title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: Steve carjacks a Ford Bronco to follow Charlie to Union Station, where the cars are loaded onto a train car with the help of Wrench. He tries to bribe Wrench to let him in, but finds Charlie and the others waiting. When Steve pulls a gun, demanding the gold back, Mashkov and his armed men disarm him. Charlie explains that he has offered Mashkov part of the gold and Steve in exchange for helping with security protection (it is implied that Skinny Pete put him in touch).


title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: Stella punches Steve in the face as revenge. Mashkov then takes him away, implying he intends to not kill him, but rather torture him for killing Yevhen. The group boards the train as it departs to New Orleans, and celebrate in John's honor.


title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: The epilogue shows them all having used their share of the gold for their own desired purposes; Handsome Rob purchases an Aston Martin Vanquish, getting pulled over by a beautiful policewoman, Left Ear buys a mansion in Andalusia with a room for his shoe collection, while Napster buys a powerful stereo capable of blowing a woman's clothes off. Meanwhile, Charlie takes John's advice about finding someone he wants to spend the rest of his life with, and he and Stella travel to Venice together.


title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: Neal Purvis and Robert Wade wrote a draft of a remake of the 1969 British crime film "The Italian Job" which was rejected by Paramount. Screenwriting team Donna and Wayne Powers were subsequently commissioned to write a remake. The duo viewed the original film, which neither had seen before, only once "because [they] wanted to get a sense of what it was about" in regards to its tone. Over the course of two years and through 18 drafts, they developed a screenplay which was described by director F. Gary Gray as "inspired by the original." Gray, Powers and Powers, and executive producer James Dyer identified the most prominent similarities as the trio of Mini Coopers used by the thieves, as well as the titular heist involving the theft of gold bullion. Some sequences of the film were storyboarded and previsualized by Gray before production began.


title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: Gray had been interested in working with Wahlberg since seeing his performance in "Boogie Nights" (1997). After reading the script for "The Italian Job", Gray contacted Wahlberg, who "fell in love with it" after reading it himself. Green was also attracted to the project because of the script. Theron was Gray's first choice for the character of Stella Bridger, and Wahlberg also recommended her for the role. She spent time with a safecracker in preparation for the role. Gray's casting director Sheila Jaffe suggested Statham for the role of getaway driver Handsome Rob, and Gray agreed with her choice. Norton took the role of Steve Frazelli, due to a contractual obligation he had to fulfill. Wahlberg, Theron, and Statham attended special driver's training sessions at Willow Springs International Motorsports Park for nearly a month during pre-production.


title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: Gray and cinematographer Wally Pfister worked together to develop a visual style for the film before production began. They viewed car commercials and magazine photographs, as well as chase sequences from "The French Connection" (1971), "Ronin" (1998), and "The Bourne Identity" (2002) as visual references. Pfister wanted "dark textures and undertones and strong contrast"; he collaborated with production designer Charlie Wood on the color palette, and the two would confer with Gray on their ideas. This was Wally Pfister's first experience using the Super 35 format since Paramount preferred that the film not be shot in the anamorphic format, despite Pfister's wishes to do so. However, Gray still wanted a widescreen aspect ratio, just like the origin, so they chose to shoot the film in Super 35 for a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. Once principal photography began, Gray frequently utilized dollies, as well as Steadicams and a Technocrane, to keep the cameras almost constantly moving.


title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: Most of "The Italian Job" was shot on location, at sites Pfister scouted over 12 weeks during pre-production, but some scenes were filmed on sets. The Venice building where the film's opening heist sequence takes place, the van from which the thieves survey Steve Frazelli's mansion, a hotel room, and the LACMTA Red Line subway tunnel were sets constructed at Downey Studios in California. For the scene in which an armored truck falls through Hollywood Boulevard and into the subway tunnel below, Pfister set up seven cameras to capture the vehicle's ~ descent. Three hundred cars were used to simulate the traffic jam at the intersection of Hollywood and Highland, which was controlled by the production crew for a week. Three of the 32 custom-built Mini Coopers used during principal photography were fitted with electric motors since combustion engines were not allowed in the subway tunnels, where some scenes were shot. Other Mini Coopers were modified to allow for camera placement on and inside the vehicles. The director remarked that "[the Mini Coopers are] part of the cast."


title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: Gray wanted the film to be as realistic as possible; accordingly, the actors did most of their own stunts, and computer-generated imagery was used very sparingly. The second unit, under director Alexander Witt and cinematographer Josh Bleibtreu, filmed establishing shots, the Venice canal chase sequence, and the Los Angeles chase sequence over a period of 40 days. Filming on location posed some challenges. The opening heist sequence in Venice, Italy, was strictly monitored by the local authorities, due to the high speeds the boats were driven at. The frigid temperatures at Passo Fedaia in the Italian Alps created problems during production: "The guns would jam, and if you could imagine not being able to walk 40 feet with a bottle of water without it freezing, those are the conditions we had to work in," Gray remarked. Pedestrians had to be allowed to use the sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard between takes. Also, scenes which took place on freeways and city streets were only filmed on weekends.


title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: "The Italian Job" premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on May 11, 2003, and was theatrically released in the United States on May 30, 2003, along with "Finding Nemo" and "Wrong Turn". In its opening weekend, the film grossed $19.5 million, ranking at #3. Paramount re-released the film on August 29, and by the time its theatrical release closed in November 2003, the film had grossed $106.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $69.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $176.1 million. It was the highest-grossing film produced by Paramount in 2003.


title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, "The Italian Job" holds an approval rating of 73% based on 183 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Despite some iffy plot elements, "The Italian Job" succeeds in delivering an entertaining modern take on the original 1969 heist film, thanks to a charismatic cast." Metacritic calculated an average score of 68 out of 100 based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.


title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: Stephanie Zacharek, writing for Salon.com, liked the reinvention of the plot and the style and execution of the action sequences, specifically those involving the trio of Mini Coopers, which she wrote were the stars of the film. BBC reviewer Stella Papamichael gave "The Italian Job" 4 stars out of 5, and wrote that the "revenge plot adds wallop lacking in the original". "Los Angeles Times" reviewer Kevin Thomas praised the opening Venice heist sequence and the characterization of each of the thieves, but felt that the Los Angeles heist sequence was "arguably stretched out a little too long". Roger Ebert gave the film 3 stars out of 4, writing that the film was "two hours of mindless escapism on a relatively skilled professional level". Mick LaSalle of the "San Francisco Chronicle" concurred, describing "The Italian Job" as pure but smart entertainment "plotted and executed with invention and humor". Reviewer James Berardinelli also gave the film 3 stars out of 4, and said that Gray had discovered the right recipe to do a heist movie: "keep things moving, develop a nice rapport between the leads, toss in the occasional surprise, and top with a sprinkling of panache". "Variety"s Robert Koehler compared "The Italian Job" to "The Score" (2001), another "finely tuned heist pic" which also featured Edward Norton in a similar role.


title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: David Denby, writing for "The New Yorker", praised Norton's performance, as well as those of Seth Green and Mos Def, and the lack of digital effects in the action sequences. Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film a B− grade, comparing it positively to the 2000 remake of "Gone in 60 Seconds", as well as the 2001 remake of "Ocean's Eleven". "New York Daily News" reviewer Jack Mathews gave "The Italian Job" 2.5 stars out of 4, writing that the action sequences and plot twists were a "vast improvement" from the original, and that the Los Angeles heist sequence was "clever and preposterous". Mike Clark of "USA Today" also questioned the probability of the Los Angeles heist sequence and wrote that the film was "a lazy and in-name-only remake", giving it 2 stars out of 4. Peter Travers, writing for "Rolling Stone", gave "The Italian Job" 1 star out of 4, describing the film as "a tricked-out remake of a heist flick that was already flat and formulaic in 1969". Travers enjoyed the comic relief in Green's and Def's characters, and added that Norton's was "[t]he most perversely magnetic performance" outside of the Mini Coopers, but felt that there was a lack of logic in the film.


title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: "The Italian Job" was released on DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment October 7, 2003, and includes five bonus features on different aspects of the film's production, in addition to six deleted scenes. It was released on HD DVD August 8, 2006 and on Blu-ray Disc October 24, 2006.


title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: F. Gary Gray won a Film Life Movie Award for Best Director at the 2004 American Black Film Festival. Clay Cullen, Michael Caines, Jean Paul Ruggiero and Mike Massa won an award for Best Specialty Stunt at the 2004 Taurus World Stunt Awards for the boat chase through the canals of Venice. "The Italian Job" was nominated for the 2003 Saturn Award for Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film, but lost to "Kill Bill." In April 2009, IGN named the film's Los Angeles chase sequence one of the top 10 car chases of the 21st Century.


title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: Criminologist Nicole Rafter saw "The Italian Job" as part of a revival of the heist film around the start of the 21st century, along with "The Thomas Crown Affair" (1999) and "Ocean's Eleven" (2001), both of which were also remakes of 1960s heist films. In describing his theory of a "team film" genre, film scholar Dr. Jeremy Strong writes that "The Italian Job" could be categorized as such, along with "The Magnificent Seven" (1960), "The Great Escape" (1963), "The Dirty Dozen" (1967), and more recently "The Usual Suspects" (1995) and "" (1996). He states that a team film involves a group working towards a particular objective. However, goal-orientation is a widely shared plot attribute of many texts and genres and it is also the case that the overwhelming majority of films involve a plurality of interacting characters. An element that distinguishes the team film then is that a heightened significance is afforded to the group as the means by which a given objective is attempted. [...] From film to film there is variation in the extent to which particular central characters may determine events and take up screen time but team films are recognizable by their insistence upon the relationship between group and goal. Strong additionally makes a direct comparison between "The Italian Job" and "Mission: Impossible", citing the plot device of "a first task that elucidates the roles and skills of team members but which is sabotaged by betrayal, necessitating a re-constitution of the team."


title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: The use of BMW's then-new line of retro-styled Minis in the film was mentioned by critics and business analysts alike as a prime example of modern product placement, or more specifically "brand integration". Film critic Joe Morgenstern called "The Italian Job" "the best car commercial ever". Zacharek and Mathews both noted the cars' prominence in their reviews of the film, also writing that their presence served as a connection to the 1969 film upon which it was based. "BusinessWeek" reported in April 2004 that sales of the Mini in 2003—the year in which "The Italian Job" was theatrically released—had increased 22 percent over the previous year.


title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: A sequel to "The Italian Job", tentatively titled "The Brazilian Job", was in development by the summer of 2004, but has since faced multiple delays. Principal photography was initially slated to begin in March 2005, with a projected release date in November or December 2005. However, the script was never finalized, and the release date was pushed back to sometime in 2006, and later summer 2007.


title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: Writer David Twohy approached Paramount Pictures with an original screenplay entitled "The Wrecking Crew", and though the studio reportedly liked the idea, they thought it would work better as a sequel to "The Italian Job". Gray was slated to return as director, as well as most, if not all, of the original cast. At least two drafts of the script had been written by August 2007, but the project had not been greenlit.


title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: In March 2008, in an interview, Jason Statham said that "somebody should just erase it from IMDb... and put it back on there when it's fully due and ready. [...] It's one of those things that's just sitting around." Producer Donald De Line revealed in June that a script for "The Brazilian Job" had been developed and budgeted, but "a lot of things were happening with various management changes and it got ." Describing its story, he said it "starts in Brazil, the set up is in Rio and the picture moves to Belgium where there’s something involving diamonds." However, Green stated that September that the sequel was unlikely in the near future.


title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: On March 9, 2009, De Line said that "[we] have a version at Paramount that we're talking very serious about", additionally mentioning that the cast was interested in the project. Neal Purvis and Robert Wade had been working on a draft of the sequel that year. The "Daily Record" reported in September that Theron was signed up for the film. That October, Gray said that he enjoyed making "The Italian Job" and hoped that he would still be interested in directing the sequel if the script became finalized and mentioned that it would be dependent upon scheduling.


title: The Italian Job (2003 film)

text: In January 2010, Twohy was quoted in an interview as saying ""The Brazilian Job" probably isn't happening. I wrote it years ago, and they just keep rolling it over on IMDb. Paramount—what can I say?" When asked about the sequel that June, Green said ""The Brazilian Job" doesn't exist actually" and called it a "wonderful myth of IMDb." However, the next month, Mark Wahlberg said that sequel production was "active" again.


title: Georgia Groome

text: Georgia Isobel Groome (born 11 February 1992) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles in the films "London to Brighton" (2006) and "Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging" (2008).


title: Georgia Groome

text: Groome was born on 11 February 1992 in Nottingham, the daughter of Paul Groome (1963-2009), a publican and chef, and Fiona (née Tulloch) Watson, a drama and vocal coach. She resided in Swarkestone near Derbyshire. She has two sisters, Alexandra, a dance teacher and Eden, a dancer. Groome, at the age of nine, auditioned for a role in the touring stage version of the musical "Annie Get Your Gun" and got the part. She trained at her mother’s performing arts school, at Nottingham Television Workshop, Derby Youth Theatre, and Trent College.


title: Georgia Groome

text: Groome made her acting debut in the 2001 TV film, "A Fish Out of Water." She subsequently played an orphan in an episode of the short-lived TV series, "Dangerville."


title: Georgia Groome

text: When Groome was just 14 years old, she landed her first feature film role in the well-received British independent film "London to Brighton" in 2006, playing an 11-year-old runaway. That year, she was also one of the eight young adventurers on "Serious Amazon" for CBBC. In 2007, Groome had a role in Elaine Wickham's short, "My Mother".


title: Georgia Groome

text: In 2008, Groome had a minor role in the comedy-horror "The Cottage". Her breakthrough role was as 14-year-old, boyfriend-searching Georgia Nicolson alongside Aaron Johnson in the 2008 film "Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging", for which she won the award for Best Child Actor at the Buster International Children's Film Festival. She also had a minor role in horror film "The Disappeared".


title: Georgia Groome

text: In 2009, she made her stage debut in "Tusk Tusk", a new play by Polly Stenham at the Royal Court Theatre in London. The same year, she appeared in the short "Leaving Eva" and an episode of "The Bill". In 2010, Groome appeared in an episode of British television detective drama "Lewis", as well as the short "Silent Things".


title: Georgia Groome

text: In 2011, Groome starred in two shorts, "The True Meaning of Love" and "Six Degrees". She also appeared in Susan Jacobson's "The Holding" and had a lead role in "The Great Ghost Rescue", a film adaptation of Eva Ibbotson's book of the same name.


title: Georgia Groome

text: She appeared alongside Stephen Dillane in "Papadopoulos & Sons", in which she played snobby fashion victim Katie. The film was released in the UK through Cineworld on 5 April 2013.


title: Georgia Groome

text: Groome has been in a relationship with actor Rupert Grint since 2011. They have a daughter, Wednesday G. Grint, who was born in May 2020.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: The Tijuana Cartel (Spanish: "Cártel de Tijuana") or Arellano-Félix-Organization (Spanish: "Organización Arellano Félix", AFO) is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Founded by the Arellano-Félix family, the cartel once was described as "one of the biggest and most violent criminal groups in Mexico". However, since the 2006 Sinaloa Cartel incursion in Baja California and the fall of the Arellano-Félix brothers, the Tijuana Cartel has been reduced to a few cells. In 2016, the organization became known as Cartel Tijuana Nueva Generación (New Generation Tijuana Cartel) and began to align itself under the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, along with Beltrán Leyva Organization (BLO) to create an anti-Sinaloa alliance, in which the Jalisco New Generation Cartel heads. This alliance has since dwindled as the Tijuana, Jalisco New Generation, and Sinaloa cartels all now battle each other for trafficking influence in the city of Tijuana and the region of Baja California.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, the founder of the Guadalajara Cartel, was arrested in 1989. While incarcerated, he remained one of Mexico's major traffickers, maintaining his organization via mobile phone until he was transferred to a new maximum security prison in the 1990s. At that point, his old organization broke up into three factions: the Tijuana Cartel led by his nephews, the Arellano Félix brothers, the Juarez Cartel, led by Amado Carrillo Fuentes, and the Sinaloa Cartel, run by former lieutenants Héctor Luis Palma Salazar and Joaquín Guzmán Loera, a.k.a. "El Chapo".


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: Currently, the majority of Mexico's smuggling routes are controlled by three key cartels: Gulf, Sinaloa and Tijuana—though Tijuana is the least powerful. The Tijuana cartel was further weakened in August 2006 when its chief, Javier Arellano Félix, was arrested by the U.S. Coast Guard on a boat off the coast of Baja California. Mexican army troops were sent to Tijuana in January 2007 in an operation to restore order to the border city and root out corrupt police officers, who mostly were cooperating with the Tijuana cartel. As a result of these efforts, the Tijuana cartel is unable to project much power outside of its base in Tijuana. Much of the violence that emerged in 2008 in Tijuana was a result of conflicts within the Tijuana cartel: on one side, the faction led by Teodoro García Simental (a.k.a. "El Teo") favored kidnappings. The other faction, led by Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano (a.k.a. "El Ingeniero"), focused primarily on drug trafficking. The faction led by Sánchez Arellano demanded the reduction of the kidnappings in Tijuana, but his demands were rejected by García Simental, resulting in high levels of violence. Nonetheless, most of the victims in Tijuana were white-collar entrepreneurs, and the kidnappings were bringing "too much heat on organized crime" and disrupting the criminal enterprises and interests of the cartel.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: The Mexican federal government responded by implementing "Operation Tijuana", a coordination carried out between the Mexican military and the municipal police forces in the area. To put down the violence, InSight Crime states that a pact was probably created between military officials and members of the Sánchez Arellano faction to eliminate Simental's group. The U.S. authorities speculated WikiLeaks in 2009 that Tijuana's former police boss, Julián Leyzaola, had made agreements with Sánchez Arellano to bring relative peace in Tijuana. With the arrest of "El Teo" in January 2010, much of his faction was eliminated from the city of Tijuana; some of its remains went off and joined with the Sinaloa Cartel. But much of the efforts done between 2008 and 2010 in Tijuana would not have been possible without the coordination of local police forces and the Mexican military – and possibly with a cartel truce – to put down the violence.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: The relative peace in the city of Tijuana in 2010–2012 has raised speculations of a possible agreement between the Tijuana Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel to maintain peace in the area. According to Mexican and U.S. authorities, most of Tijuana is under the dominance of the Sinaloa cartel, while Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano of the Tijuana cartel remains the "head of that puppet empire". To be exact, experts told InSight Crime that the peace exists because Joaquín Guzmán Loera wants it that way, and argued that his organization—the Sinaloa Cartel—has become spread too thin with its wars with Los Zetas and the Juárez Cartel and that opening a third war would be inconvenient. The Tijuana cartel, however, has something their rivals do not have: a long-time family with business and political connections throughout the city. InSight Crime believes that this could explain why the Sinaloa cartel has left Sánchez Arellano as the figurehead, since it might be too costly for "El Chapo" financially and politically to make a final push. Moreover, the Tijuana cartel charges a toll (""piso"") on the Sinaloa cartel for trafficking drugs in their territory, which serves as an illustration of the Tijuana cartel's continued hegemony as a local group. Despite the series of high-ranking arrests the cartel suffered throughout 2011–2012, its ability to maintain a highly centralized criminal infrastructure shows how difficult it is to uproot cartels who have long-established their presence in a community.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: Despite being a shell of what it once was in the early 2000s along with the capture of several top suspected members of the Tijuana Cartel, the group appears to retain significant control in the state of Baja California.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: In June 2020, it was reported that the Sinaloa Cartel controlled much of the Tijuana Cartel's former territory and that an alliance with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which also resulted in the cartel being rebranded as Tijuana Cartel New Generation (Cartel de Tijuana Nueva Generación), but this alliance disintegrated very quickly when the Jalisco Cartel showed it intended to take the place of the Sinaloa cartel rather than aid in helping the Tijuana Cartel reestablish dominance and independence. As a result, the Tijuana Cartel reversed their branding back to Cartel Arellano Félix and arranged the assassination of Cabo 33 the Jalisco Cartel's head of operations in Baja California, after effectively removing the Jalisco Cartel's influence in Baja California the Tijuana Cartel has further engaged the Sinaloa Cartel for control of Tijuana plaza and its surrounding areas. With the imminent release of El "Ingeniero" and the current consolidations with in Baja California as well as an alliance with Rafa Caro Quintero and the Sonora plaza its speculated the Tijuana Cartel may again rise and surpass both the Gulf and Juarez Cartel's who along with the Sinaloa Cartel are suffering greatly from internal strife.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: In November 2020 it was reported emissaries from the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel had been seen in Tijuana attempting to form an alliance with the now resurgent Tijuana Cartel. Following the defection of El Mayo's head of operations in Tijuana and the reintegration of its Cabo San Lucas branch it is evident that the Arellano Félix Organization has retaken control of its Tijuana hotbed from outside influences as well as other important hubs in Baja California leaving Mexicali and Rosarito as the last known Sinaloa Cartel outposts in Baja California Norte though how long they will remain under Sinaloan control is debatable with the rapid defection of Sinaloa Cartel operators in traditionally Arellano Félix territories.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: The Arellano Félix family was initially composed of seven brothers and four sisters, who inherited the organization from Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo upon his incarceration in Mexico in 1989 for his complicity in the murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena. The brothers' death and arrests during the 2000s did impact the Arellano Félix cartel, but they did not dismantle the organization.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: The Tijuana Cartel has infiltrated the Mexican law enforcement and judicial systems and is directly involved in street-level trafficking within the United States. This criminal organization is responsible for the transportation, importation, and distribution of multi-ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana, as well as large quantities of heroin and methamphetamine.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: The organization has a reputation for extreme violence. Ramón Arellano Félix ordered a hit which resulted in the mass murder of 18 people in Ensenada, Baja California, on September 17, 1998. Ramón was eventually killed in a gun battle with police at Mazatlán in Sinaloa, on February 10, 2002.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: Eduardo Arellano Félix was captured by the Mexican Army after a shootout in Tijuana on October 26, 2008; he had been the last of the Arellano Félix brothers at large. Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano took over the cartel's operations.<ref name="Stratfor11/11/2008"> </ref> His two top lieutenants were Armando Villareal Heredia and Edgardo Leyva Escandon. Fernando Sanchez Arellano was arrested by Mexican police in June 2014. Leyva remains at large and Villareal was captured in July 2011.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: On November 5, 2011, Mexican troops arrested cartel lieutenant Francisco Sillas Rocha, who was reported to be the cartel's number two leader, and some of his close associates. Observers argued that Rocha's arrest put the Tijuana Cartel "on the ropes", though some differed on whether or not the arrest put "the final nail in the coffin" for the Tijuana Cartel.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: In February 2020, senior cartel operator Octavio Leal Hernandez, also known as "Chapito Leal," was arrested with seven others by Tijuana police for stealing cars from a used-car dealership at gunpoint and possessing marijuana.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: The Tijuana cartel is present in at least 15 Mexican states, with important areas of operation in Tijuana, Mexicali, Tecate, and Ensenada in Baja California, in parts of Sinaloa, and in Zacatecas. After the death in 1997 of the Juárez Cartel's Amado Carrillo Fuentes, the Tijuana Cartel attempted to gain a foothold in Sonora. The Oaxaca Cartel reportedly joined forces with the Tijuana Cartel in 2003.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: Fourteen Mexican drug gang members were killed and eight others were injured in a gun battle in Tijuana near the U.S. border on Saturday, April 26, 2008, that was one of the bloodiest shootouts in the narco-war between the Tijuana Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel. On December 1, 2011, William R. Sherman, acting special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's office in San Diego, announced that the cartel had been annihilated and that the Sinaloa Cartel now controlled a large number of the drug routes the Tijuana Cartel once had. On December 12, 2011, Tijuana Police Chief Alberto Capella Ibarra announced that captured cartel lieutenant Francisco Sillas Rocha had confessed that the Tijuana Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel had formed a truce and that the Tijuana Cartel was seeking to merge with the Sinaloa Cartel. After Benjamin Arellano-Felix pleaded guilty to racketeering and conspiracy to launder money on January 4, 2012, it was accepted that the Tijuana Cartel had greatly lost influence. It was also reported that the cartel had lost their former Tijuana hotbed to the Sinaloa Cartel. The clan of the Arellano Felix continues, although diminished after the capture of their leaders.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: In October 1997, a retired U.S. Air Force C-130A that was sold to the airline Aeropostal Cargo de México was seized by Mexican federal officials, who alleged that the aircraft had been used to haul drugs for the cartel up from Central and South America, as well as around the Mexican interior. Investigators had linked the airline's owner, Jesús Villegas Covallos, to Ramón Arellano Félix.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: On August 14, 2006, Francisco Javier Arellano Félix was apprehended by the United States Coast Guard off the coast of Baja California Sur. On November 5, 2007, Francisco was sentenced to life in prison, at ADX Florence, after pleading guilty in September 2007 to running a criminal enterprise and laundering money. It was later reduced to years in 2015 and he will be released soon.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: Benjamin Arellano Felix, who was arrested on March 9, 2002, by the Mexican Army in the state of Puebla, was extradited to the United States on April 29, 2011, to face charges of trafficking cocaine into California. He later pleaded guilty to racketeering and conspiracy to launder money, and was sentenced to 25 years in jail on April 2, 2012. Once that is served, he will be sent back to Mexico to finish another 22 years for a conviction there.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: On August 31, 2012, Eduardo Arellano Felix was extradited to the United States to face trial for racketeering, money laundering and narcotics trafficking charges in the Southern District of California. He pleaded guilty to money laundering and is serving 15 years.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: Los Palillos ("The Toothpicks") was a group operating within Tijuana Cartel, who worked as the armed wing of the Tijuana Cartel in the United States, for the control of the criminal activities in California and Nevada.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: They were a criminal organization that operated from San Diego to Los Angeles and other California and Nevada cities. To avoid constant confrontations with the police and police interest reducing his wealth, Ramon Arellano Felix began bribing almost any official possible. Felix received money from members of the criminal group and local criminals to "kick up" money from their illegal activities such as kidnapping and contract killing take half of the money and give it to the Tijuana Cartel to launder it. That was way the Arellano Felix brothers operation included other clans in Tijuana, San Diego and Los Angeles.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: The Tijuana Cartel is believed to have ties with FARC, a Colombia guerrilla group that also has ties with other Mexican drug cartels. In the 1990s, the Tijuana Cartel decided to expand their market opportunities in Colombia, exchanging drugs for weapons. In the 1990s they formed an alliance with the Cali Cartel and Norte del Valle Cartel for the cocaine business.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: The Arellano-Felix Organization, also known as "The Tijuana Cartel," located in Tijuana, Mexico attested great influence and impact on the United States in its prime era of operation. So strongly, that Mexican authority proves not enough to control the infiltration of the American people. Its decentralized location in Mexico and proximity to the United States border allowed the Arellano-Felix brothers easy routes to control the illicit drug markets in Tijuana and southern California. The infamous drug cartel led by the Arellano-Felix family spent years transporting, importing, and distributing cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, and heroin into the United States.  In its most successful era of drug distribution, the Arellano-Felix Organization was solely responsible for a significant portion of the cocaine distribution to the United States. The impacts on the United States population were deemed so significant that Members of Congress proposed further changes to migrant policies in border cities like Tijuana. The Congressional Research Service identified the Tijuana Cartel as one of the four dominant drug trafficking organizations in 2020. The impact on the United States was so significant that heavy involvement by the American government was required. Action by the Mexican Authority alone could not maintain the needed control. Control was difficult as the Arellano-Felix Organization focused on strategic coordination, protection, and security. Their protection strategy and preparations have been described as "paramilitary in nature" by Mexican enforcement officials. International connections as well as internal communication centers provide the Tijuana Cartel with strong surveillance and awareness of government infiltration and plans. With such sophisticated precautionary measures, the Arellano-Felix brothers proved difficult to counter. American strategy included instituting a Joint Task Force in southern California. This task force included sectors of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. By 2008, the United States was able to capture the last of the five influential Arellano-Felix brothers. The story does not end here. Although one cartel was weakened, simple economics demonstrate how the illicit drug market and organized crime continues to prosper despite cartels coming and going. The downfall and desizing of one cartel, like the Tijuana Cartel, provides the opportunity for another to retake territory and expand their business. In this case, the Sinaloa Cartel outweighed the falling Arellano-Felix Organization and gained control of the Tijuana/ San Diego route. While the United States proved successful in minimizing and fighting the Arellano-Felix Organization, the effectiveness on combating the war on drugs also proved successful.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: The Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano new generation organization of the cartel is believed to be one of the newest leaders in it to begin shipping cocaine from Colombia, particularly from Los Rastrojos and other Colombian dealers. The cartel was involved in the cultivation and distribution of marijuana in the Baja California area. Operating out of Tijuana, the cartel is now believed to make other activities such as kidnapping, people smuggling and bribery from a network of cells of local members within the Tijuana border region where the drugs are stored prior to shipment. The Tijuana Cartel has lost power but is growing more alliances in foreign countries.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: There are several Mexican-folk ("norteño") ballads ("narco-corridos") that narrate the Tijuana cartel exploits.


title: Tijuana Cartel

text: A fictional "Tijuana cartel" headed by a character named Obregon was featured battling a fictional "Juarez cartel" in the 2000 motion picture "Traffic".


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a secret international counterespionage and law-enforcement agency called U.N.C.L.E. The series premiered on September 22, 1964, completing its run on January 15, 1968. The program led the spy-fiction craze on television, and by 1966 there were nearly a dozen imitators. Several episodes were successfully released to theaters as B movies or double features. There was also a spin-off series, "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.", novel and comic book series, and merchandising.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: With few recurring characters, the series attracted many high-profile guest stars. Props from the series are exhibited at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum and at the museums of the Central Intelligence Agency and other US intelligence agencies. The series won the Golden Globe Award for Best TV Show in 1966.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Originally, co-creator Sam Rolfe wanted to leave the meaning of U.N.C.L.E. ambiguous so it could refer to either "Uncle Sam" or the United Nations. Concerns by the MGM legal department about using "U.N." for commercial purposes resulted in the producers' clarification that U.N.C.L.E. was an acronym for the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement. Each episode had an "acknowledgement" to the U.N.C.L.E. in the end titles.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The series consists of 105 episodes originally broadcast between 1964 and 1968, produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The first episode was broadcast on September 22, 1964, as part of the Tuesday night NBC lineup, but moved to Monday nights, a half hour earlier, the following January.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Ian Fleming contributed to the series after being approached by the show's co-creator, Norman Felton. According to the book "The James Bond Films" Fleming proposed two characters, Napoleon Solo and April Dancer (later appearing on the spin-off series "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E."). The original name for the show was "Ian Fleming's Solo." Robert Towne, Sherman Yellen, and Harlan Ellison later wrote scripts for the series. Author Michael Avallone, who wrote the first original novelization based upon the series (see below), is sometimes incorrectly cited as the show's creator.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Originally, Solo was the focus of the series, but Russian agent Illya Kuryakin drew so much enthusiasm from fans, the agents became a team.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The series centered on a two-man troubleshooting team working for multi-national secret intelligence agency U.N.C.L.E. (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement): American Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn), and Russian Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum). Leo G. Carroll played Alexander Waverly, the British chief of the organization. Barbara Moore joined the cast as Lisa Rogers in the fourth season.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The series, though fictional, achieved such cultural prominence that props, costumes and documents, and a video clip are in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum's exhibit on spies and counterspies. Similar U.N.C.L.E. exhibits are in the museums of the Central Intelligence Agency and other US intelligence agencies.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: U.N.C.L.E.'s primary adversary was THRUSH (WASP in the pilot movie). The original series never divulged who or what THRUSH represented, nor was it ever used as an acronym. In the U.N.C.L.E. novels written by David McDaniel, it stands for the Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity, described as having been founded by Colonel Sebastian Moran after the death of Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls in the Sherlock Holmes short story "The Final Problem". But in a second season episode, guest star Jessie Royce Landis plays a character who claims that she founded THRUSH.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: THRUSH's aim was to conquer the world. THRUSH was considered so dangerous an organization that even governments who were ideologically opposed to each other – such as the United States and the Soviet Union – had cooperated in forming and operating the U.N.C.L.E. organization. Similarly, when Solo and Kuryakin held opposing political views, the friction between them in the story was held to a minimum. Although executive producer Norman Felton and Ian Fleming conceived Napoleon Solo, it was the producer Sam Rolfe who created the global U.N.C.L.E. hierarchy, and he included the Soviet agent, Illya Kuryakin. Unlike the CIA or the British SIS (Secret Intelligence Service), U.N.C.L.E. was a global organization of agents from many countries and cultures.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The creators decided an innocent character would be featured in each episode, giving the audience someone with whom to identify. Despite many changes over four seasons, "innocents" remained a constant – from a suburban housewife in the pilot, "The Vulcan Affair" (film version: "To Trap a Spy"), to those kidnapped in the final episode, "The Seven Wonders of the World Affair".


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Filmed in color from late November to early December 1963, with locations at a Lever Brothers soap factory in California, the television pilot made as a 70-minute film was originally titled "Ian Fleming's Solo" and later shortened to "Solo". However, in February 1964 a law firm representing "James Bond" movie producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli demanded an end to the use of Fleming's name in connection with the series and an end to the use of the name and character "Solo", "Napoleon Solo" and "Mr. Solo". At that time filming was underway for the "Bond" movie "Goldfinger", in which Martin Benson was playing a supporting character named "Mr. Solo", being an American Mafia boss murdered by Auric Goldfinger. The claim was the name "Solo" had been sold to them by Fleming, and Fleming could not use it again. Within five days Fleming had signed an affidavit that nothing in the Solo pilot infringed any of his Bond characters, but the threat of legal action resulted in a settlement in which the name Napoleon Solo could be kept but the title of the show had to change.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The role of the head of U.N.C.L.E. in the pilot was Mr. Allison, played by Will Kuluva, rather than Mr. Waverly, played by Leo G. Carroll, and David McCallum's Illya Kuryakin only had a brief role. Revisions to some scenes were shot for television, including those needed to feature Leo G. Carroll. The pilot episode was reedited to 50 minutes to fit a one-hour time slot, converted to black and white, and shown on television as "The Vulcan Affair".


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Additional color sequences with Luciana Paluzzi were shot in April 1964, and then added to the pilot for MGM to release it outside the United States as a B movie titled "To Trap a Spy". This premiered in Hong Kong in November 1964. The extra scenes were reedited to tone down their sexuality, and then used in the regular series in the episode "The Four-Steps Affair".


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Beyond extra scenes for the feature film, and revised scene shots and edits made for the television episode, there are other differences among the three versions of the story. Before the show went into full production there was concern from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that the name of THRUSH for the pilot's international criminal organization sounded too much like SMERSH, the international spy-killing organization in Fleming's Bond series. The studio suggested Raven, Shark, Squid, Vulture, Tarantula, Snipe, Sphinx, Dooom, and Maggot (the last used in early scripts). Although no legal action took place, the name "WASP" was used in the feature version "To Trap a Spy". The original pilot kept THRUSH (presumably since it was not intended to be released to the public in that version). Felton and Rolfe pushed for the reinstatement of "THRUSH". It turned out that WASP could not be used, since Gerry Anderson's British television series "Stingray" was based on an organization called W.A.S.P. (World Aquanaut Security Patrol). By May 1964, THRUSH was retained for the television episode edit of the pilot. Despite this, WASP was used by the feature film in Japan in late 1964, and it was left in the American release in 1966.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Another change among the three versions of the pilot story was the cover name for the character of Elaine May Donaldson. In the original pilot it was Elaine Van Nessen; in the television version and the feature version it was Elaine Van Every. Illya Kuryakin's badge number is 17 in the pilot, rather than 2 during the series, and Solo's hair, after new footage was added, changed back and forth from a slicked back style to the less severe style he wore throughout the series.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: With the popularity of the show and the spy craze, "To Trap a Spy" and the second U.N.C.L.E. feature "The Spy with My Face" were released in the United States as an MGM double feature in early 1966.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The show's first season was in black-and-white. Rolfe created a kind of "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland" world, where mundane everyday life would intersect with the looking-glass fantasy of international espionage which lay just beyond. The U.N.C.L.E. universe was one where the weekly "innocent" would get caught up in a series of fantastic adventures, in a battle of good and evil.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: U.N.C.L.E. headquarters in New York City was most-frequently entered by a secret passage in Del Floria's Tailor Shop. Another entrance was through The Masque Club. Mr. Waverly had his own secret entrance, hinted at in the episode "The Mad, Mad Tea Party Affair". The episodes were largely filmed on the MGM back lot. The same building with an imposing exterior staircase was used for episodes set throughout the Mediterranean area and Latin America, and the same dirt road lined with eucalyptus trees on the back lot in Culver City stood in for virtually every continent of the globe. The episodes followed a naming convention where each title was in the form of "The ***** Affair", such as "The Vulcan Affair", "The Mad, Mad, Tea Party Affair", and "The Waverly Ring Affair", etc. The only exception was "Alexander the Greater Affair". The first season episode "The Green Opal Affair" establishes that U.N.C.L.E. uses the term "affair" to refer to its different missions.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Rolfe endeavored to make the implausible elements in the series seem not only feasible but entertaining. In the series, frogmen emerge from wells in Iowa, shootouts occur between U.N.C.L.E. and THRUSH agents in a crowded Manhattan movie theater, and top-secret organizations are hidden behind innocuous brownstone facades. The series began to dabble in spy-fi, beginning with "The Double Affair" in which a THRUSH agent, made to look like Solo through plastic surgery, infiltrates a secret U.N.C.L.E. facility where an immensely powerful weapon called "Project Earthsave" is stored; according to the dialogue, the weapon was developed to protect against a potential alien threat to Earth. "The Spy with My Face" was the theatrical film version of this episode.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: In its first season "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." competed against "The Red Skelton Show" on CBS and Walter Brennan's short-lived "The Tycoon" on ABC. The ratings were poor and it faced cancellation. But NBC switched it to Monday nights where it found a receptive audience. The success of the James Bond film "Goldfinger" also created a huge interest in spy entertainment which greatly benefitted the series. During this time producer Norman Felton told Alan Caillou and several of the series writers to make the show more tongue-in-cheek.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Switching to color, "U.N.C.L.E." continued to enjoy huge popularity. When Rolfe left the show at the conclusion of the first season, David Victor became the new showrunner. Over the next three seasons, five different showrunners would supervise the "U.N.C.L.E." franchise, and each one took the show in a direction that differed considerably from that of the first season. In an attempt to emulate the success of ABC's mid-season hit "Batman", which had proved hugely popular with its debut in early 1966, "U.N.C.L.E." moved swiftly towards self-parody and slapstick. In contrast to other seasons, the fourth and final season had a recurring female character, Lisa Rogers, played by Barbara Moore in ten episodes.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: During the third season the producers made a conscious decision to increase the level of humor. This new direction resulted in a severe Nielsen ratings drop, and nearly resulted in the show's cancellation. It was renewed for a fourth season and an attempt was made to go back to serious storytelling, but the ratings never recovered and "U.N.C.L.E." was cancelled midway through the season.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The series was popular enough to generate a spin-off series, "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E." (1966–67) The "girl" was first introduced during "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." episode "The Moonglow Affair" (February 25, 1966) and was then played by Mary Ann Mobley. The spin-off series ran for one season, starring Stefanie Powers as agent "April Dancer", a character name credited to Ian Fleming, and Noel Harrison as agent Mark Slate (who had been played substantially differently by actor Norman Fell in the pilot). There was some crossover between the two shows, and Leo G. Carroll played Mr. Waverly in both programs, becoming the second actor in American television to star as the same character in two separate series.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: A reunion telefilm, "Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E." subtitled "The Fifteen Years Later Affair," was broadcast on CBS in America on April 5, 1983, with Vaughn and McCallum reprising their roles, and Patrick Macnee replacing Leo G. Carroll, who had died in 1972, as the head of U.N.C.L.E. A framed picture of Carroll appeared on his desk. The movie included a tribute to Ian Fleming via a cameo appearance by an unidentified secret agent with the initials "JB". The part was played by George Lazenby who was shown driving James Bond's trademark vehicle, an Aston Martin DB5. One character, identifying him, says that it is "just like "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"", which was Lazenby's only Bond film.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The movie, written by Michael Sloan and directed by Ray Austin, briefly filled in the missing years. THRUSH had been put out of business, and the escape of its leader from prison begins the story. Solo and Kuryakin, who had retired, are recalled by U.N.C.L.E. to recapture the escapee and defeat THRUSH once and for all. Rather than reuniting the agents and recapturing their chemistry, however, the agents are separated and paired with younger agents. Like most similar reunion films, this production was considered a trial balloon for a possible new series which never materialized.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Although some personnel from the original series were involved (like composer Gerald Fried and director of photography Fred Koenekamp), the movie was not produced by MGM but by Michael Sloan Productions in association with Viacom Productions.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The theme music, written by Jerry Goldsmith, changed slightly each season. Goldsmith provided only three original scores and was succeeded by Morton Stevens, who composed four scores for the series. After Stevens, Walter Scharf did six scores, and Lalo Schifrin did two.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Gerald Fried was composer from season two through the beginning of season four, and rearranged the theme twice. The final composers were Robert Drasnin (who also scored episodes of "", as did Schifrin, Scharf, and Fried), Nelson Riddle (whose score for the two-part episode "The Concrete Overcoat Affair" was so loathed by Norman Felton that he never hired the composer again, although the music did get tracked into other third-season episodes and the movie version), and lastly Richard Shores.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The music reflected the show's changing seasons. Goldsmith, Stevens, and Scharf composed dramatic scores in the first season using brass, unusual time signatures and martial rhythms. Gerald Fried and Robert Drasnin opted for a lighter approach in the second, employing jazz flute, harpsichords and bongos. By the third season, the music, like the show, had become more camp, exemplified by a faster R&B organ and saxophone riff version of the theme. The fourth season's attempt at seriousness was duly echoed by Richard Shores' somber scores.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Apart from Solo, Kuryakin and Waverly, very few recurring characters appeared on the show with any regularity. As a result, "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." featured many high-profile guest performers during its three-and-a-half-year run.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy appeared together in a 1964 episode, "The Project Strigas Affair", a full two years before "" premiered. Shatner played a heroic civilian recruited for an U.N.C.L.E. mission, and Nimoy played the villain's henchman. The villain was portrayed by Werner Klemperer. James Doohan appeared in multiple episodes, each time as a different character.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Barbara Feldon played an U.N.C.L.E. translator eager for field work in "The Never-Never Affair", one year before becoming one of the stars of "Get Smart." Robert Culp played the villain in 1964's "The Shark Affair". Leigh Chapman appeared in a recurring role as Napoleon Solo's secretary, Sarah, for several episodes in 1965.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Woodrow Parfrey appeared five times as a guest performer, although he never received an opening-title credit. Usually cast as a scientist, he played the primary villain in one episode, "The Cherry Blossom Affair". Another five-time guest star was Jill Ireland, who at the time was married to David McCallum. Ricardo Montalbán appeared in two episodes as the primary villain. "The Five Daughters Affair" featured a cameo appearance by Joan Crawford. Janet Leigh and Jack Palance appeared in "The Concrete Overcoat Affair" and Sonny and Cher made an appearance in the third season episode "The Hot Number Affair". Other notable guest stars included: Richard Anderson, Eve Arden, Martin Balsam, Whitney Blake, Joan Blondell, Lloyd Bochner, Judy Carne, Roger C. Carmel, Ted Cassidy, Joan Collins, Walter Coy, Yvonne Craig, Broderick Crawford, Joan Crawford, Kim Darby, Albert Dekker, Ivan Dixon, Chad Everett, Anne Francis, Harold Gould, Grayson Hall, Pat Harrington Jr., James Hong, Allen Jenkins, Patsy Kelly, Richard Kiel, Marta Kristen, Elsa Lanchester, Martin Landau, Angela Lansbury, Herbert Lom, Julie London, Jack Lord, Lynn Loring, Jan Murray, Leslie Nielsen, William Marshall, Eve McVeagh, Carroll O'Connor, Susan Oliver, David Opatoshu, Leslie Parrish, Eleanor Parker, Slim Pickens, Vincent Price, Dorothy Provine, Cesar Romero, Charles Ruggles, Kurt Russell, Telly Savalas, Barbara Shelley, Nancy Sinatra, Guthrie Thomas, Terry-Thomas, Rip Torn, Fritz Weaver, and Elen Willard (in her last acting appearance).


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The characters in the series had a range of useful spy equipment, including handheld satellite communicators. A catchphrase often heard was "Open Channel D" when agents used their pocket radios; these were originally disguised as cigarette packs, later as cigarette case, and still later as fountain pen. One of the original pen communicator theatrical property is now in the museum of the CIA. Replicas have been made over the years for other displays, and this is the second-most-identifiable prop from the series (closely following the U.N.C.L.E. Special pistol).


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: A few of the third-and fourth-season episodes featured an "U.N.C.L.E. car", which was a modified Piranha Coupe, a plastic-bodied concept car based on the Chevrolet Corvair chassis built in limited numbers by the custom car designer Gene Winfield. The U.N.C.L.E. car had been lost after the end of the TV series, but it was found in Colorado during the early 1980s, and it was restored to original condition by Oscar-winning special effects artist Robert Short of California.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: One prop, designed by the toy designer Reuben Klamer often referred to as "The Gun", drew so much attention that it actually spurred considerable fan mail, and was often so addressed. Internally designated the "U.N.C.L.E. Special", it was a modular semi-automatic firearm weapon. The basic pistol could be converted into a longer-range carbine by attaching a long barrel, an extendable shoulder stock, a telescopic sight, and an extended magazine. In this "carbine mode", the pistol could fire on full automatic. This capability brought authorities to the set to investigate reports that the studio was illegally manufacturing machine guns. They threatened to confiscate the prop guns and it took a tour of the prop room to convince them that these were actually "dummy" pistols incapable of firing live ammunition. The actual pistol used as the prop was the Mauser Model 1934 Pocket Pistol, but it was unreliable, it jammed constantly, and it was dwarfed by the carbine accessories. It was soon replaced by the larger and more-reliable Walther P38.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The long magazine was actually a standard magazine with a dummy extension, but it inspired several small-arms manufacturers to begin making long magazines for various pistols. While many of these continue to be available 40 years later, long magazines were not available for the P38 for some years.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: THRUSH had a range of weaponry of its own, much of them only in the development stage before being destroyed by the heroes. A notable item was the infrared sniperscope, enabling villains to aim gunfire in total darkness. The prop was built from a U.S. Army-surplus M1 carbine, with a vertical foregrip and barrel compensator, and using army-surplus infrared scopes. The infrared special effect was achieved using a searchlight to illuminate the target. The viewfinder image was a negative version of the film. When the scopes were switched on a pulsing chirp sound effect was used. The fully equipped carbines were seen only once, in "The Iowa Scuba Affair". After that, a mockup of the scope was used to make handling easier.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: German small arms were well represented in the series. Not only were P38s frequently seen (both as the U.N.C.L.E. Special and in standard configuration), but also the Luger pistol. In the pilot episode "The Vulcan Affair", Illya Kuryakin is carrying a M1911 pistol. The Mauser C96 and MP 40 machine pistols were favored by opponents. U.N.C.L.E. also used the MP 40. Beginning in the third season, both U.N.C.L.E and THRUSH agents used rifles that were either the Spanish CETME or the Heckler & Koch G3 (based on the CETME).


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." rated so highly in America and the UK that MGM and the producers decided to film extra footage (often more adult to evoke Bond films) for two of the first season episodes and release them to theaters after they had aired on TV. The episodes with the extra footage that made it to theaters were the original pilot, "The Vulcan Affair", retitled "To Trap a Spy" and "The Double Affair" retitled as "The Spy with My Face". Both had added sex and violence, new sub-plots and guest stars not in the original TV episodes. They were released in early 1966 as an "U.N.C.L.E." double-feature program first run in neighborhood theaters, bypassing the customary downtown movie palaces which were still thriving in the mid-1960s and where new movies usually played for weeks or months before coming to outlying screens.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: A selling point to seeing these films theatrically was that they were being shown in color, at a time when most people had only black and white TVs (and indeed the two first-season episodes that were expanded to feature length, while filmed in color, had only been broadcast in black and white). The words "in color" featured prominently on the trailers, TV spots, and posters for the film releases. The episodes used to make U.N.C.L.E. films were not included in the packages of television episodes screened outside the United States.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Subsequent two-part episodes, beginning with the second season premiere, "Alexander The Greater Affair", retitled "One Spy Too Many" for its theatrical release, were developed into one complete feature film with only occasional extra sexy and violent footage added to them, sometimes as just inserts. In the case of "One Spy Too Many," a subplot featuring Yvonne Craig as an U.N.C.L.E. operative carrying on a flirtatious relationship with Solo was also added to the film; Craig does not appear in the television episodes.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The later films were not released in America, only overseas, but the first few did well in American theaters and remain one of the rare examples of a television show released in paid theatrical engagements. With the exception of the two-part episode "The Five Daughters Affair", shown as part of Granada Plus's run of the series, the episodes which became movies have never aired on British television.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: A film adaptation of the television series was produced by Warner Bros. and Turner Entertainment, and was released in 2015. Directed by Guy Ritchie, the film stars Armie Hammer, Henry Cavill, and Hugh Grant as Kuryakin, Solo, and Waverly, respectively. Filming began in September 2013, and the film was released on August 14, 2015. The film received mixed reviews.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Although album recordings of the series had been made by Hugo Montenegro and many orchestras cover versions of the title theme, it wasn't until 2002 that the first of three double-disc albums of original music from the series were released through "Film Score Monthly" (FSM).


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Several comic books based on the series were published. In the US, there was a Gold Key Comics series which ran for twenty-two issues. Entertainment Publishing released an eleven-issue series of one- and two-part stories from January 1987 to September 1988 that updated U.N.C.L.E. to the 1980s, while largely ignoring the reunion TV-movie. A two-part comics story, "The Birds of Prey Affair", was put out by Millennium Publications in 1993, which showcased the return of a smaller, more-streamlined version of THRUSH, controlled by Dr. Egret, who had melded with the Ultimate Computer. The script was written by Mark Ellis and Terry Collins, with artwork by Nick Choles, and transplanted the characters into the 1990s.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Two "Man from U.N.C.L.E." strips were originated for the British market in the 1960s (some Gold Key material was also reprinted), the most notable for "Lady Penelope" comic, which launched in January 1966. This was replaced by a "Girl from U.N.C.L.E." strip in January 1967. "Man from U.N.C.L.E." also featured in the short-lived title "Solo" (published between February and September 1967) and some text stories appeared in "TV Tornado".


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: In 2015–2016, DC Comics launched "Batman '66 Meets the Man from U.N.C.L.E.", a crossover with its "Batman '66" series.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Licensed merchandise included a "Man from U.N.C.L.E." digest-size story magazine, board games, Gilbert action figures, Aurora plastic model kits, lunch boxes, and toy guns.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: An example of this, the Louis Marx "Target Gun Set", a dart-gun shooting-game released in the form of a quasi-playset, is built around the setting of U.N.C.L.E. headquarters in New York City. Art on the cardboard stand displays both the U.N.C.L.E. and THRUSH logos, and a half-dozen soft plastic figures per "side" were provided, including Solo, Kuryakin and Waverly. The game measures ; the figures, at , represent one of the few attempts Marx made at supplementing its 6-inch figure line. The U.N.C.L.E. figures are cast in blue, except for a single (unnamed) figure in tan; THRUSH agents are cast in gray. Marx was released an arcade game licensed under "The Man from U.N.C.L.E."


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Corgi Toys produced a die-cast toy model of the "Thrushbuster", an Oldsmobile 88, with figures of 'Napoleon Solo' and 'Illya Kuryakin' which popped in and out of the car windows firing guns by pressing down on a model periscope protruding through the roof.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Two dozen novels were based upon "Man from U.N.C.L.E." and published between 1965 and 1968. Unhampered by television censors, the novels were generally grittier and more violent than the televised episodes. The series sold in the millions, and was the largest TV-novel tie-in franchise until surpassed by "Dark Shadows" and "Star Trek".


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: "The Rainbow Affair" is notable for unnamed cameos by The Saint, Miss Marple, John Steed, Emma Peel, Willie Garvin, Tommy Hambledon, Neddie Seagoon, Father Brown, a retired Sherlock Holmes (aged nearly 100), and Dr. Fu Manchu.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Whitman Publishing published three hardcover novels aimed at young readers: "The Affair of the Gunrunners' Gold" and "The Affair of the Gentle Saboteur" by Brandon Keith, and "The Calcutta Affair" by George S. Elrick. The first two broke the "...Affair" naming convention used by the franchise on most other TV episodes and book releases.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The digest-sized "Man from U.N.C.L.E. Magazine" featured original novella continuing the adventures of Solo and Kuryakin. Published under the house name "Robert Hart Davis", they were written by such authors as John Jakes, Dennis Lynds, and Bill Pronzini. 24 issues, which also offered original crime and spy-fiction short stories and novelettes, and occasional SF and fantasy reprints under the title "Department of Lost Stories", ran monthly from February 1966 to January 1968. An additional novella entitled "The Vanishing City Affair" was advertised on page 140 of the January 1968 issue for the proposed (but never published) February 1968 issue. It is as yet unconfirmed, however, if this novella was shelved for possible future release elsewhere or if it was ever written at all.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Three science-fiction novels appear to be rewrites of "orphaned" U.N.C.L.E. novel outlines or manuscripts: "Genius Unlimited" by John Rackham (a pseudonym of Phillifent), "The Arsenal Out of Time" by McDaniel, and "Agent Of T.E.R.R.A. #1: The Flying Saucer Gambit" by Jack Jardine (writing as Larry Maddock).


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: There have been four TV Annuals published in UK between 1967 and 1970 by World Distributors which features written stories and reprint of a Gold Key Comics story which were never published in the UK.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: In November 2007, after coming to an agreement with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Time Life released a 41 DVD set (region 1) for direct order, with sales through stores scheduled for fall 2008. An earlier release by Anchor Bay, allegedly set for 2006, was apparently scuttled because of a dispute over the rights to the series with Warner Home Video.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: On October 21, 2008, the Time-Life set was released to retail outlets in Region 1 (North America) in a special all-seasons box set contained within a small briefcase. The complete-series set consists of 41 DVDs, including two discs of special features included exclusively with the box set. Included in the set was the "Solo" pilot episode, as well as one of the films, "One Spy Too Many". Paramount Pictures and CBS Home Entertainment released "Return Of The Man From U.N.C.L.E." to DVD in Region 1 on March 3, 2009.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: On August 23, 2011, Warner Archive Collection released "The Man from U.N.C.L.E. 8-Movie Collection" on DVD via their "manufacture on demand" service. On November 4, 2014, Warner Home Video released the complete series set on DVD in Region 1 in a new repackaged version. On August 4, 2015, Warner Home Video released an individual release of season 1 on DVD in Region 1. Season 2 was released on February 2, 2016.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: In Region 2, Warner Bros. released the complete series set on DVD in the UK. They also released a separate movie collection on September 8, 2003. The DVD contains five of the eight movies, missing the following: "To Trap a Spy" (1964), "The Spy in the Green Hat" (1966) and "One of Our Spies is Missing" (1966).


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" (which replaced "U.N.C.L.E.") in its premiere episode Jan. 22, 1968 one week after the final episode of "U.N.C.L.E." aired during the cocktail party sketch has Man From Uncle as the punch line of the final joke, prompting Leo G. Carroll in a cameo as the bartender to pull out a radio pen and say into it, "Kuryakin, get over here fast. I think I've found THRUSH headquarters at last!"


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: MGM's 1966 production "The Glass Bottom Boat" contains a scene in which Paul Lynde dresses up as a woman so that he can follow Doris Day, whom he suspects is an enemy agent, into the Ladies' Room. As he makes his way through a crowded party, he passes the bar - at which Robert Vaughn is standing in evening dress. The musical score strikes up the Man from U.N.C.L.E. theme as Napoleon Solo gives the Lynde character a bemused once-over.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: In 1967, MGM released a theatrical "Tom & Jerry" short produced and directed by Chuck Jones titled "The Mouse from H.U.N.G.E.R." paid homage to the show, with Jerry as a secret agent JERRY-AKIN 00 1/7", [a pun on both Illya Kuryakin and James Bond] tasked with the mission of retrieving a sizeable stash of cheese from the villainous Tom Thrush (portrayed by Tom).


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: References to the show in popular culture began during its original broadcast when it was parodied in an episode of "The Dick Van Dyke Show," fittingly titled "The Man from My Uncle". References in other television shows have continued over the years, including a 2010 episode of "Mad Men" called "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword". It has also been referenced in other television shows including "Get Smart" and "Angry Beavers,".


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The TV show "My Favorite Martian" (1963–1966) also used CRUSH as the name of the evil spy organization, spoofing THRUSH in two episodes. In the season two episode "006 3/4", Tim finds a distress note from Agent 006 of Top Secret, who is being tracked by CRUSH. Top Secret asks Tim to assist Agent 004, to save 006. In the season three episode "Butterball" Uncle Martin must rescue Tim who is kidnapped by Butterball.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: A 1966 episode of "The Avengers" was titled "The Girl from AUNTIE". AUNTIE was the name used by Mad Magazine in its parody of the Man From U.N.C.L.E. - it was said to stand for "Association for Unbelievably Nauseating Television and Idiotic Entertainment."


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: In a 1966 episode of the sitcom "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" titled "Say UNCLE", the young twins are fans of "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." and become convinced that their father Jim is a secret agent. In one scene, they watch Jim emerge from a tailor shop similar to Del Floria's. Another man entering the shop asks Jim for a match, and Jim gives him his matchbook. The boys are astonished, because the other man is David McCallum, identified in the ending credits as Illya Kuryakin; they believe their father has just passed a secret message to the "real-life" Illya Kuryakin. The scene ends with the "U.N.C.L.E" scene transition: the action freezes and goes out of focus.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: It was also referenced in Glad commercials in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which starred the "Man from GLAD", a trenchcoat-wearing agent who flew around in his combination boat/helicopter demonstrating Glad products to suburban housewives and saving the day.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: In 1970, a "secret agent" theme was used by Australian confectionery manufacturer Allen's to market their Anticol cough lozenges, with TV commercials running under the title "The Man From A.N.T.I.C.O.L.", featuring agent "Napoleon Brandy" combatting illnesses being spread by the agents of S.L.A.S.H.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: In a late 1986 episode of "The A-Team," Robert Vaughn – who had been added to the show's cast as mysterious retired agent for the show's final season, as part of an effort to revive flagging ratings – was reunited with guest star David McCallum, in an episode entitled "The 'Say U.N.C.L.E.' Affair". This story paid homage to "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," complete with chapter titles, the word "affair" in the title, the phrase "Open Channel D", similar scene transitions, and much mention of Vaughn's and McCallum's respective characters having once worked closely together as agents. But in this story, McCallum's agent had turned villainous, selling out to the enemy and now capturing Vaughn to try to find out the whereabouts of a Soviet jet fighter.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Beginning in 2003, McCallum starred in the CBS television series "NCIS" as Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, M.D., a medical examiner. During the episode "The Meat Puzzle" (season 2, episode 13), as an inside joke, Naval Criminal Investigation Service agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) is asked, "What did Ducky look like when he was younger?" Gibbs responds, "Illya Kuryakin". The photo supposedly of a younger Ducky is actually a promotional photo from McCallum's "Man from U.N.C.L.E." days.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: On the fifth episode of the fourth season of "Mad Men" (2010), "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword", as Sally Draper is watching an episode of the show at a sleepover, she is caught by her friend's mother absent-mindedly masturbating (apparently to David McCallum's Illya) while staring at the television. The episode shown is approximately correct for the year and month (March 1965) the "Mad Men" episode is set in.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: "" was a British television comedy series written and performed by Ben Elton. The title of the series was a play on words of both the American spy series "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." and "Auntie", an informal name for the BBC.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: A scene from "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." is shown in the HBO movie "Temple Grandin," the biographical movie about Temple Gradin who overcame many of her symptoms to acquire a Ph.D. in Animal Sciences, and in an early scene from the film, Claire Danes, who played Grandin in the film, repeated a line from the episode "The Gazebo in the Maze Affair": "Would you like for me to open the gate?"


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The TV show was mentioned in the 2019 film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood". There's a scene where Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) is told by casting agent Marvin Schwarz (Al Pacino) that due to Dalton playing the heavy in weekly television, he'll get typecasting to play the heavy in other media.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: A colorful whip pan shot, similar to the TV show scene transitions, appears in before the ticket-to-Okinawa and ticket-to-Japan scenes. Chapter Four is also titled "The MAN From Okinawa".


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Gold Key Comics released comic book series based on The Man from U.N.C.L.E in 1965 - 1969 and it ran for 22 issues.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The 1965–1969 comic book series T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents (The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves) (Tower Comics), a strange combination of secret agents and superheroes, was inspired by the success of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E".


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The Marvel Universe spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Marvel Universe terror society Hydra (both created in 1965) were inspired by the "Man From U.N.C.L.E." television program.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: "The Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E." was a "Man From U.N.C.L.E." parody in Archie Comics published in 1966–1967. The comic portrayed Archie and the gang as a group of high-tech spies, as part of world-defense organization P.O.P. (an acronym for Protect our Planet). Their chief enemy was a counter-group known as C.R.U.S.H. (a spoof on THRUSH but whose acronym was never explained). Although Reggie, Veronica and Moose were initially cast as C.R.U.S.H. agents, they later became members of P.O.P. All the characters also had undefined acronyms for names (A.R.C.H.I.E., B.E.T.T.Y., etc.). R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E. stood for "Really Impressive Vast Enterprise for Routing Dangerous Adversaries, Louts, Etc."


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Ted Mark's "The Man from O.R.G.Y." ("Organization for the Rational Guidance of Youth") series of erotic literature paperback (Lancer Books) was a take-off of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E". The series ran from 1965 to 1981 and inspired a 1970 film. Another 34-title "The Man from O.R.G.Y." series was published by Paperback Library from 1967 to 1973. Another similar title was "The Man from S.T.U.D.", by F. W. Paul (Paul W. Fairman), which published 11 titles between 1968 and 1971. Rod Gray's "Lady from L.U.S.T." (League of Undercover Spies and Terrorists) erotic fiction novels were a take-off of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E"; 25 books in the series were published between 1968 and 1975. Other similar pastiche paperback series included "The Man From T.O.M.C.A.T.", "The Miss from S.I.S.", "The Man from S.A.D.I.S.T.O.", "The Man from P.A.N.S.Y.", and "The Girl from H.A.R.D."


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: "Lyra and Bon Bon and the Mares From S.M.I.L.E." is an upcoming title in the "" chapter books published by Little, Brown, and Company, to be released in March 2016.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: Musical examples include the song "Man Called Uncle" from Elvis Costello's 1980 album "Get Happy!!" and an Argentinian funk duo who took the name Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas honoring the fictitious spy. Alma Cogan paid a similar tribute to the Russian agent in her single "Love Ya Illya", released in 1966 under the pseudonym "Angela and the Fans". In the 1980s, Martin Newell penned "Ilya Kuryakin Looked at Me"; the song was later covered by The Jennifers. The English two-tone band The Specials made an instrumental song called "Napoleon Solo". It was also the name of a Danish 2 Tone band. Space–surf band Man or Astro-man? covered the theme song for their 1994 EP "Astro Launch". Man or Astro-man are instrumental, not surf however. The British trip-hop group Unkle derive their name from the show.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The protagonist in the spy-fi video games "" (2000) and "" (2002) works for an organization known as U.N.I.T.Y. The villains in both games work for an organization known as H.A.R.M. In the first game the main character (Cate Archer) overhears two H.A.R.M. guards talking about how they thought Man from U.N.C.L.E. was a good show.


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The video game "Team Fortress 2" (2007) has an achievement referencing the show, named "The Man From P.U.N.C.T.U.R.E."


title: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

text: The fourth episode of the Paperback Warrior podcast focuses on "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." novels and their impact on the spy-fiction genre. The show's co-host, Tom Simon, discusses both Michael Avalone's "The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (a.k.a. The Thousand Coffin Affair)" novel as well as Harry Whittington's "The Doomsday Affair". Additionally, the co-host points to many successful authors contributing to the series' novels and novellas and suggests a three-book series entitled "The Man from W.A.R." by Michael Kurland was directly influenced by "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." series.


title: Silent Hill (video game)

text: The game follows Harry Mason as he searches for his missing adopted daughter in the eponymous fictional American town of Silent Hill; stumbling upon a cult conducting a ritual to revive a deity it worships, he discovers her true origin. Five game endings are possible, depending on actions taken by the player, including one joke ending.


title: Silent Hill (video game)

text: "Silent Hill" received positive reviews from critics on its release and was commercially successful. It is considered by many to be one of the greatest video games ever made, as well as a defining title in the survival horror genre, as it moved away from B movie horror elements toward a more psychological horror style, emphasizing atmosphere. Various adaptations of "Silent Hill" have been released, including a 2001 visual novel, the 2006 feature film "Silent Hill", and a 2009 reimagining of the game, titled "". The game was followed by "Silent Hill 2" in 2001, and a direct sequel, "Silent Hill 3", in 2003.


title: Silent Hill (video game)

text: The objective of the player is to guide main protagonist and player character Harry Mason through a monster-filled town as he searches for his lost daughter, Cheryl. "Silent Hill"s gameplay consists of combat, exploration, and puzzle-solving. The game uses a third-person view, with the camera occasionally switching to other angles for dramatic effect, in pre-scripted areas. This is a change from older survival horror games, which constantly shifted through a variety of camera angles. Because "Silent Hill" has no heads-up display, the player must consult a separate menu to check Harry's "health". If a DualShock controller is used, a heart beat rhythm can be felt signifying that the player is at low health.


title: Silent Hill (video game)

text: Harry confronts monsters in each area with both melee weapons and firearms. An ordinary man, Harry cannot sustain many blows from enemies, and gasps for breath after sprinting. His inexperience in handling firearms means that his aim, and therefore the player's targeting of enemies, is often unsteady. A portable radio collected early in the game alerts Harry to the presence of nearby creatures with bursts of static.


title: Silent Hill (video game)

text: The player can locate and collect maps of each area, stylistically similar to tourist maps. Accessible from the menu and readable only when sufficient light is present, each map is marked with places of interest. Visibility is mostly low due to fog and darkness; the latter is prevalent in the "Otherworld". The player locates a pocket-size flashlight early in the game, but the light beam illuminates only a few feet. Navigating through Silent Hill requires the player to find keys and solve puzzles.


title: Silent Hill (video game)

text: "Silent Hill" opens with Harry Mason's drive to the titular town with his adopted daughter Cheryl for a vacation. At the town's edge, he swerves to avoid hitting a girl in the road, and as a result, he crashes and loses consciousness. Waking up in town, he realizes that Cheryl is missing and sets out to look for her. The town is deserted and foggy, with snow falling out of season, and he begins to experience bouts of unconsciousness and encounters with hostile creatures. During his exploration of the town, he meets Cybil Bennett, a police officer from the neighboring town who is investigating the mysterious occurrences. Dahlia Gillespie, a cultist, gifts him the Flauros, a charm which she claims can counteract the darkness spreading through the town. In the town's hospital, he encounters its director, Dr. Michael Kaufmann, bewildered by the sudden changes in the town, and discovers a frightened, amnesiac nurse, Lisa Garland, hiding in one of the rooms.


title: Silent Hill (video game)

text: Harry can later rescue Kaufmann from a monster, discover evidence of Kaufmann's role in the local drug trafficking, and stumble upon Kaufmann's hidden bottle of aglaophotis, a supernatural liquid that can exorcise demons. Harry comes to believe that a darkness is transforming the town into someone's nightmare, which is why the inhabitants have mostly disappeared. Dahlia urges him to stop "the demon" responsible for it—the girl in the road who appears to him sporadically—or Cheryl will die. Continuing his search, Harry finds himself drawn into a fight with Cybil, who has become the host to a supernatural parasite; the player can choose to save her. The next time Harry sees the girl, the Flauros activates and neutralizes her telekinetic powers. Dahlia then appears and reveals that she manipulated Harry into catching the girl—an apparition of her daughter, Alessa.


title: Silent Hill (video game)

text: Harry then awakens in the hospital again, next to Lisa. Lisa explains that she experienced a sense of deja vu while in the basement, and when he finds her again, she despairs that she is "the same as them". She pleads with Harry to save her, but Harry pushes her away and blood starts to run down her face; horrified, he flees. Her diary reveals that she nursed Alessa during a secret, forced hospitalization. Alessa's never-healing wounds terrified her, as she fell deeper into a drug addiction fueled by Kaufmann. Finding Dahlia with Alessa's defeated apparition and charred body, Harry demands to know Cheryl's whereabouts: he discovers that seven years earlier Dahlia conducted a ritual to force Alessa to birth the cult's deity; Alessa sustained significant burns when fire used in the ritual escalated into a conflagration, but survived because her status as vessel rendered her immortal, while her mental resistance to the ritual caused her soul to be bisected, preventing the birth. One half manifested as the infant Cheryl, whom Harry and his wife adopted. Dahlia then casts a spell to lure Cheryl back, while Alessa was imprisoned within the hospital, enduring unceasing agony as a result of her injuries. With Alessa's plan thwarted and her soul rejoined, the deity is revived and possesses her.


title: Silent Hill (video game)

text: Development of "Silent Hill" started in September 1996. The game was created by Team Silent, a group of staff members within the Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo studio. Konami sought to produce a game that would be successful in the United States. For this reason, a Hollywood-like atmosphere was used for "Silent Hill". According to composer Akira Yamaoka, the developers did not know how to proceed with the "Silent Hill" project, either. As the time passed, the personnel and management of Konami lost their faith in the game, and the members of Team Silent increasingly felt like outsiders. Despite the profit-oriented approach of the parent company, however, the developers of "Silent Hill" had much artistic freedom because the game was still produced as in the era of lower-budget 2D titles. Eventually, the development staff decided to ignore the limits of Konami's initial plan, and to make "Silent Hill" a game that would appeal to the emotions of players instead.


title: Silent Hill (video game)

text: For this purpose, the team introduced a "fear of the unknown" as a psychological type of horror. The plot was made vague and occasionally contradictory to leave its true meaning in the dark, and to make players reflect upon unexplained parts. Director Keiichiro Toyama created the game's scenario, while programmer Hiroyuki Owaku wrote the text for the riddles. Toyama did not have much experience of horror movies but was interested in UFOs, the occult and David Lynch movies which influenced the game's development. Toyama questioned Konami's decision to appoint him as director, as he had never been one prior to "Silent Hill".


title: Silent Hill (video game)

text: The localization company Latina International translated the script into English. The town of Silent Hill is an interpretation of a small American community as imagined by the Japanese team. It was based on Western literature and films, as well as on depictions of American towns in European and Russian culture. The game's joke ending came out of a suggestion box created to find alternative reasons for the occurrences in Silent Hill.


title: Silent Hill (video game)

text: Artist Takayoshi Sato corrected inconsistencies in the plot, and designed the game's cast of characters. As a young employee, Sato was initially restricted to basic tasks such as font design and file sorting. He also created 3D demos and presentations, and taught older staff members the fundamentals of 3D modeling. However, he was not credited for this work as he did not have as much respect within Konami as older employees. Sato eventually approached the company's higher-ups with a short demo movie he had rendered, and threatened to withhold this technical knowledge from other staff members if he was not assigned to 3D work. As a consequence, his superior had to give in to his demand, and he was allowed to do character designs. Instead of relying on illustrations, Sato conceived the characters of "Silent Hill" while creating their computer-generated models. He gave each their own distinctive characteristics, but made Harry almost completely neutral as he wanted to avoid forcing interpretations of the game on the players. Creating the skull shapes for the faces of the American cast was difficult because he had no Caucasian co-workers to use for reference. Although Sato was largely responsible for the game's cinematics and characters at this point, his superior still did not want to fully credit his work, and intended to assign a visual supervisor to him. To prevent this from happening, Sato volunteered to create the full-motion videos of "Silent Hill" by himself. Over the course of two and a half years, he lived in the development team's office, as he had to render the scenes with the approximately 150 Unix-based computers of his coworkers after they left work at the end of a day.


title: Silent Hill (video game)

text: Sato estimated the game's budget was lower than the cost of Japan's biggest games at the time. He said the development team intended to make "Silent Hill" a masterpiece rather than a traditional sales-oriented game, and that they opted for an engaging story, which would persist over time—similar to successful literature. The game debuted at the 1998 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, where the presentations of movies and in-game scenes garnered applause from the audience. This favorable reception persuaded Konami to allot more personnel and public relation initiatives to the project. Konami later showcased "Silent Hill" at the European Computer Trade Show in London, and included a demo with its stealth game "Metal Gear Solid" in Japan.


title: Silent Hill (video game)

text: The names and designs of some "Silent Hill" creatures and puzzles are based on books enjoyed by the character of Alessa, including "The Lost World" by Arthur Conan Doyle and Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". The game contains several real-life references, particularly in characters' names. Cheryl Mason's first name is based on actress Sheryl Lee's first name, and Lisa Garland's surname is taken from actress Judy Garland. "Michael Kaufmann" is a combination of Troma Studios producers Michael Herz's and Lloyd Kaufmann's first name and surname, respectively. Alessa's original name was "Asia", and Dahlia's was "Daria", based on the first names of actresses Asia Argento and Daria Nicolodi—Argento's mother. Harry's name was originally "Humbert", and Cheryl's was "Dolores", in reference to the protagonist and title character of Vladimir Nabokov's novel "Lolita". The American staff altered these names, as they considered them too uncommon. Fictitious religious items appearing in the game have used various religions as a basis: the evil spirit-dispelling substance Aglaophotis, which is said to be made from a medicinal herb, is based on a herb of similar name and nature in the Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism); the "Seal of Metatron" (also referred to by Dahlia as the "Mark of Samael") references the angels Metatron and Samael, respectively; and the name of the "Flauros" was taken from the eponymous demon appearing in the "Lemegeton", a book on magic said to have been compiled by writings of King Solomon. Certain items and doors in the "nowhere" dimension of the game were given names based on occult elements in order to symbolize magical traits of Dahlia. The names of these doors were taken from the names of the angels Ophiel, Hagith, Phaleg, and Bethor, who appear in a medieval book of black magic and are supposed to rule over planets. This motif of giving names that suggest planets was used to signify that "a deeper part of the realm of Alessa's mind is being entered", according to Owaku.


title: Silent Hill (video game)

text: The soundtrack for "Silent Hill" was composed by sound director Akira Yamaoka, who requested to join the development staff after the original musician had left. In addition to the music, he was in charge of tasks such as sound effect creation and audio mastering. Yamaoka did not watch game scenes, but created the music independently from its visuals. The style of his compositions was influenced by "Twin Peaks" composer Angelo Badalamenti. To differentiate "Silent Hill" from other games as much as possible, and to give it a cold and rusty feel, Yamaoka opted for industrial music. When he presented his musical pieces to the other staff members for the first time, they misinterpreted their sound as a game bug. Yamaoka had to explain that this noise was intended for the music, and the team only withdrew their initial objection after he elaborated on his reasons for choosing this style.


title: Silent Hill (video game)

text: On March 5, 1999, the album "Silent Hill Original Soundtracks" was released in Japan. The 41st track on the CD, the ending theme "Esperándote", was composed by Rika Muranaka. After Yamaoka had approached her to create a piece of music for the game, she suggested the use of bandoneóns, violins, and a Spanish-speaking singer. It was decided to make the song a tango, and Muranaka composed the melody for the English lyrics she had conceived. When she arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to record the translated Spanish lyrics with Argentine singer Vanesa Quiroz, Muranaka realized that the syllables did not match the melodic line any more, and she had to recompose it in five minutes.


title: Silent Hill (video game)

text: On October 29, 2013, Perseverance Records released a "Best Of" album, which features 16 newly interpreted instrumental tracks composed by Akira Yamaoka and arranged and performed by Edgar Rothermich. The 17th track on the album is the ballad "I Want Love" performed by Romina Arena.


title: Silent Hill (video game)

text: "Silent Hill" was released for the PlayStation in 1999, from February to July in North America, Japan, and Europe. It was included in the Japanese "Silent Hill Complete Set" in 2006. "Silent Hill" became available for download from the European PlayStation Network store of the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Portable on March 19, 2009. Two days later, the game was removed due to "unforeseen circumstances". On September 10, "Silent Hill" was released on the North American PlayStation Network. It was re-released on the European PlayStation Network on October 26, 2011.


title: Silent Hill (video game)

text: A radically altered version of "Silent Hill" was released for the Game Boy Advance. Titled "Play Novel: Silent Hill" and released only in Japan in 2001, it is a gamebook-style visual novel. It contains a retelling of "Silent Hill"s story through text-based gameplay, with the player occasionally confronted with questions concerning what direction to take the character, as well as the puzzles, which are a major part of "Silent Hill"s gameplay. After completing the game once, the player has the option of playing as Cybil in a second scenario, with a third made available for download as a paid-DLC on the device, once the second scenario has been completed. When the game was exhibited, Western critics were unimpressed, and criticized the lack of any soundtrack as severely detracting from the "horror" factor of the game.


title: Silent Hill (video game)

text: A film adaptation, also titled "Silent Hill", was released on April 21, 2006. The film, directed by Christophe Gans, was based loosely on the game, incorporating elements from "Silent Hill 2", "3", and "". Gans replaced Harry Mason with a female main protagonist, Rose Da Silva, because he felt Harry had many qualities typically perceived as feminine.


title: Silent Hill (video game)

text: When designing the film's visual elements, Gans was influenced by fellow directors Michael Mann, David Lynch, and David Cronenberg. The film's soundtrack includes music composed by Yamaoka. Although critical reaction was mostly negative, the film was a financial success and was praised by fans, especially for its visuals.