Oh, to be in the Swinging England of James Bond imitators during the ‘60s, a place of mods and spies, electric eyes and closed circuit cameras, exotic discotheques and posh country manors. The British television series “The Baron,” running from 1966-67, nowadays looks like a campy bit of colorful fun from the era that inspired Austin Powers. All 30 episodes are out now on a DVD set.
Hedging their bets on U.S. syndication, “The Baron” stared a Yank, American actor Steve Forrest, as John Mannering, an antique and art dealer dabbling in crime fighting. With a swank London apartment as his pad, Mannering jets across the world (courtesy of British Airways predecessor), to both sides of the Iron Curtain, often to recover stolen treasure.
A typical caper might involve a beautiful jewel thief who disables a gallery curator with a jet of sleep gas, smashes and grabs the Faberge and darts away in a flash car down London streets. In any given episode, women flung themselves at Mannering, who in those days was considered a suave poster boy for the Playboy lifestyle.
