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Horror, Movies, Science Fiction/Fantasy

[October 16, 1968] Cinemascope: Barbarella, Ice Station Zebra, and Night of the Living Dead

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An Exquisite Delight: Barbarella


by Natalie Devitt


[Striptease in space]

Hot off the heels of Danger: Diabolik, producer Dino De Laurentis is at it again with another comic book adaptation, this time Jean-Claude Forest’s Barbarella. The French-Italian co-production is based on the sexy French comic book and directed by Roger Vadim (1956’s And God Created Woman). The movie’s title character is played by the none other than Vadim’s wife, the gorgeous Jane Fonda, who since her breakout role in 1965’s Cat Ballou, has been making name for herself in Hollywood, beyond just benefiting from her already famous last name.


[Make love, not war]

As the film’s heroine, a “5-star double-rated astronavigatrix”, she is contacted by Dianthus, the President of the Republic of Earth (French actor Claude Dauphin) at the beginning of the film, requesting that she set out in search of a supposedly young scientist by the name of Doctor Durand Durand, who reportedly vanished into “the uncharted regions of Tau Ceti” after creating a weapon known as the positronic ray. The device is so powerful that it threatens “to shatter the loving union of the universe”, which had “been pacified for centuries.” Barbarella is the president’s last hope to bring the doctor to justice and prevent possible bloodshed, because he has “no armies or police.” That said, she is armed with some weapons from the Museum of Conflict for “self-preservation” and urged to use all of her “incomparable talents” during her mission.


[Barbarella at the controls of her groovy spacecraft]

Shortly after beginning her journey, Barbarella gets caught in a magnetic storm, which results in her crashing her spaceship into Planet 16, located in the system of Tau Ceti. While stranded there, she meets 2 “marvelous little girls” who knock her out with a snowball, I kid you not. After taking her captive, they bring her to what she recognizes as Doctor Durand Durand’s wrecked spacecraft, but he is nowhere in sight. In fact, most of the inhabitants of the planet appear to be children. Barbarella threatens them with, “untie me or I’m going to call your parents!” Unfazed, the kids sic a pack of creepy dolls with razor-sharp teeth on her, leaving her with some abrasions and badly torn clothes. Luckily for Barbarella, a man draped in furs, known as Mark Hand the Catchman (Italian actor, Ugo Tognazzi), comes to her rescue. He and the authorities capture the children in nets.


[What nightmares are made of]

Afterwards, Mark Hand takes her back to his vehicle, which is basically a cabin on wheels with sails. There, he suggests she repay him for coming to her rescue by making love to him the old-fashioned way, something apparently that has not been done in centuries on Earth, because there is a newer and more civilized way to do the deed, involving individuals taking a pill and pressing the palms of their hands together. Ever the adventurous type, Barbarella agrees, forgetting all about her recent injuries. He fixes her spaceship, offers her some clothing and a tip on the doctor’s possible location, Sogo.


[Barbarella with Mark Hand after he saves her from the children and the dolls]

Barbarella tries to flee Planet 16, but shortly after takeoff, her spacecraft crashes yet again, this time near Sogo, in the Labyrinth of the City of Night on a planet called Lythion. There, she meets a blind angel named Pygar, played by John Phillip Law of 1967’s Death Rides a Horse and more recently Mario Bava’s Danger: Diabolik. He tells her he has lost “the will to fly.” Pygar introduces her to a wise old man named Professor Ping. Here, French mime Marcel Marceau plays Professor Ping, who offers to help her fix her spaceship so she does not get stuck in the Labyrinth, a very frightening place, filled with those exiled from Sogo, City of Night. While Professor Ping works on her spacecraft, Pygar defends Barbarella against the Great Tyrant of Sogo’s guards. Later, one thing leads to another and they sleep together. Almost immediately after their encounter, Pygar miraculously regains his will to fly. He flies her to Sogo, but things take a turn for the worse when the guards to the Great Tyrant, also known as the Black Queen (and little one-eyed wench), spot them.


[Barbarella and her "fine-feathered friend" on their way to Sogo]

Barbarella and Pygar are taken in by the Black Queen’s guards. Model, actress and rock music muse, Anita Pallenberg, stars as the Black Queen. The earthling and the angel find themselves in the Chamber of Ultimate Solution, where they have to choose between 3 different types of death. Just as Barbarella and Pygar are about to choose, they are stopped by concierge to the Great Tyrant, played by Irish actor Milo O’Shea. Pygar and Barbarella end up being separated.


[Her Majesty The Black Queen]

The Black Queen gives orders for Barbarella to be thrown into a giant cage filled with birds, who peck at her and tear her clothes, again. She falls down a secret escape chute, which leads Barbarella into another room, where she meets Dildano, head of the revolutionary forces, played by David Hemmings (of Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow Up). They get to know each other better. Afterwards, they devise a plan to capture the Black Queen while she is asleep in her Chamber of Dreams, so she can “divulge the whereabouts of Doctor Durand Durand.”


[Barbarella in the cage filled with "darling" birds]

I would imagine for the more sophisticated filmgoer, Barbarella’s plot and characters leave much to be desired. Barbarella hardly grows over the course of the film. In fact, no matter what happens to her, she maintains a certain level of naïveté through the entire picture. The same can be said for most of the characters in the film, who tend to be very one-dimensional and are often pretty silly.


[Speaking of silly characters, here are Stomoxys and Glossina with Barbarella after they kidnap her]

Turns out the movie posters sum up what Barbarella is all about with the line, “See Barbarella Do Her Thing!” When the movie’s protagonist is not taking up a tryst with someone new, she quite literally has killer dolls and birds tear what little clothing she does wear to shreds. Barbarella also seems to be irresistible to both men and women. And while it is nice to see a female protagonist, especially one that does not conform often outdated and puritanical views around sexuality, she is clearly some sort of male fantasy. One thing that does make her and the film more complicated is that she sure seems to find herself being tortured a lot.


[Her name isn't pretty pretty, it's Barbarella]

The movie’s opening sequence, involves the main character stripping in zero gravity, before even one word of dialogue is uttered. This alone should tell the viewer exactly what lies ahead. In addition, Barbarella does not bother putting on a stitch of clothing in order to speak to, of all people, the president. Another scene involves the concierge to the Great Tyrant putting Barbarella in his machine, which will cause her to “die of pleasure.” But it turns out that his machine is no match for Barbarella! What I am getting at is that part the film’s charm is that it is pure fluff. Entertaining fluff, sure, but fluff nevertheless.


[Barbarella in the Excessive Machine]

To top things off, Barbarella drives what else but a pink spaceship that has an interior decked out with iconic paintings on the walls, gaudy statues, and floor to ceiling orange shag carpeting. Even if Barbarella is guilty of being an absolute spectacle of style over substance, it does feature some incredibly creative costumes by Paco Rabanne, decent special effects and impressively psychedelic set design. Also, the movie’s theme song had me singing “Barbarella, Bar, Barbarella” for days after watching the film.


[Barbarella inside the Black Queens's psychedelic Chamber of Dreams]

Barbarella probably will not be nominated for any of the major awards anytime soon, but it is still a fun ride. More serious SF fans may want to steer clear of the movie, but I would recommend it to viewers with camp sensibilities. Three stars.


[Will Barbarella and Dildano be successful in carrying out their plan?]

Ice Station Zero: Ice Station Zebra


by Tonya R. Moore

Ice Station Zebra is a paltry film for which, apparently, little expense was spared. The production is elaborate. The special effects and visual details are impressive. The actors’ performances are mostly convincing. The plot of this film, however, leaves a great deal to be desired.

First, some background:

The story of the Russian satellite in Ice Station Zebra is loosely based on real-life technology and events. Discover 2 was an American satellite, a prototype of the optical reconnaissance Discoverer series, launched in early April 1959. It was cylindrical in shape and its film return vehicle, the capsule, was manufactured by General Electric.

Though it neither carried film nor conducted surveillance, Discover 2 was the first satellite equipped with a re-entry capsule and was the first to send a payload back to Earth. As depicted in the movie, mission control did lose track of the capsule when a timing error caused it to land in the vicinity of Spitsbergen, Norway instead of Hawaii. Attempts to recover the capsule were unsuccessful and some suspect it may currently be in the possession of the Soviet Union.

The standout star of the film for SF fans is probably Patrick McGoohan (David Jones in Ice Station Zebra), who is famously known for his role as John Drake in the British television series, Danger Man (Secret Agent in the U.S.) and more recently, The Prisoner. McGoohan is actually an Irish-American who was born in Queens, New York and spent his childhood years in Ireland. The actor is based in England where he has performed in several notable film and television roles over the past decade. Sadly, his performance is not enough to elevate the film beyond mediocrity…

In the first scene of Ice Station Zebra, men in uniform sit in a cramped room equipped with sophisticated machinery, looking very serious.

This is followed by footage of a small object separating from an inexplicably phallic Russian satellite orbiting the earth.

The focus shifts to the main character. Rock Hudson stars as Cdr. James Ferraday, Commander of USN nuclear submarine, USS Tigerfish.

While visiting a drinking bar, Ferraday gets a call on the establishment’s phone.

He promptly leaves to go to another bar. At the second bar, he goes upstairs to a private room where he meets Admiral Garvey.

The admiral gives him a sketchy summary of some potentially disastrous incident at Ice Station Zebra, located at or somewhere in the vicinity of the North Pole.

Garvey issues an urgent order sending Ferraday and his submarine crew on an investigative rescue mission to Ice Station Zebra. They are to escort a certain David Jones to Ice Station Zebra, a man whose background they do not know. It is made clear that David Jones has some super-secret agenda pertaining to Russian military intelligence. His true objective for going to Ice Station Zebra is not to be divulged to Ferraday or crew.

David Jones, a paranoid Englishman of Russian origin with a noticeable dependence on hard liquor, isaccompanied by a platoon of marines led by Lt. Jonathan Hansen. Later, the Russian defector (?) Boris Vaslov…

… and Capt. Leslie Anders–The Token Black Man (played by Cleveland Brown and activist Jim Brown), are airlifted by helicopter to board the USS Tigerfish.

After a brief display of the requisite male posturing, the mission goes underway. (eg. Hansen is disrespectful. Anders puts him in his place.)

Upon reaching the North Pole, the USS Tigerfish attempts to breach the surface ice. The first few attempts fail so Ferraday decides to fire a torpedo at the ice.

Disaster strikes when the torpedo shaft/channel (?) suddenly opens. A deluge of freezing Arctic seawater comes pouring in and the USS Tigerfish starts sinking fast. The panicked crew and guests work together to get the situation under control and somehow, the number of casualties are limited to one.

Signs of sabotage are confirmed. Despite the presence of a born-Russian with questionable motives, Jones immediately suspects the Token Black Man of being the culprit instead. His reasoning? Anders comes with impeccable credentials and that just can’t be believable.

The USS Tigerfish successfully breaches thinner ice and surfaces. Ferraday leads Jones, Anders, Vaslov, the marines and a team handpicked from his own crew across treacherous the ice-scape, leaving someone else in charge of the submarine and its operations.

Following a near-death mishap on the way…

… the contingent arrives at the partially burnt out remains of Ice Station Zebra.

They locate some survivors while Jones begins frantically searching for the very secret, very mysterious object. Vaslov joins the search. Ferraday reveals that he actually knows that Jones is searching for a certain 8mm (?) / video tape (?) with highly classified spy intel containing footage and the locations of all of the US nuclear bases.

Reports of incoming fighter airplanes from opposing armies ramp up the urgency of the mission.

The Token Black Man is framed for someone else’s (Vaslov) treasonous act and shot multiple times (by Jones), to death. Naturally.

Disgusted by the stereotypical inevitability of this outcome, I took this opportunity to take a long bathroom break, returning in time for…

A transmission/press release is broadcasted reporting the successful rescue of Ice Station Zebra’s survivors.

– and all’s well that ends well, apparently.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

A Shambling Mess: Night of the Living Dead


by Amber Dubin

I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the first horror movie that I reviewed (Rosemary's Baby) that I thought I had been too quick to dismiss the horror genre entirely. Thus, with a freshly opened mind, I decided to celebrate the Halloween season with a bag of popcorn and a screening of what was promised to be another horror classic. I'll admit that the bar was maybe set too high, so I tried very hard to be kind in my assessment of The Night of The Living Dead. In this, I summarily failed. This film had many never-before-seen, innovative elements and a rather bold story-telling style, but I simply did not see it fit for a major motion picture screen. I could not help but feel like I was being led down a garden path with the promise of the type of character development and storyline that could support this decently to moderately talented cast, only to be jilted at the altar by the loosely shambled together pile of scene changes that make up this film.

Night of the Living Dead shambled into theaters October 1st, 1968

Night of the Living Dead does exactly this when it gets my hopes up in the opening scene. There is something to be said for tension built through hair-raising music played over shots of a lone Pontiac driving over rolling hills in a set of old-fashioned grainy black and white landscape shots. By the time we get to the first lines of the movie, I was already on edge in a subtle way that I was hoping would bode well for the types of thrills would continue throughout. This was my first disappointment, and just like the protracted winding trip that Pontiac took around turn after promising turn, this film alternately dilly dallied, rambled, and ultimately fell flat at a dead end.

The most grounded character in the movie

The opening lines of the movie are delivered by a couple of youngsters named Johnny and Barbra who are visiting the gravesite of their deceased father. They disrespectfully bicker over the obligation the whole time, carelessly switching the radio off right in the middle of an ominous "all points bulletin" and ignoring the slow approach of a shambling figure in the distance. Mocking his sister over her healthy fear of graveyards, Johnny practically tosses Barbra in front of the approaching stranger, only to instantly regret it when the man grabs her by the throat. Johnny comes to Barbra's defense but is overcome rather awkwardly by the man slowly wrestling him to the ground and smooshing the glasses off of his face. Barbra, ever the loyal sister, doesn't bother checking if Johnny is ok before running to the car by herself, losing her shoe and falling to the ground, because it's just not scary enough if the fleeing woman isn't both helpless and unlikeable.

Shoes have always been a woman's greatest weakness

She finds shelter in her locked car for a moment before the man manages to break the window with a brick. Suddenly, she realizes the key is in the ignition and she slowly rolls the Pontiac down the hill. Even though her path is unobstructed, she drives distractedly enough to veer off the road and ding her side mirror slightly on a tree. This mirror seems to be so vital to her escape, that she decides that it'd be safer to abandon the car entirely and run barefoot through the woods away from her attacker (utter genius, this one).

Mind you, the limping man in the graveyard had no special makeup on, so for all we know she just abandoned her brother to be assaulted by a partially disabled, demented, old man. Literally the only way I can assume the strange congregants outside are "living dead" people is because that's title of the movie.

Maybe he's just lost and looking to borrow a cup of sugar

I expected the film to fall into a "poor decision-making blonde flees from monster" formula at this point, but when Barbra seeks refuge in an abandoned house, this film abruptly loses the plot for me. Barbara's actions have made precious little sense up until now, but after entering this house, her cognitive abilities fall to absolute bits. The first illogical decision comes when she is startled by the corpse of the homeowner and decides to rush outside to take her chances with her pursuer, running directly into the headlights of an arriving car. She stands bathed in the blinding lights, confused and wincing as if bracing herself to be struck; instead a complete stranger emerges, grabs her up and rushes her back inside. Unlike I, who was shouting "who are you and where did you come from?" at the screen, Barbra offers no greeting or introduction to this stranger and immediately falls in line behind his frantic attempts to create safety and figure out what's going on.

Ben may cut a dashing profile, but it makes no sense why Barbra would trust him implicitly and make no attempt to ask or help him figure out what's going on

It is here that the stranger, whom we eventually come to know as Ben, takes the torch (sometimes literally) of the protagonist of the story. While Barbra dissolves into quiet hysteria, Ben violently dispatches several of the mindless congregants around the house, dragging their corpses to the lawn and setting them on fire to warn off the others. Once he's mostly boarded up the whole house by himself, Barbra launches into an awkward re-telling of everything we've seen her do in the film so far. Suddenly, she remembers she had a brother. She jumps up and throws herself at the newly sealed door, insisting "we must find Johnny now!" slapping Ben when he refuses. He immediately slaps her back, which normally would appall me, but here seems the only logical way to get the hysterical woman to stop throwing herself in front of monsters and cars.

Ben continues to secure the house, finding food and a weapon, hooking up a radio, and even bringing Barbra shoes as an apology for slapping her. When the radio crackles to life, we settle in with the now catatonic Barbra for our long-awaited first taste of an explanation of what on earth is going on in this world. We are offered the laughably pathetic explanation that the world is being seized by "an epidemic of homicide." We don't even get a chance to finish rolling our eyes at this when we are surprised by Barbra's scream as she witnesses people emerge from the basement.

Suddenly, basement people!

There's absolutely no logical explanation as to why four able-bodied people and a child would remain hidden in the cellar of a house with distressed survivors upstairs, only to emerge and be suddenly invested in those additional survivors coming back downstairs with them. Harry, the obnoxious, stubborn patriarch of the Cooper family, offers such a poor explanation for his motives that I wonder whether this scene had less of a script and more of a general direction to the actors to come up with their own dialog. The teenaged couple, Tom and Judy, are convinced by this awkward exchange to come up and help Ben, while Harry's wife and sick child remain downstairs. Here we are introduced to Helen Cooper, played by Marilyn Eastman, who is a strikingly beautiful, classy and sharp-witted woman. She's responsible for nearly every cogent argument in the film and is such a mismatch for her husband that we are left to wonder why such a talented actress is filling that role and not that of the protagonist.

The stakes are now raised by the fact that there are three women and a sick child to defend. This emboldens Ben to make a plan to escape that involves Ben and Tom getting to the gas pump and truck outside by the barn. It is here that a schism appears in the group, and Harry quietly makes it his mission to undermine Ben's authority for every decision Ben makes (in much the same way I expect he is accustomed to undermining all his wife's opinions).

Behind every bullheaded man, a long-suffering wife bonded to him by poor writing

In another jarring turn, the focus shifts once again to the teen couple, Tom and Judy. Judy begs Tom not to go outside with Ben. She offers little in the way of verbal persuasion, but the scene is suddenly charged with so much of a different type of tension that one wonders if their mutual attraction isn't based in real life. They're clearly not meant to make it out of this movie alive, but knowing this didn't soften the blow for me when their escape plan literally goes up in flames, and Judy's caught jacket condemns them to a particularly gruesome and fiery death.

A romance doomed to go down in flames

From here the rest of the film devolves into a fairly predictable series of disasters: Ben is forced to shoot an increasingly paranoid, maniacal and erratic Harry Cooper in self-defense, Barbara opens a door in order to be eaten by her now undead brother, and the survivors retreat to barricade the cellar. Karen, the little girl who's been lying prone and feverish suffering from an undead bite wound this whole time, suddenly springs to life as a crazed, cannibalistic creature. Her mother is just as shocked as the audience at this development, and she falls back, helplessly paralyzed in fear. To everyone's genuine horror, the child discards the bits of her father's flesh from her teeth as she advances on her mother, violently tearing her apart with a gardening spade.

Ben is set with the unenviable task of destroying the now undead nuclear family and he does so, huddling up next to the barricade afterwards and falling into a fitful sleep as the beleaguered lone survivor of this ordeal. The next day he emerges into the now silent and destroyed house. He is greeted with a swift bullet between the eyes from a sharp-shooting member of the crisis response team tasked with cleaning up the invasion of undead; thus rendering all the heroism and hard-fought survivalism of the entire film moot.

Karen picks up some unusual eating habits

Though I was disappointed in this film as a whole, there were several things I did enjoy about it. I found it added a layer of realism to have the story background delivered by inter-cut scenes of a TV broadcast filled with busy scientists and professors on Capitol Hill trying to say as little as possible to the microphones being shoved in their faces. I thought it was a creative, bold take to explain how their situation was caused when the "unburied dead" were exposed to radiation from a destroyed Venusian satellite. I even found it authentically frightening when the teen couple immolates themselves and Ben is left to fight through the darkness and the silently encroaching hoard with nothing but a chair leg torch, all the while having to listen to the unnerving gnashing and chewing sounds of the undead dining on the burnt flesh of the unfortunate couples' bodies.

Extra! Extra! No one Knows What's Going On!

While I recognize that the film is making an innovative attempt to enhance the drama with bold lighting choices, I see this attempt as a failure because the lighting is so severe that the audience is unable to see what's going on. A particularly disappointing example of this comes in the authentically scary moment where Karen is committing matricide, and she is darkened in such deep shadow that you can barely see her at all. I was also disappointed that the score was absolutely all over the place. The beginning crescendo of appropriate music only serves to make the rest of the sound in the film feel poorly balanced by proving that at least one member of the staff knows how to smoothly score at least one scene. Cymbals crash and trumpets blast when stationary objects are meant to surprise the viewers, cricket noises get played very loudly in a bizarre attempt to make the approach of the undead hoards eerie, and yet the sound suddenly dies when the situation takes an actual dire turn; In a genuinely scary moment when undead break the window open, they do so noiselessly and a grasping, attacking undead hand gets dismembered in frustrating silence.

What made me feel this film was not of high enough quality to be released in theaters was the unforgivably sloppy pacing and direction. The Barbra-centered, awkward, choppy scenes at the beginning felt padded for runtime, and yet we are rushed through a systematic slaughter of the entire cast at the end. The script of each scene varies in quality so wildly that there are tonal shifts fast enough to give me whiplash. I felt volleyed between at least one writer who understood how couples banter, and one that decided to put a group of actors in a room and suggest that they improvise. The end result makes the film feel like a loosely connected collection of scenes, rather than a cogent story that supports character development or enhances the performances of some of the cast's talented actors.

Ben, the tragic hero who couldn't defeat racism(?)

While I appreciated the idea that Ben's death at the end implies that his race makes him just as worthless to society as the monsters getting burned in the fields, it's a poorly executed and shoe-horned-in concept. If that was going to be the message in the end, the least that could have been done is that he be attacked or singled out based on his race; but even Harry's prejudice against him was not clearly race-related and could have purely stemmed from him being an overbearing, control-obsessed, vile man.

Next time I decide to watch a film with an open mind, I'll make sure to look out for brain eaters first.

Two stars.




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Science Fiction/Fantasy, TV

[July 10, 1967] Return to Collinsport (the gothic soap opera, Dark Shadows)

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by Natalie Devitt


[Collinwood]

It has been barely over a year since the unusual soap opera Dark Shadows started airing as part of the daytime lineup at ABC back on June 27, 1966, and already the program has teetered on the verge cancelation, although it appears that the show may be spared for now. 

Back in April, audiences were introduced to Barnabas Collins, a vampire originally from the 1700s played by Shakespearean actor Jonathan Frid, that was awoken from a long slumber after an attempted grave robbery by drifter Willie Loomis (character actor John Karlen was recast in the role after it was originally played by James Hall).  Frid was brought on the program as a guest star, and so far his character seems to be wildly popular with audiences.


[Willie at the Collins family mausoleum]

After arriving at Collinwood, mansion of the prominent Collins family, Barnabas claimed to be a long-lost cousin from England. He acted like it was just a coincidence that he bore an almost uncanny resemblance to a Collins family ancestor, also named Barnabas and who was featured in a portrait hanging in the foyer at Collinwood.  As they were unaware that Barnabas was undead and that he and the portrait’s subject were one and the same, Barnabas was able to gain the acceptance of his newfound family and set up residence at his original home, also on the property, determined to restore the aptly named Old House to its former glory. 


[Barnabas next to his portrait at Collinwood]

Surprisingly, Barnabas did not have much trouble adjusting to the present day, and it was not long until a number of strange incidences began occurring in the quaint New England fishing town of Collinsport.  Animals were discovered dead and drained of their blood.  Willie was discovered with an unusual wound near his wrist and was unable to recall ever being injured. 


[Collinsport, Maine]

Barnabas also met daughter of local artist Sam Evans (now being played by actor David Ford), waitress Maggie. Maggie is portrayed by relative newcomer Kathryn Leigh Scott, and now that she is no longer sporting a blonde wig, she's the spitting image of his late love, Josette du Pres, known for meeting an untimely demise at Widows Hill.  Shortly after meeting Barnabas, Maggie went missing and was presumed to be dead, but little did the residents of Collinsport know that she had been kidnapped and put under a trance by Barnabas, with the intention of turning her into his vampire bride – despite the fact Maggie is romantically involved with Carolyn Stoddard’s (newcomer Nancy Barrett) ex, Joe Haskell (theatre and television actor Joel Crothers).  Prior to her disappearance, she had been experiencing unexplained blood loss, just like Willie. 


[Barnabas and Maggie at the Old House]

Almost immediately with the arrival of Frid’s character on the gothic serial, the program really began to really change dramatically in tone.  In fact, Dark Shadows is starting to feel like a completely different show.  Sure, there had been supernatural elements sprinkled throughout the series, like the storyline involving Louis Edmonds' (Kraft Theatre ) character, Roger Collins’s estranged wife Laura (television and stage actress Diana Millay) being a phoenix, and the ones about the ghosts of Frenchwoman Josette du Pres and Collins fishing fleet manager Bill Malloy, but they seem to be becoming more commonplace, just like all of the séances they’ve been holding at Collinwood lately. 


[Ghost of Josette inside the Old House]

Veteran movie actress Joan Bennett receives top billing as family matriarch, Elizabeth Stoddard, having been the most established as an actor and being from a family of accomplished performers. Nevertheless, Dark Shadows was originally told from the perspective of Victoria Winters (Swedish actress Alexandra Moltke)–but her mission to find out her true identity after having been orphaned as a child seems to been put on the back burner for now.  I am still curious why Elizabeth was intent on hiring her as governess to her troubled nephew David, played by child actor David Henesy, in the first place.


[Victoria shortly after arriving in Collinsport]

I am happy to report that some other mysteries were solved, though. 

First, was the one involving the disappearance of Elizabeth’s husband, Paul Stoddard.  In fact, it was Elizabeth’s missing husband that set things in motion for Barnabas’ arrival at Collinwood in the first place.  As you may recall, Elizabeth’s husband had been missing and she had not left the Collinwood in more than eighteen years – that is until Paul’s old pal Jason McGuire (character actor Dennis Patrick) showed up at the family estate with Willie and an elaborate plot to blackmail her.  Long story short, Jason led Elizabeth to believe for years that she had murdered her husband, and that he had buried his remains in the basement. It turned out that she did not murder Paul after all, and Willie would go on to free Barnabas from his coffin.


[Elizabeth with her husband]

Second, finally viewers learned that the rift between Roger Collins and Burke Devlin (now being played by Anthony George who recently replaced Mitchell Ryan) was caused by Roger testifying against Burke in a vehicular manslaughter case that led to Burke spending several years in behind bars, when Roger was the one who was really guilty of the crime and Sam had been bribed to go along with Roger's story. 


[Elizabeth, Roger, Sam, and Bruke]

Even with its recent changes, I am still enjoying Dark Shadows.  What can I say? I am a sucker for atmosphere, and this show has it in spades, especially with its crazy twists and turns, a cast made up of mostly theatre actors, Sy Tomashoff’s set designs, composer Bob Cobert’s musical compositions, costumes provided by Ohrbach's, and all of its surprisingly ambitious special effects for television.  It does not hurt that each week, the show seems to adding more cobwebs and candles.  In recent months, the program also seems to be attracting an usually young audience for a daytime drama.  Rumor has it that the series is going to be making the leap from black and white to color later this summer.  I am curious to see how that will affect the tone and the popularity of the show.  Does Dark Shadows have any more tricks up his sleeve to ensure that it is not put back on the television chopping block? 



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Movies

[October 6, 1965] Go, baby, go! (Faster Pussycat!  Kill!  Kill!)

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by Natalie Devitt

From the moment the Russ Meyer’s new film (screenplay by Jack Moran), Faster, Pussycat!  Kill!  Kill! opens with a voice-over announcing, “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to violence!”, it is made perfectly clear that this film may not be everyone’s cup of tea.  The voice-over warns the audience of a “rapacious new breed” of woman that “prowls both alone and in packs.” When the viewer is introduced to the movie’s three leading ladies, they are hard at work at their place of employment, a go-go club.

Out of the club, the group’s leader, Varla, is heard letting out an evil laugh while speeding off in her Porsche.  She leads the other two women, each at the wheel of their very own sports car, out for some fun in the desert.  Faster, Pussycat!  Kill!  Kill! establishes early on that Varla, played by burlesque dancer-turned-actress Tura Satana (1963’s Irma La Douce), rules her group by intimidation.

Varla orders everyone around and can become pretty abusive, to both men and women.  Her wardrobe for the better part of the film reflects her personality.  She is usually dressed all in black, shirt with a plunging neckline, pants, and gloves.  She also has long dark hair with blunt bangs.  Others describe her as a “beautiful animal”, “cold one” and even “a real Jekyll and Hyde.” Her main love interest, another woman and brunette named Rosie, can be seen lighting cigarettes for her.  Rosie is played by Canadian actress Haji, who can also be seen in another Russ Meyer film this year, Motorpsycho.  Rounding out the trio is blonde beauty Lori Williams of Viva Las Vegas (1964) in the role of Billie.

While taking a break from driving, a couple in another vehicle pulls up beside Varla’s group.  Tommy, “an all-American boy” and “champion” of his car club, hopes the ladies do not mind if he and his girlfriend try running some timing trials next to them.  Tommy explains that he picked the location because it is “about the best measured strip around.” Varla gives them the go-ahead.  Timing Tommy’s driving is his girlfriend, the incredibly sweet and innocent Linda.  She is played by Susan Bernard (General Hospital), daughter of pin-up photographer Bruno Bernard.

Less than impressed with Tommy’s trials, Varla challenges him with, “I don’t beat clocks, just people.  You want to try me?” The other members of her group hop into their cars and start racing.  Shortly after, he and Varla wind up in a physical altercation. Varla strikes him repeatedly, then breaks his neck, killing him instantly.  Linda faints.  Worried that Linda could be a witness, the women kidnap her.

After fleeing the scene of the crime, Varla and the gang stop at a gas station.  A muscular but not terribly bright young man, a character known only as “the Vegetable” according to the film’s credits, catches Billie’s eye.  The gas station attendant informs Billie that the Vegetable is “kind of a nut” and his disabled father, who he lives with, is a real “sick character.” The attendant goes on to explain that the man’s dad was injured in a railroad accident.  His father received a hefty settlement and rumor has is that the money is hidden somewhere on the property.  With their curiosity piqued and Linda gagged and bound, the ladies set out in search of the money, but as the film’s introduction warns, “Violence devours all that it touches.”

The film wastes no time establishing the tone of the movie.  In fact, the film wastes no time at all, due in no small part to Meyer’s incredibly fast-paced editing.  I cannot help but think how much Meyer’s time spent filming combat footage during World War II, combined with photographing pin-ups early in his career, clearly shaped his very unique brand of filmmaking.

A large part of what makes me like Faster, Pussycat!  Kill!  Kill! is its sense of humor.  The surprisingly witty banter between the characters really prevents this motion picture about violence from becoming dark and depressing.  Another aspect of the film that helps to create a one of a kind movie-going experience is the music, including an excellent theme song provided by The Bostweeds.  What’s not to love about a song with lyrics like, “If you think that you can tame her, well, just you try!”

The cast, while not terribly experienced as actors, aside from bit parts here and there, or appearances in other Russ Meyer films, like Mudhoney (also 1965), are actually quite good together.  Varla, in particular, is fascinating and unlike any character I have ever seen in a movie.

She, along with her partners in crime, are usually photographed with the camera looking up at them or they appear in the foreground of a number of shots.  Sure, Walter Schenk’s photography helps to draw attention to their voluptuous figures, but the camera angles he utilizes also make the women appear larger than life and even more powerful, especially when they are posed with their hands on their hips or have a leg up on the bumper of a car.  Everything and everyone in Faster, Pussycat!  Kill!  Kill! is very over the top.  The film also incorporates a number of surprisingly creative shots, including a particularly memorable one from underneath Varla’s steering wheel during a racing scene.

Even though I hear that it is not performing very well at the box office, Faster, Pussycat!  Kill!  Kill! is essential viewing for the more adventurous moviegoer.  It is totally original and unlike anything you will see all year.




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[January 16, 1965] What a Difference a Year Makes (The Outer Limits, Season 2, Episodes 13-17)

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by Natalie Devitt

About this time last year, I was writing glowing reviews about The Outer Limits. It is a little disappointing that it is already time to say goodbye to the show. But with a number of changes behind the scenes, a new timeslot that certainly has not helped with ratings, and good episodes becoming few and far between, it does not entirely come as a surprise that the show did not even make it through a full second season. That said, it is with some sadness that I look back at the final five offerings from The Outer Limits.

The Duplicate Man, by Robert C. Dennis

In this adaptation of Clifford D. Simak’s 1951 story Goodnight, Mr. James, it is the year 2025 and “an alien life of unimaginable horror” called a Megasoid is on the loose, despite the fact that Megasoids “haven’t been permitted since 1986.” The creature is living in an exhibit at the Space Zoological Garden, unbeknownst to the site’s staff or visitors. Luckily, the Megasoid is currently less of a threat to the general public due to the fact that it is in the middle of its “reproductive cycle.“ Once the cycle ends, the alien’s instinct to kill reactivates.

It is up to the man responsible for bringing the Megasoid to Earth, a researcher named Henderson James, performed by Ron Randell of 1961’s King of Kings, to hunt the creature down. Rather than put himself in danger, James hatches a plan, which involves creating a duplicate of himself that can be “programmed to find and kill a Megasoid.” But he has to be careful because duplicates can be very realistic, with the ability to recall more and more of the original person’s memories the longer they exist, which can make it nearly impossible to differentiate between the two. This means that the duplicate must be destroyed as soon as its task has been completed. Unfortunately for James, that does not quite happen before the doppleganger has an opportunity to meet his wife, played by the lovely Constance Towers, who I must say has been making some interesting movies with director Samuel Fuller lately.

The premise of this episode could work in the right hands. Here, there are too many pieces that never quite seem to quite fit together; perhaps it simply tries too hard. Artistically, it certainly is ambitious, with its very stylized lighting, atmospheric musical score provided by Harry Lubin, great filming locations (which include the Chemosphere in Los Angeles), and some shots which appear to be fairly carefully composed. The costume design, while sometimes odd, takes some bold risks. On the topic of odd costumes, the episode’s creature looks a cross between a bird and a gorilla.

The dialogue and performances can be awkward at times. Even though it is a misfire, I have to give the show some praise for trying with The Duplicate Man. Two and a half stars, mainly for the art direction and production design.

Counterweight, by Milton Krims

Counterweight is based on the short story by the same name from writer Jerry Sohl. In this telling of his story, a group of five men, which include Michael Constantine (The Twilight Zone’s I am the Night- Color Me Black) and one woman, played by Jacqueline Scott (The Outer Limits’s The Galaxy Being), participate in an experiment that spans several months, a simulated journey in space to a planet called Antheon, in hopes of winning a cash prize. Inside their mock spacecraft is a panic button that anyone on board can press at any time for any reason if they want out of the experiment. In the event that the panic button is pressed, the entire experiment is terminated, and each of them goes home empty-handed. Once aboard, it is not long before strange and difficult to explain things begin happening to each of the crew members and they all start to blame one another, which jeopardizes the fate of the experiment. Is it all psychosomatic or is an outside force trying to sabotage them?

Perfectly good actors can not save Counterweight from itself, probably because there is absolutely no character development. Instead what we have is stereotypes, like the uneducated construction worker or the lonely spinster career woman. Growing worse as it unfolds, the hour’s final act is an absolute disaster, aside from a brief but memorable appearance by a much more entertaining stop motion plant creature.

Those factors combined with some seriously slow pacing overall, makes Counterweight extremely difficult to watch from start to finish. Having said that, there are a few effectively spooky moments, especially when each of the characters is trying to fall asleep, while unknowingly being targeted by a mysterious entity. Also, during these sequences, the musical score is especially effective. Still, one and a half stars is about all I can offer to Counterweight.

The Brain of Colonel Barham, by Robert C. Dennis

The United States is eager to be the first country to put a man on Mars. Colonel Barham (Anthony Eisley of Hawaiian Eye), with his “specialized knowledge about space technology”, is the perfect man for the job. The only problem is that he has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. His superiors in the military think they have the solution to solve everyone’s problems, so they propose that “his brain would be saved, perhaps forever, only the diseased, worn-out body would be discarded.“ Barham’s brain would then be attached to devices and sent into space.

Barham decides to save his precious brain and all of the esoteric information it contains. Once the procedure is completed, it is stored in a vat and hooked up to machines, which allow his brain to communicate with others. A short time later, it begins “developing new tissue.” It turns out there is an unforeseen complication of removing the brain from the body: it grows increasingly difficult to control. Anthony Eisley’s former Hawaiian Eye cast mate and star of 1957's The Incredible Shrinking Man, Grant Williams, also appears in the episode as a psychologist.

I love a good brain-in-a-jar story as much as the next girl, but this is not exactly the best rendition of the concept that I have seen. Sure, The Brain of Colonel Barham has its share of enjoyable silliness, but the episode is often bogged down by Barham’s cruelness. The voice-over used for Barham’s voice once his brain is removed is laughably bad, too. Two stars.

The Premonition, by Ib Melchior and Sam Roeca

When pilot Jim Darcy, played by Dewey Martin (The Thing from Another World (1951) and The Twilight Zone’s I Shot an Arrow Into the Sky) crashes his test plane at the exact same moment his wife, Linda (1953's The Wild One's Mary Murphy), loses control behind the wheel, time suddenly freezes, or so it seems. Reunited outside of time, they are given a glimpse of life ten seconds into the future. What they find is their daughter only seconds away from being hit by a truck. Do they try to intervene, even if it means that they risk remaining stuck in time?

Another time-related story from Ib Melchior (The Time Travelers, 1964), The Premonition is very flawed. Yet it is also easily the episode out of this entire batch that has stayed with me the most after viewing it, even though I must confess I did not care much for the character Jim.

The special effects are decent, though do not always stack up against last season's effects. There is also the fairly creative use of still photographs to explore time, which kind of reminds me of Chris Marker’s La Jetée (1962). Being a huge fan of the Left Bank directors from the French New Wave, that sort of thing is right up my alley. Much like many art house films, it leaves the viewer with a number of questions, but somehow I do not really mind. All in all, this hour of the series earns three stars from me.

The Probe, by Seeleg Lester

While aboard a plane flying over Japan, a crew, which includes actors Mark Richman (revisiting The Outer Limits for the first time since The Borderland), television western actor Ron Hayes and Juvenile Oscar winner Peggy Ann Garner, find themselves in a hurricane. After abandoning their plane, they incorrectly assume they are floating in their life raft, only to discover that they are not on water at all. They have actually been captured and are being held in a space probe. To make matters worse, they are being stalked by a strange creature, which they later believe to be “a mutant, a strain of germ that grew, and grew, and grew” that is also capable of duplicating itself.

I have some mixed feelings about The Probe. On the one hand, it can be incredibly corny, with its absolutely ludicrous creature, a microbe. During the scene where it duplicated itself, I nearly laughed so hard that I cried. On the other hand, the entry probably has the most convincing bunch of actors playing the most likeable, fleshed out cast of characters that I have seen on the program over the past five weeks, including the single most memorable female character.

Now, I am not usually one to get on my soapbox, but The Outer Limits has seemed to be growing less progressive in its depiction of women over the course of the second season, mostly relegated to playing nagging wives, victims or sad career women. Last season, the female characters were allowed to be much more complex and sympathetic, so Peggy Ann Garner’s character is a breath of fresh air. As a whole, I am not completely sold by The Probe, especially since it drags a little in the middle. Nevertheless, it is fairly entertaining, with actors who bring a degree of believability to even the weakest scenes, which is why it earns two and a half stars.

What now?

Reflecting on the last five entries of The Outer Limits, and on the series as a whole, The Duplicate Man was not as rewarding as it could have been, Counterweight had few redeeming qualities, The Brain of Colonel Barham could be amusing at times, The Premonition was worth the watch, and The Probe was nearly saved by its great cast. While there certainly were some great episodes from time to time towards the end of the program's run, this is pretty representative of the second season of The Outer Limits. A show that I truly hate to say became a shell of its former self.

Sadly, this was not the farewell anyone could have wanted for the series, especially since its departure (and the ending of Alfred Hitchcock Presents this spring) means an end to more than a decade of science fiction/fantasy/horror anthology shows.

When will we ever see their like again?

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[December 9, 1964] Out of Left Field (The Outer Limits, Season Two, Episodes 9-12)

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by Natalie Devitt

Only a year ago, I would eagerly wait for the latest from The Outer Limits. These days, being a fan of The Outer Limits has become a bit of rollercoaster ride, with some pretty high peaks, but far too many valleys. For this reason, the most recent entries of the series took me a little bit by (pleasant) surprise. Allow me to elaborate.

I, Robot, by Robert C. Dennis

I, Robot introduces the first two stories of Eando Binder's metal protagonist, Adam Link (Amazing Stories, 1939), to a whole new generation. The episode tells the story of a robot that is so advanced and almost human that he stands trial after being accused of murdering the very scientist who created him, Doctor Charles Link (Peter Brocco of The Twilight Zone’s Hocus-Pocus and Frisby and The Four of Us Are Dying). The “all-functional” machine, is able to read, “to think, to reason, to perform.” Not surprisingly, the robot goes by the name of Adam. It is assumed that the robot killed his creator simply because, “Doc was alone in his lab. Nobody else could have done it.“

Leonard Nimoy of The Twilight Zone’s A Quality of Mercy makes his second appearance on The Outer Limits — this time in a meatier role, after a very minor role in the less-than-stellar OL ep, Production and Decay of Strange Particles. Here, he plays reporter Judson Ellis, reporting on the case, which he refers to as “Frankenstein killed by his own monster.” Charles’ niece, Nina (television actress Marianna Hill), insists that Adam is “kind and gentle,” so she enlists the help of Attorney Cutler (Broadway star Howard Da Silva) at Ellis‘ recommendation. Throughout the trial, Adam insists that an accident caused Doctor Link‘s death, but Adam may be more human that anyone realized. So much so that he and the doctor were seen arguing right before Link’s untimely death.

I, Robot has an intriguing premise and a pretty remarkable cast of characters, which includes robot Adam Link, who has to believable enough for the episode to work. I, Robot could have benefited from slightly more creative photography, though. Another complaint I have is that little Christine Matchett, who is adorable, seems a bit miscast in the role of Evie, the girl who first encounters Adam. I do, however, find the flashbacks of the doctor assembling and training Adam with Nina to be quite charming. I have never been a fan of court dramas, but I may be a bit partial to this entry due to my weakness for references to Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein (1818), and there certainly are a lot of them. Perhaps too many. In any case, I, Robot is an enjoyable entry of the series, so it receives three stars.

The Inheritors Parts 1 and 2, by Seeleg Lester and Sam Neuman

This two part episode marks Robert Duvall’s second time on The Outer Limits (last season‘s The Chameleon), and he certainly does not disappoint. In The Inheritors, Duvall stars as Mr. Adam Ballard, the Assistant Secretary of Science, who is investigating four soldiers who have been shot in the skull during combat. The men not only miraculously survive, but seem to actually grow smarter as a result of their injuries. Ballard believes that “when the bullet was removed, another brain, an intelligence, got in and took over.” He sets off on a mission to find the “ore from which those bullets were made”, because he suspects that the bullets all came from the same meteoroid and that aliens may have “each man working independently under the compulsion of that brain in his head” on a top secret project.

Like many episodes this season, The Inheritors lacks any type of creature or "bear", and this entry is more than strong enough without one. Besides, Duvall’s Ballard character meets a pretty worthy opponent in Lieutenant Philip Minns (played by Czechoslovakian actor Steve Ihnat). Just superb performances all the way around. The writing does require some suspension of disbelief, but everything is so masterfully told that it almost doesn't matter. A number of scenes are nothing short of exquisite. Everything ends with an unexpectedly uplifting conclusion, which is enjoyable, assuming that you can tolerate an overly sentimental ending. Four stars.

Keeper of the Purple Twilight, by Milton Krims

Warren Stevens of The Forbidden Planet and The Twilight Zone’s Dead Man’s Shoes is scientist Eric Plummer, who is worried about losing funding for a project before he has a chance to finish it. Contemplating suicide, he is stopped by an alien named Ikar, who is capable of vanishing into thin air and also disguising himself as a human being (played by Robert Weber of 12 Angry Men), but is unable to feel human emotions. Eric trades with the extraterrestrial his emotions in exchange for the knowledge he needs to complete his project. Needless to say, things do not go according to plan, and Eric’s relationship with his girlfriend only complicates matters.

Interested in the episode’s title, I was really looking forward to watching Keeper of the Purple Twilight. Sadly, a memorable name is practically all that the episode has to offer. This hour of the program has some nicely atmospheric moments early on and decent special effects, but the episode soon grows less interesting the more things go on. Keeper of the Purple Twilight is filled with unsatisfying writing, wooden performances and incredibly irritating characters. Though, I have to praise the costume design, because all of the aliens are pretty sharply dressed in their crushed velvet suits. Two stars for Keeper of the Purple Twilight.

Things seem to have improved dramatically on The Outer Limits since this time just one month ago. I, Robot was a pleasure to watch, and both installments of The Inheritors were, hands down, the best offerings all month. Even with my complaints about Keeper of the Purple Twilight, this has without a doubt been the strongest month of the second season thus far. I can only hope this is an indication of what is yet to come.

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[November 13, 1964] Beat the Devil (The Outer Limits, Season Two, Episodes 5-8)

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by Natalie Devitt

Take Two

You may recall that the first month of the second season of The Outer Limits marked a big shift in the series, not just because the show experienced a number of major changes behind the scenes, but because the program only produced one truly memorable entry, The Soldier. Has the show returned to greatness or even surpassed expectations since we last met? Join me for a closer look at the latest from The Outer Limits.

Demon with a Glass Hand, by Harlan Ellison

Demon with a Glass Hand marks Robert Culp’s third appearance on The Outer Limits, after his previous roles in The Architects of Fear and Corpus Earthling. The third time is absolutely a charm. In this episode, Culp transforms into Trent, a man who recalls nothing of his past, but in the present is being pursued by human-like extraterrestrials called the Kyben.

The Kyben are after Trent to gain possession of his glass computerized hand, which “holds all knowledge.” His hand speaks, providing guidance to Trent to help him avoid capture. The Kyben already possess three of his fingers, which Trent needs in order to collect more information about his past. Along the way, he meets and is helped by a charming seamstress, Consuelo Biros, played by Arlene Martel of The Twilight Zone episodes Twenty Two and What You Need.

Harlan Ellison has done it again. Just like with The Soldier, Ellison‘s writing has helped The Outer Limits dive much deeper into science fiction. Ellison combines a lot of different things that, in the hands of a less skilled writer, might not work as well as they do here. The episode has an interesting premise, drama, action, and just a little bit of everything. Culp and Martel deliver spectacular performances. Back in the director’s chair is Byron Haskin, director of The War of The Worlds (1953) and this summer’s Robinson Crusoe on Mars.

I do have one complaint, though, which is that the makeup and costumes for the Kyben (essentially mime foundation, raccoon eye shadow, and white body suits) look very uninspired, especially after all the intricate makeup and elaborate costumes used to create different creatures last season. One thing that Demon with a Glass Hand certainly has going for it, however, is its location. Los Angeles’ Bradbury Building, which was also used in the noir classic D.O.A. (1949), heightens the episode’s film noir atmosphere. The special effects and the musical score are great, and everything is topped off with an interesting twist at the end. Demon with a Glass Hand has a cinematic quality to it, which is why it earns four and a half stars.

Cry of Silence, by Robert C. Dennis

Andy (Academy Award nominee Eddie Albert) and Karen Thorne (veteran actress June Havoc) take a trip from their current home in the city to the small town Wild Canyon to get a look at a property that they are considering purchasing. While driving, their convertible hits a large rock, leaving the couple stranded. As Andy assesses the damage, Karen falls down a hill and injures her ankle. Andy is unable to carry his wife back uphill to their car. Karen, being the more perceptive one in the relationship, begins to notices that some nearby tumbleweeds seem to be closing in on them. Andy expresses doubt, until the tumbleweeds begin to randomly fly at the them despite there being no wind. Karen fears the tumbleweeds are controlled by some kind of “force.”

Andy and Karen decide to build a campfire for the night, which is spotted by a man named Lamont, performed by character actor Arthur Honeycutt (The Twilight Zone’s The Hunt). Lamont invites the Thornes back to his farmhouse. He tells them that since a recent meteorite fall, the number of tumbleweeds in town has dramatically increased, his livestock have disappeared, and his telephone and electricity have stopped working. Lamont suspects that “there is a malignant intelligence in the weeds” and it will prevent any of them from leaving the canyon. Is it a demonic presence, or simply extraterrestrials too alien to effectively communicate?

What Cry of Silence lacks in artistry, it almost makes up for in charm. With its menacing tumbleweeds and killer flying bullfrogs, Cry of Silence is probably (unintentionally!) the funniest offering of the series thus far, even though I know Controlled Experiment attempted (deliberately) to add a little humor into the often dark and serious show. This entry does succeed in creating a few genuinely spooky moments, especially as the characters lock themselves inside Lamont’s farmhouse and the being from space begins to possess Lamont's body, but its just hard to sustain the terror for long when people are being stalked by tumbleweeds, and eventually rocks and frogs. The episode’s weak writing is improved a little by actors who play their roles with conviction, sometimes a little too much conviction. Objectively, it is not the greatest episode, but it can be fun, so two and half stars for Cry of Silence .

The Invisible Enemy, by Jerry Sohl

Adam West (Robinson Crusoe on Mars) plays Major Charles Merritt, who with his fellow astronauts, set out on an expedition to Mars to determine what became of a crew that landed on Mars three years earlier but never returned to Earth. It has been assumed that some kind of ghost is the only explanation for the last group’s disappearance. But when the latest crew arrives, they discover something that swims towards them from underneath the planet’s sandy surface, like “a blood-thirsty shark in the ocean.” To make matters worse, it turns out that there is not just one creature, but an entire “army of them.”

The Invisible Enemy is so very slow. Most of its characters are not terribly smart or likeable. There were also a number of weak performances by otherwise decent actors. Scientifically, The Invisible Enemy has quite a few problems. I got a kick out of things like one of the astronauts saying that helmets are not needed on Mars.

That said, this installment of the series is incredibly atmospheric. Kenneth Peach’s photography of the exterior shots of Mars’ surface combined with the set design, sound effects and the screeching violins in the musical score make for some beautifully eerie moments. But all of that comes crashing down the second that one of the growling space fish comes swimming by with their ridiculous claws extended out of the sand. Sure, they are not quite Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961) bad, but pretty bad. Two stars, mainly for the production design and art direction.

Wolf 359, by Seeleg Lester

Wolf 359 is the story of scientist Jonathan Meridith (Patrick O’Neal of The Twilight Zone’s A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain), who has recreated a smaller version of much larger existing planet “eight light years away” in his lab. Jonathan calls it Dundee Planet. Time moves faster on Dundee: from a primordial state, the planet experiences changes in weather and begins to show signs of life. Its new form life begins evolving at a fast rate and even senses when others are watching it.

Jonathan is excited to be able to “watch evolution at work.” However, his wife, Ethel (Sara Shane of Douglas Sirk’s Magnificent Obsession (1954)) calls the creature “pure evil.” Eventually, Jonathan pushes away his wife and lab assistant rather than “expose them to the dangers of this creature.”

Wolf 359 is not the first nor best episode of The Outer Limits involving a scientist speeding up evolution, but it is interesting, even if it is not entirely successful. The episode is generally nice to look at and had some decent performances. It certainly has an odd if less than effective creature, which resembles a floating white glove. The writing is not quite strong enough to carry such an ambitious concept. Wolf 359 is worth the watch, but not quite good, so two and half stars.

Prognosis

The Outer Limits is not quite firing on all cylinders, but it has improved a little over the course of the past month. Looking back at it, there was the terrific Demon with a Glass Hand, Cry of Silence was amusing, The Invisible Enemy often looked great but lacked substance, and Wolf 359 almost had something. All in all, most episodes were intriguing, even if they were not as strong as they had potential to be.

Is it enough to warrant renewal?

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[October 14, 1964] Back in Session? (The Outer Limits, Season 2, Episodes 1-4)

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by Natalie Devitt

The second season of The Outer Limits is now underway! As someone who is pretty devoted to her favorite shows, I anticipated the return of the science fiction anthology show with excitement. But something seems different. Could it be the result of the departure of producer Joseph Stefano, who contributed his creative vision and a number of scripts? Maybe changes in the show’s budget, time slot or its music? Read on, and tell me if you share my concern.

Soldier, by Harlan Ellison

Broken Arrow (1956-58)’s Michael Ansara plays Qarlo, a futuristic soldier who is unexpectedly teleported to the present day while in the middle of a conflict. Wandering the streets armed and dressed in plate armor with a space helmet, it does not take long before he ends up in a psychiatric hospital. There, one of the men assigned to Qarlo’s case is philologist Tom Kagan, played by Lloyd Nolan of 1957’s film adaptation of Peyton Place. Kagan tries to understand Qarlo’s language in order to interview him.

Unaware of Qarlo’s origins, Kagan soon realizes that the strange man has heightened senses and knows about things that scientists predict will occur in 1800 years. Additionally, the philologist determines that Qarlo did not come from another country, but another time. Qarlo simply views other living beings as either enemies or not enemies, and that “he doesn’t understand hate, or love, or compassion.” Kagan figures that this is because Qarlo “is really a Soldier. There is nothing about him that is not a Soldier. He is the perfect, ultimate infantry man. I don’t think he knows anything else.”

Even after taking all of this into consideration, Kagan vows “that given enough time, I’ll establish absolute communication“ with Qarlo. He thinks that one month should do the trick. Kagan requests that Qarlo be released into his care and he is reluctantly granted permission. Despite any initial reservations by his superiors and his loved ones, Kagan’s adorable family welcomes Qarlo into their home with open arms. Fascinated by their guest, the Kagan children are forbidden to tell their friends about Qarlo. But despite Kagan’s best efforts to keep his guest a secret, it does not take long for an enemy from Qarlo’s time to locate him.

Soldier certainly gets the month and the season off to a great start. While not quite the show’s finest hour, it certainly is one of the better entries. Gone is the man in the alien costume I have come to expect from the series. The sequences showing Qarlo in the future are beautifully filmed on impressive sets, and the special effects are effective. The makeup and costumes are not quite as not as strong as other aspects of the episode, but fine for a weekly program. The writing is exceptionally strong and provided by Harlan Ellison, author of the short story “Soldier from Tomorrow”, which served as a basis for episode. All of the actors deliver convincing performances. Overall, I give Soldier fours stars for an imaginative and well-crafted hour of television programming.

Cold Hands, Warm Heart, by Dan Ullman

In Cold Hands, Warm Heart, William Shatner (The Twilight Zone‘s Nick of Time and Nightmare at 20,000 Feet) is the charismatic Colonel Jeff Barton, who has just arrived home after becoming the first man to travel to Venus. Not long after being back, he is promoted and begins preparing for his next assignment, Project Vulcan, which will send him on a journey to Mars.

In the role of Jeff’s adoring wife, Ann, is Geraldine Brooks, making her second appearance on The Outer Limits after last season’s The Architects of Fear. Ann notices that Jeff has not been himself since his return. Whether he’s chugging scorching hot coffee or barricading himself in the local steam room, he just cannot seem to stay warm.

Jeff’s wife is not the only person to notice that something is off. After seeking medical attention, Jeff learns that his body temperature is only 91 degrees and he is told, “the whole chemistry of your body is changing.“ Soon, the skin on his hands begins to change, so much so that he eventually starts developing webbing between his fingers. Blood test reveals that “his blood isn’t human” and is actually impossible to classify because it does not seem to match any animal known to man. But what is perhaps most traumatic for Jeff is that he is haunted by terrifying visions of an extraterrestrial he encountered while in space.

This installment of the series was a bit of a disappointment, especially after watching Soldier just the week before. It does, however, deliver some unexpected laughs with a rather over-the-top performance by William Shatner and one goofy-looking alien, complete with glowing eyes, scales and long, flowing locks of hair. Special effects are not nearly as impressive as the show's vastly superior season premiere.

Brooks’ performance gives the episode a much needed boost. I know I often complain about romantic subplots, but I think the bond between Jeff and Ann is the episode’s greatest strength. On the topic of the episode’s writing, it is a little frustrating that it is never really explained what is really wrong with Jeff. I was waiting for some sort of payoff at the end, but the story lacks a satisfying conclusion. Taking all of these factors into consideration, two stars is all I can offer to Cold Hands, Warm Heart.

Behold, Eck!, by John Mantley

Veteran actor Peter Lind Hayes (The 5000 Fingers of Doctor T (1953)) plays Doctor James Stone, who arrives at work one morning to find that someone has ransacked his lab. To get a better look at things, he puts on a pair of special glasses that he designed from meteoric quartz. He discovers a two-dimensional creature, Eck, that can only be seen while wearing the glasses. The being attacks Stone, stealing his glasses. Eck also takes a list of the names of Doctor Stone’s clients who own matching pairs. Now, Doctor Stone is in a race against time to track down the patients before Eck gets to them. The only problem is that nobody believes Doctor Stone. Even his own brother thinks he is sick.

Behold, Eck! is pretty slow moving. It probably does not help matters that I hear the actors talking about action, but I do not see much. The episode tries to balance some serious and more light-hearted moments, though not very successfully. Most performances are adequate, but the real problem here is the writing. To make matters worse, a lot of things mentioned by characters just do not make much sense. One thing the episode has going for it is the sequence where Eck sparkles like a Christmas tree following an accident that made it luminous. Maybe if you do not give the episode too much thought, it works as pure escapism, but I am leaning towards two stars for Behold, Eck!.

Expanding Human, by Francis Cockrell

When someone breaks into a university lab, the authorities arrive on the scene, where they determine that someone has ripped the lab’s door off its hinges using only their bare hands. Inside the lab, they discover the body of a university night watchman. Upon further inspection of the lab, it is noted that “consciousness expanding“ drugs are missing. The same drugs that were recently being used for experiments that became part of a scandal that tarnished the university‘s reputation, resulting in threats to the school’s funding.

Those incidents are followed by more seemingly unexplainable events locally, all of which involve someone with incredible strength and/or advanced intelligence. It is not long before all signs point to one man in particular, Professor Roy Clinton, played by former child star Skip Homeier. The only problem is he has no memory of any involvement. Turns out, Clinton has been conducting some experiments of his own, using the drugs that he has been stealing from the university. Partaking of the substances not only improve his consciousness, but also his strength due to the fact that he transforms into a nearly indestructible monster.

This update of Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde , filled with references to Timothy Leary, has potential that it never really fulfills. It does not help that the episode feels a little padded to add time. One thing it has going for it is that Canadian actor James Doohan (The Twilight Zone‘s Valley of the Shadow) is quite convincing in his role as Lieutenant Branch. Skip Homeier, on the other hand, is believable in his role as Clinton, until he transforms into the creature with gigantic cheekbones and ridges on the sides of his forehead, then things begin to fall apart very quickly. Though, I do have to give Expanding Human some credit for attempting to tackle such timely subject matter, so it earns just two and half stars.

As you can see, after the first episode, there was a sudden drop in the show’s quality. To recap things briefly, this past month only gave us one memorable episode, Soldier. Cold Hands, Warm Heart was a letdown, Behold, Eck! was downright ridiculous, but Expanding Human had its moments. I consider myself a loyal viewer; is it premature to worry about the direction The Outer Limits seems to be headed?

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Movies

[July 10, 1964] Greetings from the Red Planet (The Movie, Robinson Crusoe on Mars)

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by Natalie Devitt

Spacewrecked

According to the previews for Robinson Crusoe on Mars, the movie is "scientifically authentic. It is only one step ahead of present reality." This update of Daniel Defoe’s 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe is directed by Byron Haskin, best known for directing The War of the Worlds, which was produced by George Pal (The Time Machine (1960)). Haskin and Pal have also made another picture that attempted to depict a more accurate Mars: Conquest of Space (1955). Intrigued by these films and interested in Haskin’s more recent work on some of my favorite entries of The Outer Limits thus far, like The Architects of Fear and A Feasibility Study, I was determined not to miss Robinson Crusoe on Mars.

So, is the movie worth a trip to your local theater?

The movie opens up aboard a spaceship carrying Commander Christopher Draper (played by Paul Mantee, appearing in his first film major film role), Colonel Dan McReady (Adam West, an actor commonly found on television westerns) and an adorable monkey named Mona. Things take an unexpected turn when they detect a meteoroid and are "forced out of orbital velocity to avoid collision with planetoid into tighter orbit of Mars." As the situation worsens, the crew is left with no other option than to immediately attempt to land on the fourth planet. While fleeing the vehicle in their individual escape pods, Draper is separated from McReady and Mona.


Welcome to Mars

Draper adapts to the conditions on the red planet, while searching for McReady and Mona. Even though he is part of the first crew on Mars, Draper learns quickly what it takes to survive. He finds shelter in a cave. For heat, Draper discovers yellow rocks that "burn like coal.” Heating the rocks not only keeps him warm, but also produces oxygen, which he then uses to refill his oxygen tank. Throughout the film, Draper keeps a careful audio record about all that he experiences, which provides a useful narrative device when things happen off-screen.

After many days, Draper finally locates McReady’s pod, but the poor colonel did not survive the landing. Shortly after giving McReady a proper burial, Draper runs into Mona, who is happily alive. Reunited with her and assuming that they are all alone, Draper tries rationing what little food and water they have. Surprisingly, the reduced rations do not seem to bother Mona one bit. She "spends most of her days off somewhere." Finding this unusual, Draper devises a plan, which involves feeding her a salty meal without water, believing that she might be able to lead him to a water source. Sure enough, she does — an underground hot spring. In the water, Draper also notices some strange plant that his little primate pal is eating, which resembles seaweed on the outside, but once peeled, contains something that looks an awful lot like sausage. Draper calls it "Martian food." He soon finds that the plant has several other uses, because you can "eat it, weave it and you wear it.”


No happy sunset for Adam West this time


Martian hot springs

After more than four months on Mars, Draper longs for human companionship. All of his training has not prepared him for the extreme isolation he experiences while stranded on a strange planet, and his mind begins playing tricks on him. Snapping out of an episode in which he is visited by the ghost of Colonel McReady, he concludes that "a guy can lick the problems of heat, water, shelter” and that that loneliness is the greatest obstacle that he has encountered while on the planet. Around this time, he stumbles upon alien remains. On the extraterrestrial skeleton are strange black bangle bracelets. Draper believes that the being is a murder victim due to its skull showing signs of trauma and being charred.

Later, Draper's radio picks up signals of an "interplanetary vehicle.” Draper rushes toward the spaceship, only for its crew to shoot directly at him and narrowly miss. In the chaos, Draper runs into an alien bearing a striking resemblance to a man, dressed in clothing that looks straight out of some ancient civilization, with black bracelets on both wrists identical to the ones he found on the skeleton earlier. He soon realizes that the alien (played by Victor Lundin of Ma Barker’s Killer Brood) is an escaped slave who worked in mines on Mars, while other human-like creatures in spacesuits held the slaves at gun-point.


Hebrews building the Martian pyramids

Draper feeds the slave and offers him a place to stay. Draper believes that the slave owners are from a planet "other than Mars” and that they handle their slaves "electronically”, using the black bangles. He names the slave, who he presumes to be mute, "Friday, with apologies to Robinson Crusoe."

Friday, as it turns out, is actually capable of speech. Once Draper realizes this, he tells Friday, "You’re going to learn English, if I have to sit on your chest for two months.” The two eventually become close friends. Friday is part of an alien species originally from ”the center of the belt of Orion.” Friday shares with Draper painful memories of working in the mine. The alien also expresses concern that "the enemy" will use his bracelets to track him down, so Draper tries to help Friday remove them. Friday’s captors return for him, but Friday, Draper and Mona are determined to stick together.

Thus ensues a long trek to the Martian North Pole, mostly underground to avoid the slavers. This portion of the film is very scenic, although not much happens. Upon reaching the polar ice caps, Draper picks up a spaceship again…but this time, it's an Earth rescue vessel. The three will be saved.

A Mixed Bag of Oxy-rocks

Robinson Crusoe on Mars feels like two completely different movies in one, due to its changing tone midway. The first half of it is a much more serious and slow story about a man’s struggle for survival. But once Friday enters the picture, things speed up and get a lot sillier. To be perfectly honest, the transition from one part to the other is not as smooth as I would have liked. That said, screenwriters Ib Melchior (The Seventh Planet) and John C. Higgins do a surprisingly good job of bringing Defoe’s story to space.

The first half of the movie is not just slow, but also fairly quiet. Most spoken words are Draper recording himself or talking to a pet monkey. Draper seems like a person with good intentions, but I have to admit he is not the friendliest guy and often treats Mona better than Friday. Draper whines about not having someone besides Mona and when he finds someone kind of like a human, he treats him pretty poorly at first.


Single living on Mars is a drag

To the movie’s credit, Robinson Crusoe on Mars does seem to be much more rooted in science than many science fiction films that came before it. Most equipment used by the actors seems fairly realistic. The actors are pretty believable operating their spaceship and using different devices. Many of the characteristics of Mars seem a bit more accurate than you tend to see in the movies. Still, one has to suspend disbelief to enjoy the film.

My big issue with the film was the way it handles the planet’s lack of oxygen, which the characters deal with by consuming their pills that "bypass the lungs and produce oxygen right in the blood”, or using an oxygen tank as sparingly as once every 10-15 minutes. It's not that there isn't enough oxygen, but that there is still probably far too much compared to what we actually know of Martian conditions. There are also fires that manage to burn heartily on Mars’ surface, despite the lack of oxygen, though they did contribute to the overall look of the film.


Two ways to deal with the lack of oxygen on Mars

Visually, Robinson Crusoe on Mars is a stunning achievement. It is more than a movie, it is an experience with Winton C. Hoch’s gorgeous Technicolor photography, Matte paintings by Albert Whitlock, and auroras which dance in the sky to yet another memorable score by Nathan Van Cleave. The highly-saturated colors and all the Death Valley exterior shots look incredible on the big screen. Also, fans of 1953’s The War of the Worlds might be amused by some of the miniatures used in the film.


Alien craft looking…strangely familiar.

All in all, I am happy to report that I did not leave the theater disappointed. The movie is worth the price of a ticket, and I hope it gets the attention it deserves. Reportedly, the picture was made independently and distributed through Paramount. The film is superior to many movies with much larger budgets, which is why I am giving it a pretty solid three stars.

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TV

[June 26, 1964] Curtain Call (Twilight Zone, Season 5, Episodes 33-36)

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by Natalie Devitt

Back in January, it was announced that this season would be The Twilight Zone’s last. In the show’s five year run, Rod Serling’s brainchild has produced more than 150 episodes and brought a new level of sophistication to science fiction and fantasy entertainment on television. Even with some decline in the program’s quality, The Twilight Zone still remains incredibly impressive as a whole — as the series comes an end, the show still manages to deliver some strong performances:

The Brain Center at Whipple’s, by Rod Serling

In The Brain Center at Whipple’s, Richard Deacon of The Dick Van Dyke Show plays factory owner Wallace Whipple, who unveils a new device: the X109B14 automatic assembly machine. If it works as expected, it will eliminate the need for nearly all of his employees, most other machines in his factory, and it also will decrease the number of days needed to complete tasks. Whipple plans to transition into an almost entirely automated factory within the next four months, because he prides himself on the belief that “at Whipples, we only take forward steps.”

Mr. Whipple’s plant manager, Mr. Hanley (M Squad alumnus Paul Newlan), expresses concern about displacing workers in a “heartless manipulation of men and metals”, but Whipple remarks, “that is the price to pay for progress.” Whipple discourages his employees from taking things personally, though one man in particular, a long-time foreman named Dickerson (The Enforcer‘s Ted de Corsia), does take things very personally. Deciding to take matters into his hands, he declares that the X109B14 is "not a machine. It’s an enemy, it’s an opponent."

The Brain Center at Whipple’s is more thought-provoking than it is entertaining. Rod Serling's script revisits some of the themes he explored in his screenplay for Patterns, which aired on Kraft Television Theatre. Despite some strong performances by the actors and Whipple‘s character arc, this episode feels too much like a bunch of one-dimensional men having one-sided conversations.

In addition to the flat characterizations and even flatter dialogue, nothing seems to happen visually, that is unless you count yet another cameo made by Robby the Robot in his second appearance just this season. Further, this episode does not really rank among Richard Donner’s best work as a director on the series, but it is not his worst, either. In any case, I may look back on this entry more favorably with the passage of time, but right now I feel that two and a half stars is all I can offer to The Brain Center at Whipple’s .

Come Wander with Me, by Anthony Wilson

Come Wander with Me is the story of Floyd Burney, a singer also known as “The Rock-A-Billy-Kid.” Floyd is played by Gary Crosby of the very talented Crosby family. His character is on a mission, driving through remote regions, searching for unreleased songs. Unlike folklorist Alan Lomax, Floyd wants to purchase the rights of the songs so he can transform them into hits for himself. Floyd visits a music shop tucked away in the hills, offering to pay “top dollar” for an undiscovered folk song under the condition that the song is authentic. There, he meets Petticoat Junction’s Hank Patterson, who is returning to The Twilight Zone for his third time (see Kick the Can and Ring-a-Ding Girl) playing an old shopkeeper who proves not be very helpful, but all of that is forgotten once Floyd hears the sound of a young woman singing a haunting ballad.

As if in a trance, Floyd takes off by foot, carrying a guitar. He follows the sound of woman’s voice, through the fog, up a hill into the trees. Obsessed with owning the song he hears, he fails to notice some pretty ominous signs as he travels through the woods. He finally comes face-to-face with the young lady he heard singing, Mary Rachel, performed by newcomer Bonnie Beecher. Assuming that everything has a price, Floyd tries to buy the song, but she insists “that song is secret.” Floyd continues to pressure Mary Rachel to sell him the song, which he soon realizes has lyrics that can foretell some pretty tragic events in his future.

The episode starts off incredibly well, but ends up being too predictable, even without the main song’s lyrics. Come Wander with Me’s greatest strengths are without a doubt its cinematography and Jeff Alexander’s song written specifically for the episode. I love how as the song unfolds it becomes like a murder ballad. While the screenwriting leaves plenty to be desired, mainly that it lacked suspense and that it never really answered some questions regarding Floyd’s fate being predestined, the entry was not without some merit.

Some of the scenes in the woods are genuinely spooky. Also, with rockabilly now showing some influence on the music coming out of Britain and some of rockabilly’s promising stars, like Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran, having died tragically, I found the episode flawed but oddly fascinating. Three stars.

The Fear, by Rod Serling

Trooper Robert Franklin, played by Peter Mark Richman (The Outer Limits episode The Borderland) visits a nearby cabin after receiving reports that its owner, Charlotte Scott, had been telling strange stories about noticing bright lights in the night sky. Appearing as Scott is British beauty Hazel Court, an actress who has performed in a number of my favorite horror films (Terence Fisher's The Curse of Frankenstein and Roger Corman’s Poe cycle).

Having suffered a nervous breakdown not too long ago, Scott convinces the officer that her comments were harmless and just an attempt to “inject something new into the dialogue.” But as Franklin is about to return to his squad car, the two of them hear loud sounds overhead and see bright lights. Both of them rush outside, trying to find the cause, even though Franklin assumes it must have been “a meteor or maybe an aircraft off its course. Those would be rational explanations.”

Franklin’s squad car begins operating without a visible driver and eventually tips over, leaving him unable to radio for help. Scott’s phone is not working, either. It is not long before they start hearing unusual noises on the roof of Scott’s cabin. Franklin heads outside to investigate, only to discovers his car has been returned in its original position. Stranger yet, his car is covered in abnormally large finger prints, presumably left when moving the car back. Franklin concludes that “if they are finger prints, we shouldn’t have any trouble finding our invader, because he must stand better than 500 feet high.”

The Fear succeeds in telling a pretty basic story about two seemingly different characters growing closer as they face an unknown adversary. The episode’s leads are not spectacular but believable. The entry does suffer a little when it reveals what we are led to believe is the being, even though some of the special effects employed in the scene are actually pretty good for a television. The final unveiling is a tad sillier than I imagined, but it does not matter much because at the end of the day, The Fear is well worth the watch, even if Sterling’s screenplay simply rehashes earlier episodes of the series. It earns three stars.

The Bewitchin’ Pool, by Earl Hamner

A mother, played by Dee Hartford (The Outer Limits episode The Invisibles ) and father announce to their son and daughter, Jeb and Sport (Mary Badham of To Kill a Mockingbird) that they are filing for divorce in The Bewitchin’ Pool. The Sharewood children are instructed to pick which parent with whom they want to live. Blaming themselves for their parents' marital problems, the kids promise to “be good” in a desperate attempt to keep the family together. But when that fails to work, the children try to escape their sadness by jumping into the family’s swimming pool. Of course this being The Twilight Zone, it is not an ordinary pool. As Rod Serling’s opening monologue points out, “this pool has a secret exit that leads to a never-neverland, a place designed for junior citizens.”

They go underwater and find themselves in a new place that seems heavily influenced by Hansel and Gretel and Huckleberry Finn. There, they meet an elderly lady named Aunt T., who takes them in and gives them the care that they so desperately desire. After the children have been missing for a while, they hear what sounds like their parents calling them, but Auntie T. tells them, “Those voices you hear calling, at first, they seem quite strong. But after a while, they fade. Then one day, you just simply can’t hear them anymore.”

The show’s finale was a bit of a mess.  The teleplay is uncharacteristically weak for Earl Hamner, Jr, and that is coming from someone who has always had a soft spot for stories about children who use their imagination to escape reality. I did, however, find it interesting that the kids were given some control to change their lives. I also want to give the show some credit for trying something new with the very noticeable change of tone, and also for having the courage to not shy away from a tough topic like divorce.

The single most disappointing aspect of the entire episode was by far the bad looping used for the character Sport, who is clearly voiced by June Foray (The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show). Then there is the acting, which did not help matters because it featured some unusually bad performances by otherwise capable actors. It feels like a missed opportunity to have done something truly magical. One and a half stars.

Submitted for Your Approval

With the curtain about to fall on The Twilight Zone, I had hoped for one last great episode, but that did not happen. Nevertheless, the last month included two enjoyable episodes, another one with some intriguing ideas — and an entry that is memorable, even if it is for all the wrong reasons. The show was clearly running out of steam towards the end, continuing on a little longer than maybe it should have.

But I somehow doubt that changes how much it will be missed.

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[May 28, 1964] Down to the Wire (Twilight Zone, Season 5, Episodes 29-32)

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by Natalie Devitt

It is that time of year again. The days get longer, the weather gets warmer. For me personally, given that I work in education, things get pretty intense in that crazy race to the end of the school year. Also, this time of year, everyone’s favorite television programs usually go on hiatus. In the case of The Twilight Zone, it sounds as if their break from filming is expected to be permanent. Sure, the show is not quite what it used to be, but that still makes it better than your average television; I can only criticize it for setting the bar so high. As one of the few programs that I still make the time to follow regularly, I find myself not quite ready to give up the ritual of watching it. Luckily, we still have another month ahead of us. So, before I get ahead of myself, it is time to review the episodes this past month, to see which entries made the grade.

The Jeopardy Room, by Rod Serling

Martin Landau pays a visit to The Twilight Zone for the first time since Mr. Denton on Doomsday. In The Jeopardy Room, he portrays Major Ivan Kuchenko, a defector fleeing the Soviet Union after years of imprisonment. While hiding out in a hotel room located in a neutral country, he receives a strange phone call: on the other end is Commissar Vassiloff, who has followed Kuchenko, and is watching him through his hotel window from a building next door. Dutch actor John van Dreelen plays Vassiloff.

Following a brief conversation, Vassiloff decides to grace Kuchenko with his presence. During their visit, Vassiloff confesses, “You possess information that we would find embarrassing to have released elsewhere. So, it is not really to our advantage that you leave here.” But Vassiloff does not plan to simply kill Kuchenko. Thinking of himself as “the last of the imaginative executioners,” he turns the whole thing into a twisted game.

Vassiloff convinces Kuchenko to partake of some wine, which has been laced with an unknown substance. Kuchenko almost immediately collapses on the floor. When he regains consciousness, Kuchenko finds a tape recorder with a message informing him that while he slept, a bomb was hidden in his room. Kuchenko is warned that, “It is not visible, but it is attached to a very common object. If you trigger this object, it will be immediately blown up.” If he disables the bomb within a few hours, he is free to leave. If he turns off his lights or tries to escape, Vassiloff will not hesitate to have one of his men shoot and kill Kuchenko. In this race against the clock, will Kuchenko make it out alive?

The Jeopardy Room offers a break from the science fiction or fantasy stories. It is more like a slick thriller than your usual The Twilight Zone fare. Like most entries in the series, all the actors deliver fine performances, though I must admit that I was a little disappointed by Landau’s accent. Most of the episode takes place in one room, but because it is photographed with so much style, you barely notice it. The ending, while not totally unpredictable, is enjoyable if you do not take it too seriously. Overall, The Jeopardy Room earns a pretty solid three stars.

Stopover in a Quiet Town, by Earl Hamner, Jr.

Nancy Malone follows up a terrific role in The Outer Limits’s Fun and Games with Sleepover in a Quiet Town. Her character, Millie, and her character's husband, Bob, wake up one morning after a wild night spent partying in what they believe to be a quiet suburb. Mary Mary's Barry Nelson plays Bob. Neither one of them remembers how they drove there, but slowly they begin to notice that things seem a little off. At breakfast, all they can find is artificial food. When Bob tries to make a phone call, the phone comes right out of the wall.

When Millie and Bob venture outside, they find that they are in a ghost town. The couple discover fake animal and plant life. They listen for birds chirping, but all they hear is the sound of a little girl giggling, wherever they go. One of them assumes that the residents in small towns prefer to “peek from behind curtains.” As Millie and Bob continue to look for additional signs of life through all the artifice, all they notice is the constant sound of the child's laughter. The couple assumes there is an explanation for what they are experiencing, but what could it possibly be?

The episode’s script does not waste time getting started or setting things up. The audience does not see the party. What they see is a married couple waking up to a nightmare the morning after. If this month’s The Jeopardy Room did not quite feel like The Twilight Zone, Sleepover in a Quiet Town could not be more representative of the series, in terms of content and quality. The two leads are quite believable in their roles. Things wrap things up quite nicely at the end, and if someone has an idea of where the story is headed, that does not diminish how much fun the journey is. Sleepover in a Quiet Town does not break any new ground, but it is well-executed, which is why it receives three and a half stars.

The Encounter, by Martin M. Goldsmith

Neville Brand of Birdman of Alcatraz stars as Fenton, a veteran of World War II. While rummaging through his old stuff in his attic, a Japanese gardener named Taro comes to Fenton’s house, at the recommendation of a neighbor. In the role of Taro is George Takei, who has appeared on other programs like, Playhouse 90 and Perry Mason. The two men have a brief discussion about Taro maintaining Fenton‘s yard, which leads to Taro agreeing to help Fenton clear out some junk .

During their time together, Fenton reveals that he served in World War II. He also shows Taro a samurai sword from his war days, which reads, “The sword will avenge me.” But Taro, born in the United States, pretends not to speak Japanese. Fenton, all friendliness above a barely concealed racial contempt, invites Taro to share some beers. When Fenton leaves the room for a moment and returns to find his sword missing, he accuses Arthur of having stolen it. Tensions rise as the two men are stuck together in the attic, recalling their painful memories related to the war.

Most of the episode’s acting is decent, but the performers cannot save it from its writing. I hate complaining about Martin M. Goldsmith‘s script, because he also wrote 1945’s Detour, which is a fantastic movie. Then again, he also wrote the earlier episode What‘s in the Box, which I was not really a fan of. Anyway, the narrative to The Encounter starts off fine, then gets progressively worse as it goes on. The sequence of events often involves things like drinking beer, getting upset, drinking some more beer, then getting upset again. The whole thing made me feel like I was a rollercoaster ride that I could not get off of. The conclusion was also pretty disappointing. At the end of the day, I respect the show for having the courage to do a story like this. I realize that tackling such sensitive subject can be difficult to get right. But with The Encounter being far from a masterpiece, two stars, which mainly go to its actors, is all I can award.

Mr. Garrity and the Graves, by Rod Serling

Character actor John Dehner plays the title character in what is his third appearance on show, Mr. Garrity and the Graves. The scene is 1890 in a place called Happiness, Arizona, into which Garrity rides in a horse-drawn carriage. Shortly after arriving, Garrity visits the local bar, where he meets a bartender, who inquires about his occupation. Garrity tells him, “I bring back the dead.” Of course, it is not long before the news about the mysterious stranger spreads all over town.

When Mr. Garrity returns to the bar, he is asked by the townspeople about his profession, but he says he does not care to share the secrets of his trade. But around this time, a dog is killed by a wagon in the street just in front of the bar. Garrity vows, "I shall resurrect that dog!" Sure enough, he brings the dog back to life. He promises to bring back even more of the dead later that night, but not everyone is pleased with Mr. Garrity’s work.

I enjoyed Mr. Garrity and the Graves for the most part, but I must admit that at times it almost goes overboard with all of the hammy performances. This entry combines several seemingly different things — western, humor and horror — to create something pretty unique. The second half of the episode is better than the first half because what this story really excels at is horror. There are twists and turns at the end that stayed with me long after the episode was over. Three stars.

Passing Marks?

With four more episodes behind us, we are now approaching the final stretch of the show. Taking a closer look at the entries from the penultimate month of the series, one failed to meet expectations, two were good, while one was very good. With only one month still ahead of us, things could go any direction. Guess we will just have to tune in to see whether Twilight Zone graduates with honors.

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