Shoe Phone | |
---|---|
His and Hers Shoe Phones | |
Seen in | All seasons and both movies |
Kind of device | Phone |
Organization | CONTROL |
Used by | Principally Maxwell Smart |
The Shoe Phone a frequently used gadget of Maxwell Smart, appearing from the first episode "Mr. Big", ringing during a concert at Symphony Hall in Washington DC. It has appeared in many episodes of the series, becoming a pop culture item that was often associated with Maxwell Smart. It's known to be the first idea of a portable phone, often creating humorous situations, or causing Max trouble. It appeared in all five seasons and also returned in later movies.
Appearance[]
The Shoe Phone looks like an average dress shoe, but when Smart takes off the shoe's sole, a working telephone can be found inside. To make it fit into a shoe casing, the phone's mouthpiece is folded into the phone base.
Use[]
Maxwell Smart uses it to send and receive calls to CONTROL headquarters. Apparently, Max has a special direct line to the Chief's office available on his shoe phone.
Upgrades[]
At one point Max has a flashing vest button installed to indicate incoming calls because, he says, it attracts less attention than the ringing of the shoe. Pressing the second button places the call on hold [Episode #58: "A Man Called Smart, Part 1"]. Later, the hold button is on the shoe's heel [Episode #88: "Snoopy Smart vs. the Red Baron"].
In 1980, Max, now with PITS, is given a new shoe phone with touch-tone dialing and, in the other shoe, a matching answering machine. He also has a pair of boots fitted with the same equipment for use in the snow when he visits the Austrian Alps. [Movie: "The Nude Bomb".]
In the 1989 model, both shoes have phones in them and Max is now able to take two calls at once, switching between them using "shoe waiting" [TV Movie: Get Smart, Again!"].
Other Shoe Phones[]
On assignment at the Pomona National Golf Club Max and the Chief communicated using Golf-Shoe Phones, although the cleats proved uncomfortable on the face and the Chief's shoe had to be plugged in before he could answer [Episode # 104: "I Shot 86 Today"].
CIA agent Quigley uses a Snow-Shoe Phone to report in from the Arctic [Episode #125: "Ice Station Siegfried"].
Max's son Zach, as an agent with the revived CONTROL in 1995, has a Sneaker Phone ["Get Smart (1995)" series]. The location of the Sneaker Phone can be determined by putting a trace on the lace [GS95 Episode #4: "Shoot Up the Charts"].
Note that, although the above photograph shows Agent 99 with her own High-Heel Shoe Phone, she is unfortunately never seen using it onscreen.
KAOS also dabbles with the shoe phone idea; Siegfried is seen to use one on one occasion [Episode #48: "Cutback at CONTROL"] and another agent has a very uncomfortable-looking Boot Phone - with the receiver being lifted out of the boot itself [Episode #106: "To Sire, With Love, Part 1"].
In another variation, Professor Phineas Pheasant has a Sock Phone with which he is able to communicate from the sound-proof nuclear glass cell in which he is imprisoned [Episode #113: "Pheasant Under Glass"].
See also[]
For information on the use of the show phone in the Steve Carell movie see Get Smart (2008).