"Secret Treasures of Hollywood" International Spy Museum Runs through June
Everyone grew up with spies. James Bond, Maxwell Smart, Austin Powers: these are the names that come to most Americans' minds when they think about international men of mystery.
At the International Spy Museum the focus has always been on the real spy world, with only about five percent about popular culture. But a new exhibit features a collection of espionage artifacts used exclusively by film and TV secret agents. "Spy Treasures of Hollywood" presents 50 objects from the extensive spy fiction collection of Danny Biederman, a screenwriter and the author of "The Incredible World Of Spy-Fi."
On display is Maxwell Smart's shoe phone from "Get Smart," the self-destructing tape from "Mission: Impossible" and the tarantula that woke James Bond in "Dr. No."
"Most of what [people] know about [espionage] is formed by what the movies say," says Peter Earnest, executive director of the Spy Museum. "What we're doing is juxtaposing that against reality."
For Biederman, it was never the reality that made spies intriguing. It was growing up with television shows like "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." and movies like "Goldfinger."
"I loved the idea of the dashing agent, the beautiful women and all the gadgetry," Biederman says. His face lights up whenever James Bond is mentioned. His favorite Bond flick is "From Russia with Love," and he willingly offers his assessment of the actors who have played the title role. He likes Sean Connery best, followed by Timothy Dalton, George Lazenby, Pierce Brosnan and finally Roger Moore.
Biederman says he initially wanted to be a spy himself, but soon realized writing fiction and collecting spy-fi props would be a less dangerous career goal. He started collecting in the 1970s when MGM held a studio auction. Since then he has collected over 4,000 objects.
Anna Slafer, the Spy Museum's director of education and programming, worked with Biederman to select objects for the exhibit. She says the main challenge was choosing objects that would work well in the exhibit space. The eight feet tall cryogenic chamber from "Austin Powers" was too large, but handheld gadgets like the shoe phone were much better fits.
Biederman says his favorite object is the cigarette case communicator from "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." After years of searching, Biederman met with an old prop designer who said he might have the item. Soon after Biederman arrived, the guy told him he had thrown out the intricately detailed device months before.
While touring the prop man's warehouse, Biederman says his eye was drawn to a corner of gold visible through a hole in a trash cart. He reached his hand into the cart and discovered that it was in fact his "holy grail." "I was stunned," says Biederman. "It was like a miracle." Now the object lies securely behind glass in the Spy Museum.
Earnest says the exhibit is fascinating because it shows a symbiosis between Hollywood and the CIA. Earnest says Hollywood often helped the CIA with disguises, including one rescue mission in which Iran hostages were dressed as a film crew to make an escape.
An agent of the CIA's Clandestine Service in the '60s, Earnest says he would "go and harass the technical people [at the CIA] and say 'why don't we have that [gadget]?'" after watching an episode of "Mission: Impossible" on TV.
Even for non-spies however, "Spy Treasures of Hollywood" is a nostalgic treat.
