The Spy With My Face

Artist: Other
Format: UK Quad (30"x 40")
Condition: Excellent
Year: 1965

Description

Given the success of “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” television series that originally aired in 1964, it is no surprise that film adaptations were also quickly released. MGM and the producers of the show filmed extra footage of two episodes of the first season and made a deliberate attempt to include more Bond-like and adult themes. With added sex, violence, sub-plots and guest stars, the two films, “To Trap a Spy” (1964) and “The Spy with My Face” (1965), were released in early 1966 in the US as an U.N.C.L.E. double feature program.

The James Bond influence is clearly noticeable in the UK Quad poster shown here. Complete with guns, girls and stars Robert Vaughn and David McCallum dressed in suave tuxedos, the resemblance to many of the early Bond Quad posters is clear. See the poster for “From Russia With Love” (1963), shown below courtesy of www.fiskenposter.com, as a good example of this.

Colour also played an important role in the poster design with the tones of the women’s dresses and the red and purple background proving striking. There was a deliberate effort in the marketing to promote the fact that “To Trap a Spy” and “The Spy with My Face” were to be shown in colour unlike the television series which was broadcast in black and white. This was regarded as a key selling point for the films and was highlighted in both posters (see the Quad for “To Trap a Spy” below courtesy of emovieposter.com). In both designs text was included along the top referencing ‘big-screen’ and ‘colour’ just to put emphasis on this new way of watching the series.

Though the U.N.C.L.E series of eight Quad posters (1964-68) cannot match the collectability of the 1960's Bonds, they present some powerful imagery & have a consistency of design that makes them an attractive series to collect.