We must be the same ages (67), I also was 8 in 1965. Born on Christmas 1956 ( 2 months early celebrated entry !) the same year she was in that other male heart trob Sci-Fi first time Sx classic Forbidden Planet, as Altera, ithose 2 mini dresses !!
I was 6 yrs. old in 65 and this was my first real look at what sexy looked like. That long black dress she wore and her beautiful blonde hair was striking and certainly enough to get my attention . I became a fan
@@slyspy9819 Same exact scenario for me. I was so enthralled my parents got me a Honey West action figure for Christmas. I was so embarrassed that I accidentally threw it in the garbage with the wrapping paper. My parents exchanged it for some other toy I don't remember but I bet that action figures worth a lot of money right now
Ace in the Hole, with Kirk Douglas, is another good one for camera work....especially the final scene. I have no idea how it got passed tha movie censors of the time. It's pretty graphic.
Also "Summer Holiday" (1948), "Portrait of Jennie" (1948 - uncredited), "So Young, So Bad" (1950), "Lydia Bailey" (1952), "A Lion Is In The Streets" (1953), "Susan Slept Here" (1954), "Rogue Cop" (1954), "Bad Day At Black Rock" (1955), "Battle Cry" (1955), "Blackboard Jungle" (1955), "The Rack" (1956), "The Hired Gun" (1957), "The Crowded Sky" (1960), "Girl of the Night" (1960), "Brainstorm" (1965), and "Funny Girl" (1968). I'll leave it to someone else to add the pertinent made-for-TV movies.......
I noticed that too. Willing suspension of disbelief can cover so many impossibilities. It goes along with the 35mm film quality of the closed circuit camera (long before CCDS: it would have used a tube) and HD transmission through rabbit ears.
@@horstpfleugermann1472And I guess that in 1965 people were nowhere near as familiar with CCTV pictures as we are now, with every other doorbell a camera.
Great pilot episode. Anne Francis and Nancy Kovack kept this viewer's attention. The blonde with the diamonds was Pat Collins, The Hip Hypnotist. Oddly she was uncredited but this was the only time I saw her in a show where she didn't play herself. Loved the series back then and the DVD collection now.
I had a Honey West doll too!!! Wish I could find another one for my classics shelf. She wore the black cat suit with the little ankle boots n had a trench coat n the Ocelot, Bruce. Her car was AWESOME DELUXE!!! I believe it was a Jaguar!!! It was it in the Ferrari bracket!? I had a Datsun 240 Z in 1978 n a Porsche 911 in 1990's. Sports car fanatic!!! Honey West was a TOTAL Classic, n the show is STILL excellent!!!
Me and my besties were notorious nuts for Man from UNCLE in junior high! Sadly, the couple of times I've tried to watch it nowadays, it seemed awful! Just stupid. Honey has aged better, IMO.
Thanks for this. I loved the character. She and Emma Peel were the perfect rebuke to feminists who claim that guys like me don't like strong female characters.
Also a reminder that there were strong female action heroes with large and in charge personas long before Uhura or Police Woman or the "liberationsploitation" shows of the 70s and 80s. Remember Victoria Barkley.
@@Historian212 Barbara Stanwyck was fall of 65. This was piloted in 64 for Burkes Law..shown in Apr 1965, series in Sept 65 a year before Star Trek. Honor Blackmon was kicking butt in 1962/63. Barbara Stanwick was a tough police detective Lieutenant recurring guest role on the Untouchables in the late 50s early 60s. She also played tough a recurring guest wagon master on Wagon Train. Honey West were popular novels in the 50s. Uhura was created because NBC wrote a memo after the two pilots asking for more black and asian actors on the bridge and women in command or tactical stations....just not that actress in The Cage (because they knew). Yes Gene lied about that in his later memories.
@@Historian212 police woman was the 70s..."the long before" just morphed in to the femsploitation era reference. The 70s decade later Aaron Spelling would do Charlie's Angels
Thank you for bringing this back ~ Honey West was the first woman crime detective I ever watched. That was a long time ago ~ thanks for the memories 👏👏💖💋
I haven't seen this show since it first aired, but when I heard the theme music, my memory kicked in saying, "Wait -- isn't this different?" Now I'm going to have to find S1E1 to find out how it wound up sounding!
Originally, producer Aaron Spelling featured Anne as "Honey West" in the last "BURKE'S LAW" episode of the second season {"Who Killed the Jackpot?", April 21, 1965}, because, as he recalled in his autobiography, *"{W}e didn't have time to make a pilot. We met with ABC to tell them our idea about this sexy female private detective, and I had [costume desitner] Nolan Miller draw sketches of this very slinky, beautiful Honey for them. In one, she carried a whip and the other she was sitting with a tiger. 'And that', I said, 'is the show'. Like James Bond, it was based pn a series of books [by Skip & Gloria Fickling] and ABC bought it immediately."* After that, Spelling produced a formal pilot episode......but it was decided the series' premiere would be a different one {"The Swingin' Mrs. Jones", September 17, 1965}- and "The Gray Lady" (as this episode was finally titled) was "held" until telecast in a slightly different form on December 10, 1965.
Not just slightly different. In the first three scenes, Abbott, the thief answers the door of Nicole's hotel room and tells a hotel porter that he is Nicole's fiancé and to bring room service later. Honey references this meal when she appears. None of this is in the version that aired in December 1965. Later, while Lt. Keith is investigating the theft, the porter enters with the meal. The scene ends with Keith pondering the food. I wondered what the significance of this was until I saw this version. Instead of a mere tableau, we have the porter asking Nicole where her fiancé is. The porter is still clueless. In the next scene, between Honey and Sam, when she convinces him to take the case, there is a lot of backstory about how Sam used to work with Honey's father, before he left the firm to Honey. Not in the aired version. In fact, the scene is shot completely differently from the way it was done in the aired version. And so on, there are many differences between these two versions of the same episodes. Not least is the different framing of each scene and the music which is jazzy but less sultry than the music that became the "Honey West" theme music.
Spelling was trying to produce a similar appeal that The Avengers found in the UK with Honor Blackmon. After a year of getting trounced by Gomer Pyle on CBS, they realized it was far cheaper to just buy rights to air The Avengers...who had just recast with Dianna Rigg. This was the end of B&W and film noir shows looked dated. Networks wanted more comic banter and antics in COLOR.
I loved it too, as a 14-year-old. TV was so good in those days! Around the same time there was Hennessy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and Get Smart, and later The Avengers and Star Trek. The fabulous Sixties!
I loved Honey West in her white Jaguar XKE. She and Marilyn Monroe had the same taste in cars. Unfortunately, when Ford started sponsoring the show, Anne's car was replaced with a Cobra. Weirdly tho, Ford would end up in control of Jaguar a couple of decades later.
I even had s Honey West doll with the catsuit n snkle boots n Ocelot n sports car,!!! Wish I could find another vintage Honey West doll!!!! I also had 2 Twiggy dolls n the mist Awesome Twiggy magnetic paper doll with tons of outfits n accessories!!! I am STILL sn accessory fanatic!!! Thanks for walking me down 8 yr old memory lane,!!! Show is STILL excellent 👍,!!!!
this blonde was the best female detective in tv. realistic, athletic, strong and beautiful. girls like wonderwoman or advengers look so so thin and weak comparing to her.
Anne was a "solid and sexy" gal and she did a lot of her own stunts. I loved this series and I remember my sister had the Honey West doll. Strange thing , that doll .... Francis actually looked more like the Barbie from that era , her own doll looked nothing like her !!!
I like that she isn't super-powered, and the villains aren't dumb. She's cool and savvy, but in a grounded way that leaves room for real suspense. The bit where the villain reveals he knows karate is actually scary.
@@valgardener7656 u r right. but i dont understand why since anne francise there was no other female detective look and act like her. wile anne convince that her phisical strengh can be real, all the other women dont. just compare emma peel thin weak arms and legs to anne solid muscles...who would win??
@@1959viko Silly question. These are fictional characters. As with all such questions (Gandalf vs. Yoda, Hulk vs. Superman, etc.) the answer is "whomever the writer wants to win".
It was not on the DVD for this series, and it is illuminating in that it explains a few things that were, well, inexplicable in the version that aired. It is also clear that several scenes were shot two different ways, and probably at the same time; that is, I cannot imagine that the same cast was reassembled just to reshoot scenes. The aired version must have been edited using outtakes from the filming of this original version, which, I must say, I like better than the aired, canonical version. Notably, Sam is an employee of Honey, not the full partner that he seems to be in regular episodes of the series. Some scenes appear to have been completely reshot like the scene in their office. Honey's hair and gown are different in the two versions. Sam is wearing a different outfit here from the one he wears in the aired version, but it is the same outfit he wears in the next scene in both versions.
I watched Honey West on ABC Friday nights. I don't remember the gadgetry in this show - the lipstick communicator, for example. She must have been the inspiration for The Girl from U.N.C.L.E!
When ABC axed Honey West, she almost survived and relocated to the UK. The British producer, Lou Grade liked the show, but didn't like that it was filmed in black and white. Grade filmed his shows in colour, specifically because American Tv made the switch in 1958 and the UK had said they were going to follow in 1960, although continual dissatisfaction with the quality saw that delayed until 1967. He had two ideas on the table to bring West to the UK. In the first, he was going to buy the rights to the ABC show and relocate her to London, filming of course in colour. But that was quickly shelved in favour of a plan to write her into a newly commissioned show where she would be head hunted by a Geneva based UN crime fighting organisation. With a five year old daughter, it quickly became apparent Anne Francis wasn't keen on the idea of moving to the UK so the idea never really gained traction. The Geneva based show was made in 1968 as The Champions.
ABC dropped West to save money by airing The Avengers on syndication, realizing it had similar appeal. It was slotted against Gomer Pyle and the 50s film noir style was getting dated. Perry Mason and Burke's Law ended about this time too.
Or they didn't encounter her...she was first, before them, in live action. Batman was parodying Honey West with the rope climb...as she did it often and Batman TV show was being written as this was airing...produced a few months prior Really popular novels in the 50s. However ABC Aaron Spelling realized the series had the same basic appeal as Honor Blackmon on the Avengers, and suggested they replace her with a more M Appeal actress...then they just syndicated The Avengers from ABC, Assoc British Corp.
that would be funny.. maybe someone can edit something in.. and thet cross paths? SUPERCUT Every Window Cameo in Batman (1966-1968) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-WmyCgHyiNcE.html
@@STho205Batman lampoon of 1943 serial, The Avengers had been running in the UK for several years & Blackman only appeared in last 2 seasons b4 ABC brought Rigg b&w series to US. West 1st appeared in Burke's Law, Spelling wanted Blackman for the role but she had moved on to movies & refused him.
@@unowen-nh9ov Avengers had only run one season before the original lead quit. 1962, 2nd season Honor Blackmon (Mrs Cathy Gale) was hired...pushing Steed to the principal. So 1962 for leather clad kick ass woman detective/spy costar in UK. You'd already met some in The Untouchables, Burkes Law, Hawaiian Eye and other shows in the US 1959 to 65. Agent 99 in 1965 Girl from UNCLE Agent 22 1966 Several female spies and agents in the previous seasons of Man from UNCLE. Natasha Fatale 1959 to 64 (Animated comedy Bullwinkle) Jade (Jonny Quest) 1964 Cinnamon Carter 1966, MI, Desilu Studios Uhura was a product of the time. A popular trope, but in all the episodes she mostly got the phone or said "Captain I'm Frightened". Mirror Mirror was her only really tough woman episode, and she had a few brief "oh you didn't" quick scenes. Peggy on Mannix in 68- got more adventure sleuthing and intrigue episodes than Uhura. She was a costar too....not end credits.
FYI. They used a stunt MAN for Honey's double. It's obvious during the fight scenes. Notice that she gets taller in the faraway shots and smaller in the close ups.
@@Twentythousandlps Nancy Kovack was married to Zubin Mehta? Found out only days ago that Kathie Browne was married to Darren MacGavin and a few months prior that Nancy Olson was married to Alan Jay Lerner! This is all too much!
Interesting that it has a completely different score, not the Joseph Mullendore music, which was catchier especially during the scene where honey climbs down the side of the building.
I loved this show when I was 9 years old but my Mom wouldn’t let me watch it. She said ladies don’t fight and thought it would be a bad influence on me. 😅
Jennifer Garner of ALIAS has HONEY WEST to thank for ALL her badass swagger that she presented on the small screen to prepare the way for Slayers, Bionic Women, Mod Squads, Agent 99, Wonder Woman, Charlie's Angels, the Charmed Ones and even Xena's neck pinch, lol. LOVE THIS SHOW!!!!!! Watched RERUNS back in the day when I was a kid. This show is even BETTER in 2024. Honey West is an ADULT WOMAN who is PROUDLY sexy, stylish, strong, independent, smart, street savvy, willing to fight, studied in martial arts, skilled with guns, knows how to talk to sexist jerks and not desperate for anyone's approval/love. She isn't needy for a relationship, a sense of security nor is she feeling the biological urge to have kids. Honey is a sassy, sophisticated, private dick with ovaries of steel and a wild fierce pussy for a pet who is obviously her Spirit Animal. Ocelots for Emotional Support Pet of the Century! Thank you for posting. Watching this made me got to AMAZON to immediately buy the complete series on DVD. So worth it. They truly do NOT make entertainment like they used to. I'm done waiting/wishing for something good. Now I watch RU-vid and my own private video library cultivated mostly from thrift shops, Dollar Stores, garage sales and Ebay to get QUALITY vintage, award winning shows, CDs and movies for basically nothing. Meanwhile Hollywood and mortar & brick stores no longer sell, don't mass produce nor allow streaming of some of the best films and shows ever. Whole archives, media libraries and filmographies are just dying--- never to be seen or heard of again. It's truly sad.
Even though it's the time of the rise of British Rock combos in reality Jazz was very ubiquitous and recognized by everybody in the know from; Lenny Bernstein to Lenny Bruce, from André Previn to Henery Mancini and Michel Legrand from Antonio Carlos Jobim, and fading Aristocracy like Pannonica von Kroningwater to the French New Wave Directors jazz was everywhere in pop culture from 1955 through most of the decade till mid 70s. PS all the great brilliantly written jazzy incidental music you're hearing was played in real time by union musicians making great music and being paid very well...
Boy ! They changed her for the actual series. A different kind of woman ; less girl-like ; freer, more relaxed hair style ; deeper voice ; sexier personality ; throwing her head back more often ; glamorous costumes ... definitely improvements ... not for misogynistic reasons, but for creating a more interesting character ; otherwise, they could have stayed with the doris day persona.
Anne Francis was always good. Although this show has all the old-fashioned tropes of the time, it's still fun watch. Herb Tarlek's dad is also at the beginning. What more could you ask for?
I like the show I like the woman detective thing it was pretty much ahead of its time when you think about it. My only question though is is that cat of hers... It comes off more like a wildcat of something like those early hybrid ossi cats
Did you know that the blonde playing Babs Ivar is none other than Pat "The Hip Hypnotist" Collins? I don't know who the brunette nurse is, though. I wish I did.
This was a unique show for its time not only by having a female lead, but one who got "dirty." Unlike most of the other female dramas for the next ten years, Honey West would get hit over the head, punched, tied up, and expected to get out of it herself.
