`The Incredible World of Spy-Fi` exhibit in Long Beach, California opens

What do a shoe, a tarantula, and a bowler hat all have in common? They all have played an integral part in a classic spy movie or television show. The Queen Mary of Long Beach is hosting an unusual but exciting exhibit which will stay aboard in a “secret” location until September 2007. I say secret because when you buy your ticket, you are given a password to give to a bookstore employee who will in turn reveal a secret door by a bookshelf.

It’s all a part of the experience of “The Incredible World of Spy-Fi" - reports the Long Beach Comber.

Maxwell Smart’s shoe phone, Jim West’s blue suit, James Bond’s gun, Emma Peel’s leather pants and John Steed’s bowler hat are among the 400 items selected from Danny Biederman’s Spy-Fi collection. Biederman has spent most of his life collecting all sorts of cool to odd spy memorabilia. Most of the neat gadgetry and period clothing on display is from the classic era of spy shows and movies so young kids might not recognize a lot of it but it is still fun to imagine yourself in these characters’ shoes. Well maybe not in their shoes, they may be dangerous.

“I salvaged these historic artifacts from the darkest, dustiest corners of old Hollywood soundstages and studio back lots,” Biederman explained.

“The amazing stories and offbeat trivia that accompany the pieces have been just as fun to collect, and really bring the items to life in this exhibit.”

Biederman is so enamored with some of these Hollywood personalities that he even named his son Bond. Now that may bring you to the conclusion that Biederman is just plain weird but look a bit more closely and you will find a man who actually managed to hold onto a bit of his childhood and pay homage to what made spy entertainment and escapism great. Just imagine if we didn’t have Ian Flemming’s 007. The movies based on his novels have made James Bond a household name and, for Biederman, in more ways than one.

Asked about the latest James Bond adaption, Biederman pointed out that Fleming’s “Casino Royale” is the only Bond novel to have been adapted to the screen three times. “Few people are aware of its history,” he said. “After its debut television production with Barry Nelson in 1954, the property was remade as a spy spoof featuring David Niven in 1967, and finally the current Bond thriller from MGM, starring Daniel Craig, where it was really done right.”

Today, Biederman’s collection contains more than 4,000 items and spans 50 years-from the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock spy thriller “North by Northwest” to such recent fare as “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery” and “Alias.” Whether it was a ten-foot-long storyboard from “I Spy,” James Coburn’s secret agent wardrobe from “Our Man Flint,” or Dean Martin’s gas-spewing camera from the Matt Helm movies, Biederman grabbed it before it could be lost or destroyed.

In the exhibit you will notice that “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” holds a special place in his heart. This collection of trinkets is the largest of the displays. That television show and the first James Bond movie, “Dr. No,” were Biederman’s first glimpse into the intriguing world of the well-dressed spy. Along with “Get Smart,” “The Wild Wild West,” “The Avengers,” and “Mission: Impossible,” these productions were among Hollywood’s interpretations of the Cold War, the CIA and the world of intelligence gathering.

Biederman has lectured on the subject of James Bond and cinema/TV spies at the C.I.A., the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, The International Spy Museum, The San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, and the Department of Defense’s top-secret N.R.O. Exhibits from the Archives have been touring the United States since 2000. Biederman lives in Los Angeles with his children Illya, Moriah Flint and Bond — all named for fictional spies.

Asked about how the CIA likes his homage to the spy genre, Biederman said, “They absolutely love it. As a matter of fact they call me up once in awhile and ask me about random trivia.”

The Incredible World of Spy-Fi exhibit will be open to the public daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Sept. 3, 2007.
Admission to the exhibit is included in the Queen Mary’s First Class Passage ticket ($27.95), All Aboard ticket ($29.95) and Boat & Dagger ticket ($15) or may be purchased separately for $10.

For more information, call (562) 435-3511 or visit www.spy
archives.com.

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