By Dean Brierly

Alexander Mundy: “Let me get this straight…I can catch complete episodes of the entire first season of It Takes a Thief on hulu.com?”

Noah Bain: “Not quite, Al. But how does 14 out of the first 16 grab you?”

Alexander Mundy: “Terrific!”

Nobody could lay as hip an inflection on the word “terrific” as Robert Wagner when he starred as Alexander Mundy in the coolest adventure/espionage series of the late sixties, It Takes a Thief. During the show’s three-year run from 1968 to 1970, the suave and sophisticated Wagner was the hottest thing going, even edging James Coburn (temporarily, at least) in the hippest actor sweepstakes. As anyone among the Cinema Retro generation knows, Mundy was a world-class thief whose one mistake landed him in San Jobel Prison. The man who put him there? Noah Bain, head of a shadowy government spy agency known as the SIA. In the show’s pilot episode, Bain offered Mundy an expedient if unconventional way out: steal for the government in exchange for a full pardon. Along with the gig came a cover identity that appealed to every man’s inner hedonist: Mundy would pose as an international playboy replete with swank estate and a succession of beautiful SIA operatives to assist him. The catch was a Big Brother surveillance system inside the mansion and strict orders to keep hands off the girls. Needless to say, Mundy routinely circumvented the SIA cameras and subverted whatever scruples the ladies possessed.

When he wasn’t macking on Bain’s private reserve, Mundy kept busy pulling off a string of high wire capers in the world’s hottest jet set locations—all without breaking a sweat. Unlike the preening poseurs currently afflicting Hollywood, Wagner’s cool was organic and understated. As Alexander Mundy, he projected a breezy self-assurance untainted by arrogance or condescension, and maintained his sangfroid in the face of the most dangerous assignments Noah Bain threw his way, thanks to an unparalleled and seemingly inexhaustible skill set. Mundy could neutralize any security system, crack any safe, outwit any adversary and, not least, talk his way into the arms of just about any woman in sight. Little wonder he was the envy of every kid who came of age during the show’s original run.

As an actor, Wagner had been building up to this breakout role throughout the 1960s. The first intimation of his Al Mundy persona can be glimpsed in The Pink Panther (1963), in which he plays the smooth, womanizing nephew of jewel thief David Niven. When he discovers his uncle’s cat burglar kit midway through the film, one can almost sense the actor’s dawning realization of his future career path. Wagner followed up with strong performances in Harper (1966), How I Spent My Summer Vacation (1967) and Banning (1967), each role adding further gloss to his onscreen charisma. By the time Wagner did the pilot episode (titled Magnificent Thief), his combination of physical grace and urbane demeanor was smoother than a shaken-not-stirred vodka martini.

As great as Wagner was, however, It Takes a Thief wouldn’t have been half as effective without the powerful presence of Malachi Throne as Noah Bain. Who can forget Noah's immortal line during the scintillating split-screen credit sequence set to Dave Grusin’s badass theme tune: “Oh, look, Al, I’m not asking you to spy, just asking you to steal.” The stage-trained actor with the deep, distinctive voice was all over the cult TV map during the 1960s and ’70s. With his burly physique and stolid, slab-like face, Throne excelled at playing gruff authority figures, yet his keen intelligence and surprisingly wide emotional range added fascinating layers to his performances. The potent onscreen chemistry he and Wagner displayed gave a real edge to their characters' adversarial relationship. Bain was a hard ass with a ruthless streak and frequently threatened to ship Mundy back to prison if he stepped out line. Yet he also maintained a healthy respect for Mundy’s criminal talents, as well as a grudging affection for the master crook himself. And in his own conservative way, Noah Bain was kind of hip too, matching Mundy in glib repartee and delightedly quashing his amorous aspirations at every opportunity. In the episode “When Thieves Fall In,” Bain surprises Mundy and a female SIA operative in a forbidden clinch. “We were just playing chess,” the flustered agent explains. “You’re lucky I arrived in time,” Bain retorts. “One more move and he’d have had you mated.”

TV's other dynamic duo of the 1960s: Robert Wagner and Malachi Throne

Throne’s complexity and grit were sorely missed when he left the series after the first two seasons. Edward Binns did a competent job as Mundy’s new boss Wally Powers, but he just couldn't match the Malachi Man. Ironically, it was Throne’s own rebellious streak that resulted in his leaving the show. “They had this idea of shooting the whole season in Italy, but they wanted me to stay behind and give Wagner’s character…orders over the phone. I told them if I didn’t go I’d quit, and I did. The show didn’t last another half a season.”

Unlike some programs that take time to dial in their formula, It Takes a Thief was perfect right out of the box. The show’s basic premise, fusing the heist and espionage genres, was a stroke of mad genius. Watching Mundy conduct his felonious pursuit of secret documents, jewels, missing scientists and whatever else the SIA needed stolen was fascinating in itself, but the spy tropes worked into the mix made things even more intriguing, giving the writers greater creative latitude to explore fresh narrative directions. As a result, Mundy could channel the larcenous vibe of Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief while simultaneously tapping into the Cold War dramatics of such contemporaneous shows as I Spy and Mission: Impossible. But no matter which way the scenarios swung, they were all invested with the kind of light touch that seems impossible to reproduce today. All three seasons maintained a nicely judged balance of humor and drama, never veering into camp (like The Man From U.N.C.L.E. did during its third season) or becoming overly serious.

Despite its iconic status and the respect it commands from legions of faithful fans, It Takes a Thief, for reasons known only to the Home Entertainment Gods, has yet to appear on DVD. When one considers that seemingly every other television show from that era has made it to DVD (including the most mindless retro rubbish imaginable), one has to wonder what license holder Universal Studios is waiting for. Fans looking to get their fill of Mundy’s adventures have had to make do with videotapes or gray market DVD-Rs of dubious quality—until now. The good folks at www.hulu.com, a free video streaming site founded by NBC Universal and News Corp., have stepped into the breach by making available 14 season one episodes in their entirety, with limited commercial interruptions.

Many fans consider the first season the best of the three. The stories were more inventive, the suspense was wound a little tighter, and the humor shaded a bit darker. (Here’s Mundy’s sardonic take on an East European security official: “The cat with the ball-bearing eyes is the man currently starring in the Baltic police department’s theater of cruelty.”) The Mundy-Bain interplay was also at its most contentious and compelling (although this aspect became slightly diluted when Mundy became a freelance operative in the second season). Even the faux European locales, courtesy of Universal’s back lot, don’t detract from the show’s sophisticated, escapist allure. Watching episodes like “Turnabout,” “The Radomir Miniature” and “Locked in the Cradle of the Keep” is to be reminded of a vanished entertainment era that privileged intelligence, wit and style.

The program’s celebrated guest stars also made memorable impressions during the 1968 season. In “To Steal a Battleship,” Bill Bixby plays a rival thief who muscles in on Al’s assignment, mistakenly believing they’re both after a priceless necklace, when in fact Mundy is interested only in recovering NATO defense documents. Bixby is excellent as the conniving competitor, adding some darker colors to his standard nice-guy persona. Season one also featured two of Susan Saint James’ five guest appearances as Charlene “Charlie” Brown, another fellow thief and Al’s occasional love interest. In the aforementioned “When Thieves Fall In,” Mundy must steal a sable coat with a map of I.C.B.M. missile sites sewn into the lining, and so enlists Charlie’s help to pull a double switch. St. James and Wagner spark off one another like erotic electrons in this episode while trading one-liners with the timing of a seasoned comedy team. Mundy: “What happened?” Charlene Brown: “Chloroform with a vodka chaser.” Mundy: “You’re not supposed to spray that stuff on yourself!”

Such exchanges are typical of the series’ unbeatable mix of action, suspense, humor and that elusive and seemingly out of fashion quality known as style. Short of Robert Wagner once again donning his cat burglar garb and breaking into Universal’s corporate black tower to liberate the original copies of It Takes a Thief, Hulu will likely remain the best place to indulge your fix of this television classic. Here’s hoping that seasons two and three will soon follow, so that Alexander Mundy fans everywhere will have further occasion to say, “Terrific!”