Man In A Suitcase - The Complete Series (8 Disc Box Set) [1967] [DVD]

This British made series from ITC (Incorporated Television Company) was made during 1967/8 starring American import Richard Bradford as McGill an ex USA secret agent down-on-his-luck and forced to take on Private Investigations to make a living outside of America mainly in the UK and Europe. The charismatic prematurely grey-haired Bradford portrays McGill as a hardboiled (with a slightly soft centre) loner with an eye for the ladies. He gives 100% in all the action sequences, which were pretty brutal for their time, his hard to handle screen image was reported to have extended off-screen! Sadly whatever the reason a second series was never made and Bradford's subsequent career never quite lived up to expectations, unlike Canadian Donald Sutherland for example, who appeared as different characters in Episode 10. DAY OF EXECUTION and Episode 26.WHICH WAY DID HE GO, McGILL?

The original 35mm film for each episode has been digitally remastered to a high standard, and extras in this 8 DVD Box Set include an interview with Richard Bradford and an informative ITC Episode Guide Booklet. Although the episodes were billed as 60 minutes running time, this was allowing for adverts on commercial channels actual running time for each episode as shown here is about 50 minutes. Those viewers who remember the sixties will no doubt enjoy this Box Set enormously having great pleasure in recognising many of the guest players in their younger days, others too should find much to enjoy!

The following is the complete list of MAN IN A SUITCASE Episodes in production order. All starred Richard Bradford as McGILL:

Episode 1. MAN FROM THE DEAD. Guest stars John Barry, Angela Browne & Stuart Damon. Directed by Pat Jackson.
Episode 2. ALL THAT GLITTERS. Guest stars Barbara Shelley, Michael Goodlife & Duncan Lamont. Directed by Herbert Wise
Episode 3. SWEET SUE. Guest stars Judy Geeson, George A. Cooper & Peter Blythe. Directed by Robert Tronson
Episode 4. THE BRIDGE. Guest stars Bill Owen, Jane Merrow, Rodney Bewes & Michael Culver Directed by Pat Jackson
Episode 5. FIND THE LADY. Guest stars Patrick Cargill, Maxwell Shaw, Jeanne Roland & John Garrie Directed by Robert Tronson
Episode 6. BRAINWASH. Guest stars Collin Blakeley, Howard Marion Crawford & Suzan Farmer Directed by Charles Crichton
Episode 7. THE GIRL WHO NEVER WAS. Guest stars Bernard Lee, Priscilla Morgan & Harold Goodwin Directed by Robert Tronson
Episode 8. VARIATION ON A MILLION BUCKS (Part One) Guest stars Ron Randall, Yoki Tani & Anton Rodgers Directed by Pat Jackson
Episode 9. VARIATION ON A MILLION BUCKS (Part Two) Guest stars Ron Randall, Yoki Tani, Norman Rossington Directed by Robert Tronson.
Episode 10. DAY OF EXECUTION. Guest stars Rosemary Nichols, Robert Urquart, Donald Sutherland & Sally Geeson Directed by Charles Crichton
Episode 11. WEB WITH FOUR SPIDERS. Guest stars Ray McNally, Jacqueline Ellis, Ralph Michael & Simon Oates Directed by Robert Tronson
Episode 12. BLIND SPOT. Guest stars Marius Goring, Felicity Kendall, Derek Newark & William Dexter Directed by Jeremy Summers
Episode 13. THE BOSTON SQUARE. Guest stars Rex Everhard, Peter Arne, Vincent Ball & Jeanna L'esty Directed by Don Chaffey
Episode 14 JIGSAW MAN. Guest stars Paul Bertoya, Michael Sarne, Maurice Kaufmann & Bridget Armstrong Directed by Charles Friend
Episode 15. THE SITTING PIGEON. Guest stars Robin Bailey, Lois Daine George Sewell, James Grout & Garfield Morgan Directed by Gerry O'Hara
Episode 16. THE MAN WHO STOOD STILL. Guest stars Rupert Davies, Cyril Shaps, Alex Scott & Jeanna L'esty Directed by Peter Duffell
Episode 17. SOMEBODY LOSES SOMEBODY... WINS? Guest stars Godfrey Quigley, Jacqueline Pearce & Philip Madoc Directed by John Glen
Episode 18. DEAD MAN'S SHOES. Guest stars Derren Nesbitt, John Carson, Jayne Sofiano & Gerald Sim Directed by Peter Duffell
Episode 19. THE WHISPER Guest stars Patrick Allen, Colin Blakely, Sheila Brennan & Wallas Eaton Directed by Charles Crichton
Episode 20. ESSAY IN EVIL. Guest stars Donald Houston, Peter Vaughan John Carney & Wendy Hall Directed by Freddie Francis
Episode 21. WHY THEY KILLED NOLAN. Guest stars Sam Kydd, Ursulla Howells, Russell Napier & Griffith Jones. Directed by Charles Crichton
Episode 22. BURDEN OF PROOF. Guest stars John Gregson, Nicola Padgett, Wolfe Morris & Gerald Sim Directed by Peter Duffell
Episode 23. WHO'S MAD NOW? Guest stars Robert Hutton Audine Leith, Philip Madoc & John Harvey Directed by Freddie Francis
Episode 24. PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN Guest stars Terance Alexander, Justine Lord & Derek Francis Directed by Peter Duffell
Episode 25. NO FRIEND OF MINE Guest stars Clive Norton, Allan Cuthbertson & Philippa Gail Directed by Charles Crichton
Episode 26. WHICH WAY DID HE GO, McGILL? Guest stars Jennifer Jayne, Donald Sutherland Directed by Freddie Francis
Episode 27. THE REVOLUTIONARIES Guest stars Hugh Burden, Ferdy Mayne, Sonia Fox & David Summer Directed by Peter Duffell
Episode 28. THREE BLINKS OF OF THE EYES Guest stars Faith Brook, Drew Henley & Charles Lloyd Pack Directed by Charles Crichton
Episode 29. CASTLE IN THE CLOUDS Guest stars Gerald Flood, Gay Hamilton, Edward Fox & Sidney Taffler Directed by Peter Duffell
Episode 30. NIGHT FLIGHT TO ANDORRA Guest stars Peter Woodthorpe, Luanshya Greer & Ewan Hooper Directed by Freddie Francis

Possibly THE greatest TV series ever made, Man in a Suitcase stars American actor Richard Bradford as McGill, a ex CIA agent on the run. He is wanted dead or alive and now operates in an international 'no mans land', where risking his life is now part of his business as he travels the globe taking on cases to stay alive.

This classic ITC series, (THE SAINT, THUNDERBIRDS, THE PRISONER) is presented here by Network DVD in the best possible quality. It also includes an interview with the man himself, Richard Bradford, McGill.

A must buy and a hugely underrated series. One to treasure, especially in today's world of 'Celebrity' TV programmes.

Highly enjoyable spy/detective series made in 1967/68, featuring Richard Bradford as John McGill, ex-CIA agent forced to resign and now freelances as a pricey, globetrotting private detective.

Another fine series from the ITC Television Network, responsible for shows like "The Prisoner" and "Gideon's Way," this is a gritty, realistic and exciting set of episodes well-written with fast-moving plots and never short on action.

Bradford plays McGill with a degree of toughness and a laconic ease so well that he seems to be perfectly cast for the role. Trained at the NY Actor's Studio, Bradford was a Method actor and claimed Brando as his inspiration; in fact, Bradford had a supporting role with the Academy Award winning actor in the controversial film, "The Chase" (1966), directed by Arthur Penn. Supporting players, all fine character actors from ITC's stable, like Donald Houston, Angela Browne, and Judy Geeson, raise the bar of this rarely seen, but popular, detective series.

Compared to 'Danger Man's" John Drake, McGill is the antihero--a man for hire, keen and distrustful of others, with an eye for the ladies, but a man not without scruples. Shot in color, the series is markedly violent and in the fisticuffs McGill often finds himself in, the blood flows freely. But there is more: the stories and assignments McGill takes on are interesting as they are unusual at times. The international locales also add a bit of flair in contrast to the typical "Mannix" episode that was limited to that metropolis called Los Angeles.

This Network DVD set should be held up as a model of what all DVD sets should aspire to: pristine transfers from the original print (so clean they look as if they were shot yesterday), tons of extras including trailers, foreign titles, bumpers, behind-the-scene stills, a Richard Bradford interview (today, a mere shadow of the lean, handsome actor he was 40 years ago!), a full-color booklet, and more.

The set is available thru Amazon UK, but you will need a multi-region DVD player to view these Region 2 encoded discs. Nonetheless, "Man in a Suitcase" is a tight and shut case to hours of viewing enjoyment. And if the incidental music in "Man in a Suitcase" seems awfully familiar to that of 'The Prisoner" it should be--both were composed by Ron Grainer.