Danny Biederman is an internationally recognized expert in pop spy fiction whose fascination with 1960s-era secret agent adventures inspired him to amass the world's largest collection of props from movie and TV spy thrillers. More than 4,000 artefacts make up his Spy-Fi Archives, which has been exhibited in major museums and featured in the world press. A screenwriter, producer and director, Biederman has served as an expert consultant to MGM Studios on their James Bond property.
Even people who aren t big spy movie fans know that James Bond gets
to play with some great gadgets. The same goes for the casts of
Mission: Impossible, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and I Spy. Biederman
has been immersed in the spy world, at least as Hollywood depicts
it, from the time of his youth in the 1960s, when he was introduced
to a world of "spies, gadgets, adventure, and beautiful
women-everything that a ten-year-old boy could possibly want."
Since then he has collected over 4,000 props from various sets,
amassing such an impressive trove that in 2000 the CIA asked him to
exhibit it at its headquarters. This book tells the story of each
TV series and movie through Biederman s props, which range from the
coat hook used in U.N.C.L.E. to open a secret passageway, to the
gold sofa that adorned James West s private railroad car in The
Wild Wild West. Biederman, a screenwriter who works as an expert
consultant to spy film producers, obviously knows the episodes of
each series inside out, and his love for the genre is evident in
his exuberant anecdotes (his search for his "holy grail," the
cigarette-pack transmitter from U.N.C.L.E., is particularly
dramatic). Fortunately, he isn t so obsessed that he can t take a
joke about his passion: he also enjoys, and has memorabilia from,
spy spoofs like Get Smart and Austin Powers. Few readers are likely
to be as enamored of the Hollywood spy world as the author, but
those who have some interest in it will enjoy perusing this
celebration of all things espionage. -Publishers Weekly
Even people who aren't big spy movie fans know that James Bond gets
to play with some great gadgets. The same goes for the casts of
Mission: Impossible, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and I Spy. Biederman
has been immersed in the spy world, at least as Hollywood depicts
it, from the time of his youth in the 1960s, when he was introduced
to a world of "spies, gadgets, adventure, and beautiful
women-everything that a ten-year-old boy could possibly want."
Since then he has collected over 4,000 props from various sets,
amassing such an impressive trove that in 2000 the CIA asked him to
exhibit it at its headquarters. This book tells the story of each
TV series and movie through Biederman's props, which range from the
coat hook used in U.N.C.L.E. to open a secret passageway, to the
gold sofa that adorned James West's private railroad car in The
Wild Wild West. Biederman, a screenwriter who works as an expert
consultant to spy film producers, obviously knows the episodes of
each series inside out, and his love for the genre is evident in
his exuberant anecdotes (his search for his "holy grail," the
cigarette-pack transmitter from U.N.C.L.E., is particularly
dramatic). Fortunately, he isn't so obsessed that he can't take a
joke about his passion: he also enjoys, and has memorabilia from,
spy spoofs like Get Smart and Austin Powers. Few readers are likely
to be as enamored of the Hollywood spy world as the author, but
those who have some interest in it will enjoy perusing this
celebration of all things espionage. -Publishers Weekly
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
