of them....