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Spy-movie props pique interest of CIA agents, museum visitors By LUCY KAFANOV KRT CAMPUS A life of intrigue and adventure as the next Agent 007 or sexy “Alias” spy Sydney Bristow may be the stuff of fiction, but the real props and gadgets from such flicks and shows are inspiring movie fanatics and intelligence agencies alike. Danny Biederman is one such I fanatic. He knows just what happened to those groovy glasses worn by Mike Myers on the set of “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery,” and he’s gotten to fiddle around with radio transmitters hidden in cigarette packs, pens and shoes. That’s because these items are his, along with more than 4,000 gadgets and props collected from popular spy shows from the 1950s to today. Biederman’s collection has been on display in museums and intelligence agencies across the United States, and is now featured in his book, “The Incredible World of Spy-Fi: Wild and Crazy Spy Gadgets, Props, and Artifacts from TV and the Movies.” (Chronicle Books, $19.95). At a recent book-signing event at a Barnes & Noble in Washington, D.C., Biederman had a chance to show off some of the most popular items from his collection. “For the past several decades, since,1970, I’ve been on a hunt in my spare time basically looking for these things,” said Biederman, a spy show enthusiast who is now an internationally recognized expert in spy pop fiction. “And it’s been a hobby because it’s just something that has captured my imagination. In my book, I tell not only the stories of each of these shows and movies and what they were all about, but also I interweave my stories about how I found the props.” Since he was 10, Biederman began saving money by babysitting and washing cars in order to buy some of the merchandise from his favorite shows. Toy props soon turned into the real thing as Biederman discovered Hollywood movie studio auctions. At MGM’s 1970 auction where items like Dorothy’s ruby slippers from the “Wizard of Oz” were sold, Biederman snagged several pieces from his favorite show, “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” “I found the Thursh uniforms — the enemy of U.N.C.L.E. — for like $5 a piece. Being a kid, I grabbed what 1 could given that I only had $30 or $40 in my pocket,” Biederman said. “It opened up a new world for me where I thought, ‘wow I can get the real things that these actors used’ and I’ve been doing that ever since.” While Biederman’s obsession with the international men and women of mystery never resulted in success as the next Pierce Brosnan, it did lead him to try his skills from behind the camera. After several attempts to write and direct homemade spy flicks, 16 year-old Biederman managed to snag an interview with Sean Connery, on the set of “Diamonds are Forever,” as a part of his I I • 1 .1 __ J _ . ___ UUUUU'Ul^. ov.wtvo uuv.umvmai^ called “A Spy for All Seasons.” “It totally took over my life and I didn’t know that this many years later that I’d be still dealing with spy stuff,” Biederman said. “But it inspired me to become a writer and then a filmmaker.” Although the gadgets featured in spy flicks or TV shows may be the stuff of science fiction, they have not gone unnoticed by intelligence agencies both here and abroad. “These movies were watched with great interest, not just by the American intelligence service but by the Russian service as well,” said Bob Wallace, former director of the CIA’s Office of Technical Service from 1998 to 2002, who wrote the introduction to Biederman’s book. “There was a sense among some of the Russian technical people that they believed much of the gadgets on the shows were actual capabilities that existed out there.” Wallace said that the spy movies and shows were also watched for their inspiration, whether in the creation of new gadget designs or PHOTO COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Danny Biederman, collector of spy movie props, has had his collections on display in museums and intelligence agencies across the nation. ror innovative disguise ideas. “When 1 was dir'Ttor of the OTS, I told my folks that they could go any of these movies and charge the ticket as an official expense because this is the imagination,” Wallace said. “The kinds of things that Danny has shown here, many times the only reason that we didn’t have them was because the physics and the technology hadn’t caught up. Yet the ideas were exactly what you would use in the espionage service, so yes the (shows) did have an influence on us.” At the book-signing event, Biederman talked about the difficulty of obtaining some of the props because of a lack of interest in preservation on the production companies’ side. “The production companies’ interest is in reusing things to save money in men productions, Biederman said. “They don’t look at props as their collectibles, instead the props will either get thrown into a pile or into a warehouse, or they will get broken down and reused, refurbished and repainted or they’ll just get thrown in the trash.” Biederman also explained that finding a specific prop is difficult as moviemakers often make several versions of the same item. “You never make one prop in a movie — you make several,” Biederman said. “Plus if the prop had more than one function, you make several of so that they will all look identical but each one will do different things.” When asked what prop he wished to find most, Biederman names the Cone of Silence, a prop from the 1960s spy comedy, “Get Smart.” New _._ l\/f * Jfor the week of March 14 J. rJL USIC “Greatest Hits” Crosby Stills & Nash “Live at the Fillmore” ) Los Lobos “Kerosene” Miranda Lambert “Human After All” / Daft Punk I “Everything’s OK” Al Green 5:30 - 7:00p.m. I For USC Students, Faculty, & Staff (and Families) Free Medications Included Space is Limited & Health & Wellness Call 296-CARE Programs_| to reserve your space l(W0„0 Specify "On-Campus USC Class" Please call 777-8248 for more information For March classes call by 3/4/05 T_ M