Danger Man (TV Series) An Affair of State (1960) User Reviews

Good if a bit short

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 12 November 2013]

John Drake (Patrick McGoohan) is sent to the tiny (and fictional) country of San Paulo. This is because a US Treasury Department representative is dead and the government there insists it was a suicide--but some folks have doubts. In particular, the dead man's wife insists that the man the government describes is not at all like her husband and she insists it's some sort of conspiracy. And, just before her husband died, he mentioned that he had some BIG discovery! What is it? When Drake digs deeper, he discovers corruption in the government of San Paulo--so who can he trust? I could say more but don't want to spoil the plot twists (though the summary does a good job in this department!).

All in all, this is a very good episode of "Danger Man". Though, like most of my reviews on this show, it is too short. Fortunately, a few years later "Danger Man" would be extended to one-hour episodes and it was retitled "The Secret Agent".

Another below average episode

[bensonmum2 · 6/10 · 24 September 2014]

John Drake's Mission: Drake is sent to the nation of San Pablo to investigate the reported suicide of a U.S. Treasury agent.

As with The Sanctuary, An Affair of State is just good, not great. The problem here is the predictability of the plot. Once the vault filled with gold is mentioned, it's not hard to tell where things are headed. Most of the really good Danger Man episodes have a twist or two to throw you off. That's not the case here.

While not the best episode, there were still moments I really enjoyed. First, Drake's cat and mouse with the head of the San Pablo police was well done. Second, the supporting cast was good. I always enjoy seeing John Le Mesurier. And, third, this is probably the first episode where Drake actually seems to care about someone. The final scene at the airport is very un-Drake like. It's an interesting touch.

Overall, this one gets a 6/10.

A yawner

[lor_ · 25 March 2024]

Perhaps "Goldfinger" has made me jaded - I remember the excitement of seeing that classic Bond film in first-run nearly 60 years ago, and many times since. But this McGoohan episode that ends up in a vault full of gold has so little to offer the comparison was drastic.

Take a lousy story, add a poor supporting cast and you have a recipe for a clunker. After a teaser opener of a man tossed off a cliff and a local cop killed, the actual show goe nowhere.

Pat is sent to the Latin country San Pablo (yeah, right), adequately depicted on the back lot in England. He's supposedly a representative of the U. S. Treasury Department, investigating financial relations after the suicide of the department's rep there. Of course, we've seen the body disposal of the "suicide" in the teaser and nothing much interesting happens on the way to Pat getting to the truth, including fake gold bars in the vault.

The leading lady Dorothy White was a young Scottish actress who I had admired in "Get Carter" when I loved that film 50 years ago, and had forgotten completely since (none of her later roles were exported to America). She plays a Latin character unconvincingly here.