Get Smart: Island of the Darned (1966) – Review

In the mid-1960s, Buck Henry and Mel Brooks were tasked with creating a show about a bungling James Bond-like hero and that simple goal resulted in the creation of Maxwell Smart, a top-secret government agent who, while being absurdly clumsy and dim at times, managed to outwit numerous nefarious villains. Today we will look at how Max and his partner 99 survived being “The Most Dangerous Game.”

The episode begins with a cold open where we see a man being hunted through a jungle by a villainous-looking group, whose leader forgoes the use of his rifle and, instead, goes for the more unique weapon of choice, a blow gun, to provide the killing shot. We then cut to Agent Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) and his partner Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon) being brief by their Chief (Edward Platt) who is very concerned that Agent 27 hasn’t been heard from in four months. Worse is the fact that his assignment was a vital one. The Chief explains “He was on the trail of Hans Hunter (Harold Gould) who has been at various times, a high-ranking Nazi, a communist, a member of the Mafia and is right now one of the top executives of KAOS” and Max responds with “If there’s anything I hate, it’s a joiner.” Their discussion of the missing agent is then interrupted by the delivery of a rather larger crate, a crate that contains the body of the aforementioned Agent 27 who hasn’t just been killed but has also been stuffed like a taxidermized animal.

 

At least he wasn’t sent C.O.D.

After being outfitted with the required spy gadgets by CONTROL’s resident scientist Carlson (Stacy Keach Sr.) – in this case an anti-personal fishing rod and exploding cigarettes – and after a quick submarine ride, which the television budget will not allow us to see, Max and 99 arrive on the Caribbean Island of Mariba, which is believed to be where Hans Hunter is currently located. Unfortunately, almost immediately after their rubber raft makes landfall they are captured by Hunter and his minions. And faster than you can say “The Most Dangerous Game” Hunter announces that he plans to hunt Maxwell Smart because his collection of trophies is missing one thing “You, a homo sapien” to which an affronted Max decries “Now just a minute, Hunter. I’m as normal as you are” because nothing dates a comedy faster than gay panic jokes.

 

“I’m heterosexual and loving it.”

Stray Observations:

• The villain of this version of “The Most Dangerous Game” has the surname Hunter, which if not his non-deplume is a bit on the nose.
• Max deduces that the crate holding Agent 27 came from a Caribbean Island as it must have come from another hemisphere, due to the type of wood and return address, but the Caribbean is located in the same hemisphere as CONTROL headquarters in D.C. I guess geography isn’t one of his strong suits.
• Hunter tells Max “I could kill you very easily but I’ll give you one chance to live. A fifty-fifty chance. We will play a little game called Russian Roulette.” My math may not be the best but even I know that one bullet and six chambers isn’t fifty-fifty.
• This is one of the rare episodes that used extensive location shooting rather than sound stages and the Universal Backlot. The rope bridge sequence is especially nice, only missing a few Thuggee killers to make it perfect.

 

Maxwell Smart and the Temple of Doom.

Directed by Gary Nelson and with a teleplay by Buck Henry, William Raynor and Myles Wilder “Island of the Darned” is classic Get Smart, with its trademark satirical humour that pokes fun at the conventions of the spy genre while also delivering memorable one-liners and comedic situations. Don Adams shines in the role of Maxwell Smart, perfectly capturing the character’s blend of confidence and cluelessness. Furthermore, this episode boasts a fantastic supporting cast, including Edward Platt as the long-suffering Chief and Barbara Felton as the loyal but put-upon Agent 99 and for the villain of the day, we have Harold Gould giving it all as a fun KAOS agent with a fixation on Big Game Hunting, even if he’s somehow able to be defeated by a clueless Maxwell Smart.  One also has to appreciate a comedy series that has a fairly hefty body count.

 

“I’m going to die via exploding cigarettes, aren’t I?”

As a take on the premise of “The Most Dangerous Game,” this episode hits all the highlights, with Max and 99 setting up booby traps as they try to run out the clock on the hunt, and cinematographer Robert Wyckoff was able to stretch his legs with some nice location shooting. Overall, “Island of the Darned” is a great example of what made this series so great, with great banter and fun physical schtick it makes this is one worth tracking down.