Honey West

We watched Honey West (La rubia peligrosa) in the ´70s, in black and white, and Anne Francis, the protagonist, was one of our most admired TV stars. Honey West fought all kind of criminals using James Bond techniques and had a man Friday. Honey West wore fashionably, with the help of  Nolan Miller.

En vocabulario: spin-off, man-Friday, alluring, gimmicks.

Honey West is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from 1965 to 1966. Based upon a series of novels that had launched in 1957, the series starred Anne Francis as female private detective Honey West and John Ericson as her partner, Sam Bolt.

The Honey West character was created by Gloria and Forrest E. “Skip” Fickling in the late 1950s. Forrest told the Los Angeles Times, “I first thought of Marilyn Monroe, and then I thought of [fictional detective] Mike Hammer and decided to put the two together ... We thought the most used name for someone you really like is Honey. And she lives in the West, so there was her name.”

West was one of the first female “private eyes” to ever appear on television. Francis first played West in Burke’s Law, which led to this series being commissioned as a spin-off. Honey West was intended to be the American equivalent of the popular characters Cathy Gale and Emma Peel in the British series The Avengers.

Patrick Mcnee and Honor Blackman

Producer Aaron Spelling's first choice for the role of Honey was Honor Blackman. Blackman turned the role down. Anne Francis’ fashions in the Honey role were by Nolan Miller, and her action scenes choreographed by Gene LeBell.

As in the Burke's Law episode introducing her, West has a partner and man-Friday, Sam Bolt (John Ericson), who communicates with Honey via a radio hidden in her lipstick case. In the television series, she keeps a pet ocelot named Bruce.

Honey's alluring feline qualities were reflected in her animal-print wardrobe and apartment decor. For sneaking around at night and engaging in energetic fight scenes, she wears a black fabric bodystocking reminiscent of Emma Peel's leather jumpsuit. Like Peel's Lotus Elan sports car, Honey's similar-looking AC Cobra convertible emphasized her independence and vitality. Although the racy content of the novels was excised for television, West often went on solo undercover missions that required a provocative or revealing outfit.

AC Cobra

She uses a number of James Bond-like gimmicks: a high-tech surveillance van, an exploding compact, a garter-belt gas mask, and tear-gas earrings. West is a black-belt in judo, as is Sam, who is an ex-Marine.

Honey West was cancelled after just one season. This came down to two factors: competition from Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., and the network reportedly decided it would be cheaper to import The Avengers and run it in the same time-slot than to keep producing Honey West. Nonetheless, Francis received nominations for a Golden Globe Award and a Best Actress Emmy for her performance.

Vocabulary

Spin-off: a by-product or incidental result of a larger project.

Man-Friday: a male personal assistant or servant.

Alluring: powerfully and mysteriously attractive or fascinating; seductive.

Gimmick: a trick or device intended to attract attention, publicity, or trade.

Para saber

Aaron Spelling was an American film and television producer. His productions include the TV series Family (1976-1980), Charlie's Angels (1976–81), The Love Boat (1977–86), Hart to Hart (1979–84), Dynasty (1981–89), Beverly Hills 90210 (1990–2000), 7th Heaven (1996–2007), and Charmed (1998–2006).

He was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants.

He´s the father of actress Tori Spelling.

Aaron Spelling

Honey West

Promo video of Honey West. Actors Anne Francis, John Ericson, Honey´s Cobra and ocelot, Honey in a bikini; are all parts of a TV series that was breaking barriers at a time where women could only be housewives.

The little girl at 2:50 is Marsha Brady.

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Esto es parte del archivo: La rubia peligrosa 

Fuentes

Honey West (TV series), Wikipedia