Man In A Suitcase

1948-present

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Mr. Mike
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Man In A Suitcase

#1 Post by Mr. Mike »

I chose one episode of this late 1960s British series to review, having become fed up with Ironside, but was equally disappointed. The following description comes from the show's Wikipedia article.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_in_a_Suitcase

Man in a Suitcase was effectively a replacement for Danger Man, whose production had been curtailed when its star Patrick McGoohan had decided to create his own series, The Prisoner. Many of the Danger Man production crew moved over to Man in a Suitcase, which was initially to be titled McGill after its lead character. As with several ITC productions, the series was to use an American star in an attempt to boost the show's sales in the US. An early choice was Jack Lord, but the part of McGill eventually went to Richard Bradford, a method actor who was spotted after appearing opposite Marlon Brando in the 1966 movie The Chase.

McGill was a former US intelligence agent, who had been forced to resign from the service six years before the opening episode, having been practically accused of treason. Unable to clear his name or return to the US, McGill makes ends meet by working as a travelling private detective and bounty hunter based in Britain, living out of his suitcase (hence the title). His cases generally took him to different parts of Europe, and on a couple of occasions to Africa.

==========

The Wikipedia article discusses the pilot episode, providing back story for McGill, the show's main character.

I have some comments of my own on the episode I watched at the end of the one episode I did review, which is mostly a description of the plot.

http://www.mjq.net/suitcase

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ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)
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Re: Man In A Suitcase

#2 Post by ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan) »

Mr. Mike wrote: Wed Apr 17, 2024 4:16 pm I chose one episode of this late 1960s British series to review, having become fed up with Ironside, but was equally disappointed. The following description comes from the show's Wikipedia article.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_in_a_Suitcase

Man in a Suitcase was effectively a replacement for Danger Man, whose production had been curtailed when its star Patrick McGoohan had decided to create his own series, The Prisoner. Many of the Danger Man production crew moved over to Man in a Suitcase, which was initially to be titled McGill after its lead character. As with several ITC productions, the series was to use an American star in an attempt to boost the show's sales in the US. An early choice was Jack Lord, but the part of McGill eventually went to Richard Bradford, a method actor who was spotted after appearing opposite Marlon Brando in the 1966 movie The Chase.

McGill was a former US intelligence agent, who had been forced to resign from the service six years before the opening episode, having been practically accused of treason. Unable to clear his name or return to the US, McGill makes ends meet by working as a travelling private detective and bounty hunter based in Britain, living out of his suitcase (hence the title). His cases generally took him to different parts of Europe, and on a couple of occasions to Africa.

==========

The Wikipedia article discusses the pilot episode, providing back story for McGill, the show's main character.

I have some comments of my own on the episode I watched at the end of the one episode I did review, which is mostly a description of the plot.

http://www.mjq.net/suitcase
I've heard of this show before, mostly because its title is kinda funny. :) Like, what's that all about?? But of course it's about a man living out of a suitcase. Oh, and he's a SPY! :) But that's about it for me. I remember Richard Bradford in the 1987 Brian DePalma flick THE UNTOUCHABLES.

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Mr. Mike
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Re: Man In A Suitcase

#3 Post by Mr. Mike »

I think the title of this show should have been "Man Living Out Of A Suitcase."

Richard Bradford actually had a career which included quite a few movies and TV shows, check IMDb.

On one of the two DVD sets of the show, there is an interview with Bradford (who passed away in 2016) talking about his experience working on this English series, which was not particularly positive.

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Luther's nephew Dobie
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Re: Man In A Suitcase

#4 Post by Luther's nephew Dobie »

Mr. Mike wrote: Wed Apr 17, 2024 4:16 pm I chose one episode of this late 1960s British series to review, having become fed up with Ironside, but was equally disappointed. The following description comes from the show's Wikipedia article.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_in_a_Suitcase

Man in a Suitcase was effectively a replacement for Danger Man, whose production had been curtailed when its star Patrick McGoohan had decided to create his own series, The Prisoner. Many of the Danger Man production crew moved over to Man in a Suitcase, which was initially to be titled McGill after its lead character. As with several ITC productions, the series was to use an American star in an attempt to boost the show's sales in the US. An early choice was Jack Lord, but the part of McGill eventually went to Richard Bradford, a method actor who was spotted after appearing opposite Marlon Brando in the 1966 movie The Chase.

McGill was a former US intelligence agent, who had been forced to resign from the service six years before the opening episode, having been practically accused of treason. Unable to clear his name or return to the US, McGill makes ends meet by working as a travelling private detective and bounty hunter based in Britain, living out of his suitcase (hence the title). His cases generally took him to different parts of Europe, and on a couple of occasions to Africa.
==========
The Wikipedia article discusses the pilot episode, providing back story for McGill, the show's main character.
I have some comments of my own on the episode I watched at the end of the one episode I did review, which is mostly a description of the plot.
http://www.mjq.net/suitcase
Thank you for your linked review. I had never heard of "Man in a Suitcase" before, but from your description I don't think I have missed anything. The post colonial stuff
doesn't sound as if it has aged well. I'd rather go watch The Persuaders again, which Magnum Mania has a thread about, started by the greatly missed Little Garwood.

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ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)
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Re: Man In A Suitcase

#5 Post by ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan) »

Luther's nephew Dobie wrote: Thu May 02, 2024 5:04 am
Mr. Mike wrote: Wed Apr 17, 2024 4:16 pm I chose one episode of this late 1960s British series to review, having become fed up with Ironside, but was equally disappointed. The following description comes from the show's Wikipedia article.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_in_a_Suitcase

Man in a Suitcase was effectively a replacement for Danger Man, whose production had been curtailed when its star Patrick McGoohan had decided to create his own series, The Prisoner. Many of the Danger Man production crew moved over to Man in a Suitcase, which was initially to be titled McGill after its lead character. As with several ITC productions, the series was to use an American star in an attempt to boost the show's sales in the US. An early choice was Jack Lord, but the part of McGill eventually went to Richard Bradford, a method actor who was spotted after appearing opposite Marlon Brando in the 1966 movie The Chase.

McGill was a former US intelligence agent, who had been forced to resign from the service six years before the opening episode, having been practically accused of treason. Unable to clear his name or return to the US, McGill makes ends meet by working as a travelling private detective and bounty hunter based in Britain, living out of his suitcase (hence the title). His cases generally took him to different parts of Europe, and on a couple of occasions to Africa.
==========
The Wikipedia article discusses the pilot episode, providing back story for McGill, the show's main character.
I have some comments of my own on the episode I watched at the end of the one episode I did review, which is mostly a description of the plot.
http://www.mjq.net/suitcase
Thank you for your linked review. I had never heard of "Man in a Suitcase" before, but from your description I don't think I have missed anything. The post colonial stuff
doesn't sound as if it has aged well. I'd rather go watch The Persuaders again, which Magnum Mania has a thread about, started by the greatly missed Little Garwood.
This kind of sounds a little like THE PRISONER (with McGoohan, a show I've never seen anyway) and I even saw some clips that show Bradford in some kind of weird house where every room he opens reveals a mirror that he keeps bumping into or some kind of screen projection with someone threatening to shoot him or something. Very weird 60s psychedelic stuff. Brainwashing stuff. I believe that was the gist of THE PRISONER and from the description of it (where everyone was brainwashed and kept in some kind of village and had to conform) it never appealed to me. Seemed a bit too far out there. Maybe too TWILIGHT ZONE for a spy show. Actually MAN IN A SUITCASE in comparison comes across as more realistic and not so far out there. So it would probably be more to my liking.

I have yet to really delve into those late 60s British TV productions (sometimes with American stars). I tried a few AVENGERS episodes (the classics with MacNee and Rigg) and they didn't really appeal to me. I've been meaning to check out some episodes of THE SAINT (being a big Roger Moore Bond fan) and maybe I will at some point but for whatever reason I tend to gravitate towards American TV productions of the 60s and 70s. Though when it comes to action/adventure in film I think the Bond films are still tops for me!! Though I guess they're not strictly British productions. Cubby Broccoli was Italian-American and Harry Saltzman was Canadian. Though the crew and cast was largely British. But overall they were very much an international production and the money certainly was up there on the screen!

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