The Men From UNCLE

Apropos of nothing, here's a little bit of movie trivia that I just realized today.

There were two great male ensemble movies from the early 1960s that became a mainstay of American pop culture experience during the last 50 years: "The Magnificent Seven" and "The Great Escape." They always seemed related, of course, because Steve McQueen, Charlie Bronson and James Coburn appeared in both films.

Now, it seems, there is just one principal actor left from each film: Robert Vaughn is the only one of the seven, and David McCallum is the last of the fictional tunnel rats to try to dig his way out of Germany.

The two, of course, were even better known as Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin from "The Man From UNCLE."

Neither McCallum nor Vaughn made it out of their respective movies alive, but they are still happily with us today. — Lars Trodson