After 11 days of shooting and nearly over two years of planning the band Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling recreated the opening sequence from The Prisoner in modern day Boston (and surrounding areas). For a comparison here’s the original:

And here’s the band live rockin’ in their very cool matching McGoohan outfits:

Be seeing you!

Photos by Rachel Leah Blumenthal.

In 1962 Sean Connery stars in Dr. No and the spy genre takes over the world of entertainment. Within ten short years several more Bond films follows and a host of second rates clones follow — from TV shows like The Saint to comedy films like Matt Helm. In the swinging 60s the two things that make the spy genre special are guns and go go girls: Bond has a license to kill and the spy genre wouldn’t be what it was without the sex and violence.

During this era Patrick McGoohan was a successful actor as the star of Danger Man which ran as Secret Agent Man in the United States. But after a few years McGoohan grew tired of the show and was offered the chance to do something new by Lew Grade of ITC Entertainment. So McGoohan gave his pitch — and it was pure genius:

First we start off with a secret agent character who doesn’t carry a gun and never gets the girl. Instead of a spy at the top of his game cavorting around the world — you have a man who is a mere captive. And the driving plot isn’t a black-and-white Spy vs. Spy cartoon with good vs. evil — instead you have an ambiguous distrust of all authority. And then the final touch: Instead of a clear cut ending, but you have an abstract crescendo which will keep people talking for years.

In short with his concept for the Prisoner Patrick McGoohan turns James Bond on his head, and in the process makes what could be argued to be one of the best television shows of the 20th Century. In fact one could argue that unless you watched this show you could never fully understand the Cold War itself. Although like any good drama McGoohan touches on so much more than that — episodes of the show delve into every topic from the mechanisms of a democratic state to Marshall McLuhan’s theories on the global village. And even on a superficial level what other series could get away with ending the show with the Beatles tune Love is All You Need?

It’s for this reason that we’ll miss Patrick McGoohan — and while I wish there were more like him, we’re all very luck that he left us such an amazing work of art. Be seeing you…

It’s 007 season again and countless fanboy hours will be wasted debating the merits of who was the best James Bond of all time — a sad process of sorting out the pecking order of a sad line up that started with Sean Connery and ends with Daniel Craig. And while I have my favorites in the role, the best James Bond of all time for my money is Patrick McGoohan.

In 1962 the first of the Bond films hit the screen with Sean Connery in the leading role as 007, and I have to admit (in terms of film history as we know it) Connery brought a real sense of magic to the role. However Ian Fleming’s choice for the role was David Niven who was much more high brow than Connery. In 1967 Niven did get his chance to play Bond in Casino Royale, but being a comedy it would be unfair to judge him on the role. But the key thing here is that Connery shouldn’t be thought of as the primordial secret agent by any means.

Which brings us back to Patrick McGoohan: He was not only offered the role of 007 (which he turned down) but he was also offered the role of The Saint (which he also turned down). However in spite of never being 007 it can be said that McGoohan’s work on Danger Man and later The Prisoner put him in a class above anyone who has played a secret agent on the small or large screen for all time.

The first thing that puts McGoohan a cut above the rest is that he started his career as a stage actor — so he’s able to bring a bit more dimension and ambiguity to playing a secret agent. When you’re watching McGoohan on the screen he’s never a flat cartoon character but instead a complex character with a past. Connery has the sex appeal and brute strength, but McGoohan is more than a pretty boy or a jock — you get the feeling that the wheels are turning upstairs and that he’s seen a bit of the world.

Another thing that places McGoohan above the rest was his insistence to reinvent the cliches of the secret agent. Upon returning to his role in Danger Man he insisted that the character always use his brains before using a gun and that there be no kissing. Can you imagine the likes of anyone who has ever played James Bond being able to pull off a secret agent role with those limitations? Not only that but with those limitations McGoohan makes his role even more believable.

And then of course there’s The Prisoner itself: The concept wasn’t his, but not only did he star in the show but he produced and wrote for it. The show itself might not only represent the best of the spy genre, but may be one of the best television series of all time (and at the very least would belong in anyone’s top ten list). While you can say that Ian Fleming put secret agents on the silver screen, with his creative input Patrick McGoohan made it into an art form that has yet to be topped.