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[December 29, 1963] Meet the Unknown (Twilight Zone, Season 5, Episodes 9-12)

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by Natalie Devitt

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This past month several characters tried their best to deal with the uncertainties commonly found in the dimension known as The Twilight Zone. Everybody encountered something unfamiliar. There were strange planets to explore, men reliving the distant past, effects of an experimental serum, and a man trying his best to avoid the ultimate unknown, death.

Probe 7, Over and Out, by Rod Serling

Moby Dick actor Richard Basehart plays Colonel Adam Cook in Probe 7, Over and Out. Cook has crashed his spacecraft on another planet. During the crash, he sustained a number of injuries, including two broken bones and one broken arm. To make matters worse, he only has about enough food to last him a week. In hopes of getting help, he tries contacting his planet of origin, only to be told by his home base that his planet may be on the brink of war and probably would not be able to offer him much assistance.

As Probe 7, Over and Out’s opening monologue states, “He survived the crash, but his ordeal is yet to begin.“ Assuming that he is all alone on this planet and that he will probably have to make it his new home, Cook begins to explore his surroundings. What he does not realize is that there is one other inhabitant, a young woman named Norda, played by television actress Antoinette Bower, also stranded on the planet. The two struggle to adjust to one another and to carve out an existence on a planet very foreign to both of them.

I am happy to see The Twilight Zone return after a couple of weeks off of the air, even if Probe 7, Over and Out is not the strongest entry in the series. The episode is not the first science fiction story to basically retell the story of Adam and Eve, and I cannot imagine that it will be the last. Also, it reminds me a little of previous The Twilight Zone episode Two. Despite not having the most original story, Probe 7, Over and Out works surprisingly well, which is why I give it three stars.

The 7th is Made Up of Phantoms, by Rod Serling

The 7th is Made Up of Phantom tells the story of a group soldiers in 1964, who are undergoing some training exercises near the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn. The men, played by Ron Foster, Randy Boone and Warren Oates, soon realize that the battle actually occurred on exactly that same day back in 1876. As Rod Serling says in the very beginning of the episode, “Past and present are about to collide,” and there could not be a more accurate way of describing what happens in The 7th is Made Up of Phantoms.

Throughout their training, the men retrace the steps of the 7th Calvary. They find a tipi tent, a soldier’s canteen, the men hear sounds made by plains tribesmen, and they see smoke signals. The soldiers use their knowledge of the battle to try to make sense out of a very extraordinary situation.

The 7th is Made Up of Phantoms has a pretty good premise, but it is not very satisfying. Though, the episode is not without some merit. This entry leaves a lot of unanswered questions. Sometimes that can hurt a story or it can work in its favor. In the case of The 7th is Made Up of Phantoms, I really like that things are not over explained and that you never see anybody from the opposing side, which I think only added to its eeriness. Also, I enjoyed the episode's ending. All in all, I give this entry two and a half stars.

A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain, by Rod Serling

Patrick O’Neal stars as Harmon in A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain. Harmon is a wealthy older gentleman, who as the story’s opening narration states is “enslaved by a love affair with a wife forty years his junior.” His much younger and beautiful wife, Flora, is portrayed by Ruta Lee of Seven Brides of Seven Brothers. Flora seems to be in the marriage for Harmon’s money, and often complains that her husband lacks the energy necessary to keep her interested.

In an act of desperation, Harmon begs his brother Raymond, played by Walter Brooke, to inject him with a youth serum that his brother has only tested on lab rats. Hesitant at first, the scientist eventually agrees to administer the drug to Harmon. At first, the serum works quite well. Much to Flora’s delight, Harmon begins to look like a younger and more handsome version of himself, but like everything in The Twilight Zone, the drug does come with a downside.

Overall, A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain is just fair. The twist ending was entertaining, even if it was a bit predictable, though I cannot help but wonder what happened to the characters after the episode ended. My biggest problem with this episode is that none of the characters are very sympathetic. Sure you feel bad for Harmon, but only for a little while. This entry is a little underwhelming, so it deserves two stars.

Ninety Years Without Slumbering, by Richard De Roy

In Ninety Years Without Slumbering, Ed Wynn and Rod Serling work together yet again, after previous projects, like Playhouse 90’s Requiem for a Heavyweight and The Twilight Zone’s One for the Angels. This time around, the incredibly versatile Wynn plays Sam, an elderly man who lives with his granddaughter and her husband. Sam’s loved ones notice that Sam is becoming increasingly obsessed with caring for his grandfather clock. Sam never seems to sleep, and instead spends his nights tinkering with the clock.

Concerned that this obsession is consuming his life, his family encourages him to seek professional help. After some convincing, Sam agrees to see a psychiatrist. In privacy, Sam tells his shrink that the clock was purchased on the day he was born, and that he fears that his life depends on the clock continuing to tick. Upon hearing Sam‘s confession, his psychiatrist urges him to sell the clock.

Sam considers putting the device up for sell, until a neighbor tells him that she is interested in buying the clock. Worried that the price may be a little too steep for her to afford, Sam offers to give the neighbor a deal to postpone payment as long as she lets him maintain the clock, which requires winding every two days. Needless to say, the arrangement does not work for long.

I must admit that Ninety Years Without Slumbering was not the strongest story. Also, the ending, while not entirely expected, may require a little too much suspension of disbelief, even for The Twilight Zone. When it comes down to it, it is really Ed Wynn’s performance as Sam that single-handedly makes the episode worth watching. The episode receives three stars just for that.

The Twilight Zone is always a nice break from the ordinary. This time is no different. The most recent episodes were worth watching, even if they would not rank among the most memorable of the series.



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[December 19, 1963] Veiled Secrets (The Outer Limits, Season 1, Episodes 9-12)

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by Natalie Devitt

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It seems that during this past month of The Outer Limits almost everyone has a secret. Whether it’s aliens plotting to take over the world, prisoners of war resisting their interrogators, a research facility with a monster hidden away in the back of a laboratory, or phony mediums pretending to make contact with the dead; everyone is going to great lengths to hide something…

Corpus Earthling, by Orin Borsten

Robert Culp returns to The Outer Limits. This time for Corpus Earthling, which is adapted from Louis Charbonneau’s novel by the same name. Corpus Earthling is not quite as strong of a story as Culp’s last outing on the series, The Architects of Fear, but it is not without its charm. Corpus Earthling is the story of Doctor Cameron, portrayed by Culp, who while working in the lab one day, overhears two aliens plotting to take over the world. According to the show’s narrator, these extraterrestrials are posing as "two black crystalline rocks: unclassifiable. Objects on the border between the living and the nonliving."

If this sounds silly, bear with me. Despite rocks not actually being able to speak, there is reason to believe that Cameron’s ability to hear the rocks communicating may be the result of a plate that was implanted in his head. Or could it just simply be him imagining things because of the injury that led him to get the plate in the first place? Worried that he may be losing his grip on reality, Cameron and his wife, wonderfully played by Angel Baby actress Salome Jens, decide to take the honeymoon that they had been postponing. The couple take off to Tijuana, unaware that the rocks have already possessed the body of Cameron’s colleague, Doctor Temple, played by television actor Barry Atwater. Temple follows Cameron and his wife all the way to Mexico, vowing to catch Cameron at any cost.

The last time rocks from outer space seemed this threatening was the 1957 film, The Monolith Monsters. Like The Monolith Monsters, Corpus Earthling is probably not for everyone, but that’s okay. Both are perfectly enjoyable to me. The rocks at the center of this story resemble two Jell-O molds that jiggle every time they communicate with one another. They also morph into other shapes that at times are no more scary than the title creature from William Castle’s The Tingler before eventually controlling Doctor Temple’s body. Once the alien rocks take over Doctor Temple‘s body, the episode improves dramatically. Temple becomes cold and emotionless. He speaks with a strange echo. Additionally, Temple ages rapidly and looks like a ghoul from Carnival of Souls.

Cinematographer Conrad Hall did a terrific job with this episode. Corpus Earthling uses shadows to create a dark atmosphere, and as a result the episode feels like a horror movie. The viewer knows Doctor Temple is stalking them and could be lurking in the shadows at any moment, and whatever the viewer does not see, they can fill in with their imagination. I am sure some may find the whole alien possession thing a little too much like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but I personally think Corpus Earthling is just creepy good fun. It may even be the show’s spookiest episode yet. All of this is reason enough for me to give it three and a half stars.

Nightmare, by Joseph Stefano

The aptly titled Nightmare follows a group of soldiers who board a rocket from Earth to the planet of Ebon. Ebon is according to the show’s narrator a " black question mark at the end of a dark foreboding journey.” When the men reach Ebon, they are taken as prisoners of war. The soldiers are told that they have no hope to escape and they are forced to undergo interrogations, which the inhabitants of Ebon or the Ebonites as they are called, refer to as "exploratory interviews.” In addition to the interrogations, the Ebonites can control any one of a person’s five senses. The Ebonites use this ability, along with a mind altering substance, in order to get information from the soldiers. Not surprisingly, that information comes at a pretty steep price.

The set design for Nightmare could not be more minimal. The cold and sterile appearance of the set is a perfect fit for the story. Instead of filling up the space visually, the episode focuses on outstanding acting from a terrific group of actors, a well-written script, and a musical score that could not be more appropriate. While the entire cast for Nightmare is top-notch, it is Jim Shigeta’s performance that really stands out. A pretty intense episode is made even more terrifying by the makeup and costumes worn by the actors playing the Ebonites, with their wings and very pronounced brow ridges.

Overall, this is a great episode that captures what happens to men when they are put under extreme stress. Recent events delayed this episode’s airing, but it was definitely worth the wait. It receives five stars.

It Crawled Out of the Woodwork, by Joseph Stefano

In It Crawled Out of the Woodwork, an accident at a center for energy research called NORCO results in the creation of a large cloud of energy. According to the law of the conservation of energy, energy cannot be created or destroyed. Since the researchers cannot destroy the cloud, and also so they can study it, it is kept hidden in a room in the back of a lab that is often referred to as "the pit.” Unaware of NORCO’s secret, Michael Forest stars as Stuart Peters, who relocates to California with his younger brother Jory, played by Scott Marlowe, intending to join NORCO’s team of researchers. Before his first day on the job, Peters and his brother decide to sneak a peek at NORCO, so they get in the car and drive by the property. When the men pull their car up to the gate, they are told by a guard to "look fast, but nobody is allowed to hang around here.” Unbeknownst to them at the time, the guard scribbles a note on the inside of a book of matches which he hands to one of the brothers, saying "Don’t come back. NORCO doomed.”

The next day after reading the note, Stuart mentions it to his boss at NORCO. Behind his back, Stuart’s boss gives instructions for Stuart to be lured into the pit, where Stuart is drained by the creature of his energy and passes away on the spot. Jory is never notified of his brother‘s death. Days later, a reanimated Stuart shows up at the apartment, but this time he is wearing what appears to be a pacemaker, even though he never had a history of heart problems. He and Jory get into an altercation, which results in Stuart falling into a bathtub filled with water. The water destroys the pacemaker and kills Stuart once and for all. A gentleman by the name of Sergeant Siroleo, portrayed by Edward Asner, is assigned to investigate Stuart’s death, and what he uncovers has to be seen to be believed.

We are only on the eleventh episode of The Outer Limits and we already have another being that relies on energy. You may recall a similar monster in The Man with the Power. The creature in It Crawled Out of the Woodwork is unique in the fact that it is not the usual man in a costume with special effects makeup and prosthetics on his face. Aside from its somewhat disappointing first appearance, the monster is created using mostly special effects, which is a welcome change of pace (though I have grown so fond of the usual man in a suit).

Like most previous episodes, It Crawled Out of the Woodwork benefits from having a great cast of actors that feed off of each other and help to make an otherwise decent story good. I give It Crawled Out of the Woodwork three stars.

The Borderland, by Leslie Stevens

British actor Barry Jones stars in The Borderland as Dwight Hartley, a man desperate to make contact with his dead son, Dion. Mr. Hartley enlists the help of a medium by the name of Mrs. Palmer, played by theatre and film actress Gladys Cooper. Those not familiar with the character actress would probably recognize her from The Twilight Zone’s Nothing in the Dark and Passage on the Lady Anne. Mrs. Palmer arranges a séance and claims to have success communicating Mr. Hartley’s son, until two scientists who happen to be at the séance, Ian and Eva, expose Mrs. Palmer as the scam artist that she is.

Later, Ian explains to Mr. Hartley that he and Eva are working on an experiment that they hypothesize will help them to go beyond The Borderland to cross over to the fourth dimension. Also, that all they need is access to a larger magnetic field and a more powerful power source. Eager to repay Ian and Eva for helping him with Mrs. Palmer, Mr. Hartley offers to fund their project under the condition that it can be used to try to make contact with Dion. The only problem is Mrs. Palmer has secretly devised a plan to ruin the experiment.

Despite a somewhat interesting premise, great actors and being incredibly well-shot, The Borderland failed to really entertain or move me. A story about a man wanting to reconnect with his dead son has the potential to bring tears to a person’s eyes, but none of the characters were really developed enough for me to care about them. The scenes involving Mrs. Palmer trying to sabotage the experiment were pretty silly and seemed very out of place with the rest of the story. I have no choice but to give two stars for what was easily the least enjoyable episode this past month.

The mysteries of The Outer Limits continue to keep me under the show’s spell. The Borderland was the only real letdown in an otherwise almost consistently good month.



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TV

[December 15, 1963] Our First Outing Into Time And Space (Dr. Who: THE FIREMAKERS)

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By Jessica Holmes

Welcome back, class. I'm not sure why I'm calling you class. I'm not a teacher, but if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s waffling on at people who may or may not be listening to me. So, are we ready for some more Doctor Who? Our first serial just wrapped up, so it's time for a bit of a recap, and my thoughts.

We last saw the T.A.R.D.I.S having turned up in a desolate wasteland, observed by an unknown shadow. Where are we? Who was the shadow? Am I going to keep asking rhetorical questions?

Let's find out.

THE CAVE OF SKULLS

So, after the first installment I was rather looking forward to this one. I curled up with a nice cup of tea and a guinea pig – the best viewing partner.

The episode picks up where it left off in An Unearthly Child, with the shot of a shadow looming over the T.A.R.D.I.S. We cut away, and get to see who's casting the shadow: a rather grubby looking chap in desperate need of a good haircut. This is Kal, a Palaeolithic man, and contender for the leader of his tribe. Winter is fast approaching, their old firemaker is dead, and his son, Za, has no more idea of how to make a fire than any of the others. Control of the tribe will go to whomever becomes the new firemaker.


Kal and his mate, Hur, attempt to make fire. Close, but no cigar.

Within the T.A.R.D.I.S., Ian and Barbara are waking up, and much to the Doctor's (and my own) frustration, Ian is still under the impression that this is some sort of trick. The Doctor surmises that they all have travelled back in time. Of course Ian doesn't believe him, because apparently Ian's head is full of sawdust.

"If you could touch the alien sand and hear the cries of strange birds and watch them wheel in another sky, would that satisfy you?"
The Doctor

I couldn't have put it better myself. (In fairness to Ian, if I met an old man with a police box that was bigger on the inside and could travel back in time, and found myself in a junkyard one minute and a wasteland the next, I'd think I was either being tricked or going a bit loony.)

The doors of the T.A.R.D.I.S. open up, and off we go!

The Doctor and Susan notice to their dismay that their T.A.R.D.I.S. still looks like a police box. The ship is meant to disguise itself upon arriving in a new locale, but it hasn't happened this time. It'll be interesting to see what happens when the Doctor gets around to fixing it.

Unbeknownst to the group, our hairy friend Kal has been watching them closely, and is making his approach.

The Doctor, meanwhile, decides that now is a good time to smoke his pipe. However, as he strikes his match, Kal pounces on him. My own doctor does always say that smoking is bad for one's health.


Remember, kids. If you use tobacco, we can’t guarantee a caveman won’t suddenly pounce on you.

The rest of the group don’t take long to notice his absence. Susan completely loses her head; to say she doesn’t appear to cope well with stress would be putting it mildly. I do hope she toughens up a bit.

Kal arrives at his tribe’s cave with the Doctor slung over his shoulder, a mighty prize for the Doctor can make fire from his fingertips. The tribe gets straight to bickering over who gets to learn fire. It’s a lot like a Commons debate. The Doctor would happily give them fire, if only to shut them up, were it not for the fact that he’s all out of matchsticks.

It seems like all is lost for the Doctor when the rest of the group come charging in…and are captured immediately.

So much for a daring rescue.

The episode ends with our band of travellers being sealed into the eponymous Cave Of Skulls.


An interesting touch. I can’t be certain, but that looks like a genuine human skull to me.

This one was a bit slow at the start, and though I'm not averse to a bit of political drama, I can't really see that a child would much care for it.

THE FOREST OF FEAR

A week later for us (and no time at all for our characters), we follow on with the group trapped, the tribe planning to force the Doctor to make fire at sunrise, and all hope, seemingly, lost.

In the cave, the tribe sleep. One, however, does not: an elderly woman whose name I don't think we ever learn, which is surprising considering she might be one of the most important characters of the serial. She’s an old-fashioned cavewoman. Who needs this new-fangled fire? Everyone got along before fire, didn’t they?

The old woman steals a knife and slips away from the tribe. Last week, she wanted to kill the travellers. Looks like she's about to follow through, but someone has spotted her: Za's mate, Hur. I admit I only know that’s her name from the credits, as I don’t recall anyone ever referring to her by name within the episode proper.


It’s sharper than it looks.

Back in the creatively named CAVE OF SKULLS, the travellers are working on an escape. They're not getting far with their hands bound, but are at least starting to work together.

"Fear makes companions of all of us."
The Doctor

Companions. I like that.

Susan is the first to notice the old woman entering the cave, with a scream so shrill my poor guinea pig almost leapt off the couch and ran all the way home to his sisters. I think my ears are still ringing.

Hur wakes Za, and her suspicions are the same as mine. She reasons that if they stop the old woman from killing the companions, the Doctor will reward Za with fire. However, in a subversion of expectations, it turns out we were wrong. With the old woman’s help, our heroes escape, but the old woman isn't so lucky.

Za pursues them into the forest. Barbara loses her head as the group realises they are lost, and the Doctor and Ian begin to bicker, in a way that oddly mirrors the 'cave-men', over which of them is the leader. Looks like some things never change.


The dreaded boar.

At the sight of a dead boar, Barbara helpfully screams the whole forest down, alerting Za to their whereabouts. Well done, Barbara. Again, I do hope that the women of the group completely losing their senses at the first time of trouble doesn’t become a recurring trend.

Bad news: Za isn't the deadliest thing in the forest. Luckily for Barbara, the never-seen beast finds Za before it finds her. Za’s caterwauling echoes across the forest, and though he's been pursuing them, Barbara insists on going back to help. The Doctor, much disgruntled, brings up the rear of the group, preferring to leave Za to his fate and make their escape. Still, he won't abandon Susan, so the companions double back and find Za, horrifically wounded.

Back in the cave of skulls, a phrase I find myself compelled to say in a dramatic voice, I'm relieved to find the old woman is still alive. She seems like the only cave-person with her head screwed on properly. My relief turns to dread when Kal finds and interrogates her. He's not pleased she helped them. Not pleased one bit.

In the forest, our companions tend to Za, and Hur has some difficulty with the concept of kindness, something I find confusing. Paleolithic people were not mindless ‘savages’. Any human society, no matter how different from what you’d consider to be ‘civilisation’, must be based on cooperation and mutual aid if it is to function. In less clinical terms, kindness makes the world go round, and wherever and whenever you are, people are people.


The companions administer first aid to Za.

The Doctor, however, doesn't seem to be feeling kind. In fact, Ian has to stop him murdering poor Za with a rock. I like a grumpy hero, but not one who murders people. It has to be said that the Doctor doesn't seem like a terribly nice man, let alone a good one. I hope he softens up over time.

The companions move off, taking Za with them on an improvised stretcher, but back with the tribe, trouble stirs. The old woman is dead, and Kal is quick to accuse Za of the crime.

And it's in this frame of mind that the tribe surround our companions as they approach the T.A.R.D.I.S. It doesn't seem like everyone's going to make it out of this adventure in one piece.


So close, but so far away.

I enjoyed this episode more than last week’s, in spite of the quibbles I had. It was simply more exciting, with some good plot twists.

THE FIREMAKER

Here we come to the conclusion!

Our companions have been caught and brought back to the tribe, where Kal formally accuses Za of killing the old woman with his knife. But Kal didn't count on one thing—the Doctor.

The Doctor notices that there is no blood on Za's knife. Kal insists it's a bad knife, and almost like toying with a small child, the Doctor manipulates him into taking out his own knife to prove his is better. I can’t say whether this says more about the Doctor’s intelligence or Kal’s general lack of it. Sure enough, Kal’s knife is covered in blood.


The Doctor is on the case.

The tribe, egged on by the Doctor, casts Kal out into the wilderness, and Za seals the companions back into the cave of skulls. How's that for gratitude?

Hur, however, seems to have a brain cell or two to rub together, and fills him in on what the companions did for him after the beast attacked. Za becomes less hostile, but he still needs fire if he wants to lead. I think the old woman might have been right: the more I see of this tribe, the less I think they can be trusted with fire.

Za goes to the cave to speak with the companions, who are currently working on getting a fire going. The tribe believe that if they sacrifice the companions to the sun ('Orb'), it will give them fire. No need for that—Ian just managed to kindle a small flame.


Kal on the verge of learning a painful lesson: Fire hot.

However, Kal isn’t about to give up without a fight. He arrives at the cave, and attacks Za for control of the fire. In the ensuing fight, it's quite hard to tell what's going on, with the similar costumes and makeup for our two cavemen, but the scene itself looks good, with the flickering firelight dancing off the vicious fighters.


Za gains the upper hand.

In the end, Za is victorious, and emerges from the cave with a torch, having won the battle for leadership. However, though he has what he wanted, he decides to keep hold of the companions, and with them, a steady fire supply, so they take matters into their own hands.

Time for a cunning plan. It’s so cunning it will take your breath away:

Get a torch. Get a skull. Put the skull on the torch. Hide.

That’s it, that’s the full extent of the plan. Our companions make a break for it when the cave-people are too busy being scared out of what little wits they had.

Za, quick on the uptake as always, realises that the skulls on sticks are not any sort of demonic entity, and the tribe gives chase in a scene that, I'll be honest, is clearly limited by the confines of the studio. Lots of close-ups on panicked faces without any reference as to how close behind the tribe are. It doesn't do much for the tension.

The companions at long last make it back to the T.A.R.D.I.S. and take off. But where to? Who can say? Suffice it to say, it doesn’t look like Ian and Barbara are making it back to modern England any time soon. In fact, they land in a strange-looking forest, bone-white trees all around, and leave the T.A.R.D.I.S. after Susan checks the radiation meter and sees that it reads unthreatening levels.

However, it looks like they're in for a nasty surprise. Unseen by any of them, the needle is creeping up…

Final Thoughts

All in all, this trip in the T.A.R.D.I.S. was quite enjoyable, but didn't quite live up to the promise of its first instalment. Our characters are beginning to emerge, and though I like Ian and Barbara, I admit I find Susan a bit annoying, and the Doctor, though still my favourite by virtue of being the most interesting, could do with a lesson or two in humanity.

A positive aspect I'd like to note is the lack of an obvious 'goodie' outside of the main group. The politics of the cave are an ugly mess, and our companions are just unlucky enough to be stuck in the middle of it. I think there might be a metaphor in that, somewhere. It occurs to me now that though Za has fire, he still doesn’t know how to make more. What's going to happen to the tribe when the fire burns out? Is this group of early humans doomed?

So, though some bits were slower than others, I think we can safely say there's enough promise to stick with the series. I want to see more adventures from this crew of varying intrepidness, and I look forward to the next serial.

What's coming next, do we think? Another planet? The alien sand the Doctor promised? Or perhaps it could be our own far into the future. Or not so far, if you're feeling pessimistic.

I'll leave you all to mull it over.

Until next time, then!

3.5 out of 5 stars




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TV

[Dec. 3, 1963] Dr. Who?  An Adventure In Space And Time

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By Jessica Holmes

A New Science Fiction Series Lands At The BBC

Hello, class! Some of you may remember me from last month's article on the Arecibo observatory. For those who don't: hello, my name is Jessica, and I am an artist who likes science.

A lot of people think of the arts and sciences as being at odds with one another, and although I lean towards the arts, I don't see why they have to be separated. The structure of a DNA helix is like a work of sculpture. The exquisite tile patterns found in buildings around the Islamic world are designed according to mathematical principles. Science can be art, and art can be science. So, why am I waffling on about this? Because I believe that the adventure we're about to embark on will prove my assertion.

Produced by Verity Lambert (the BBC's youngest and only woman producer), Doctor Who is the new science fiction series from the BBC, about the mysterious eponymous old man and his machine that allows him to travel through time and space. Along with him are his granddaughter, Susan, and two of her school teachers, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright. Together, they'll travel backwards and forwards through history, and upside down and sideways through the universe. According to the Radio Times, each adventure may bring them to the North Pole, distant worlds devastated by neutron bombs (well, THERE'S a relevant story for you!), and even the caravan of Marco Polo. I also hear this show is to have a bit of an educational element, so I'll be looking forward to seeing how that goes.

I wouldn't normally cover such a mundane thing as opening credits, but I think in this case it would be remiss of me not to draw attention to them. The theme music itself is exciting and memorable, and sounds truly from another world from the first few bars. Accompanying this is a novel visual effect (or at least, one I haven't seen before) of abstract swirls pulsating and contorting. I did a little research into how it was done, and it turns out this effect is actually quite simple: it's feedback. Much as placing a microphone close to its own output speaker produces an extremely unpleasant screech, pointing a camera at its own output monitor yields 'howlaround' feedback in the form of these abstract waves.

Enough technical talk. On with the episode.

Wandering the Fourth Dimension

We had a bit of an unusual situation in the release of this premier episode. It was shown, in fact, last week, but for obvious reasons not a lot of people watched it, not to mention the nationwide blackout we suffered that night.  It was shown again immediately before the second episode of the serial, which I shall be covering next time.

We fade in from the opening onto a dark, misty shot of a police officer on the beat, passing by a gate labelled with the words 'I.M. Foreman, Scrap Merchant, 76 Totters Lane'. The music gives its cue something is about to happen. The camera closes in on the gate, which swings open to reveal…a junkyard. Shocking, I know. We track forwards into the scrap merchant's yard, passing by a police box as we pan upwards, and then, just as the viewer starts to wonder what we're supposed to be looking at, back to the police box, from within which comes a low hum.

We zoom in on the familiar sign—well, familiar to those of us in my country, anyway. They're quite common, these big blue boxes, though they are sometimes found in other colours, dotted around Britain's streets. Inside each is a telephone connected directly to the local police station, allowing both the public and local police to quickly and easily call for assistance wherever they may be. They can even be used to hold detainees until reinforcements arrive, and I won't even get started on their other, less orthodox uses.

And now we see the title card: An Unearthly Child. This episode was written by Anthony Coburn.

Just when I think we're about to find out what's inside this police box, we cut away to the sound of a school bell, and find ourselves at Coal Hill School, where we meet two of our main characters for the first time: Ian Chesterton, science master, and Barbara Wright, history teacher. These attentive (or perhaps it'd be more accurate to call them nosy) teachers have a conundrum on their hands. It's not an academic matter that ails them, but one of their students, a strange girl named Susan, possesses knowledge far beyond either of them in some fields, while not even being able to say how many shillings are in a pound. It is indeed quite perplexing how such a common piece of knowledge could slip by an otherwise intelligent fifteen year-old (for those unfamiliar, there are twenty shillings in a pound, and twelve pennies in a shilling.) How this girl manages to buy anything without understanding how money works, I couldn't say. She certainly doesn't seem to be from outside Britain; her diction would make my grandmother weep with joy.


From left to right: Jacqueline Hill, Carole Ann Ford and William Russell as Barbara Wright, Susan Foreman, and Ian Chesterton respectively.

Perhaps more perplexing than Susan herself is her address: 76 Totters Lane — the junkyard we saw at the beginning of the episode. In an effort to talk to Susan's grandfather, her only guardian, Ian and Barbara travel to the junkyard one night and await his arrival.

And this, in my opinion, is where the episode starts to get good. It's all been fine up to this point, but there's nothing terribly exciting about watching teachers talk about a difficult student. With the return of the junkyard, the humming police box, and a haze of smog over everything, the mysterious atmosphere kicks back in in full force, and soon enough, my favourite part of the episode arrives.

Enter the Doctor, William Hartnell. There's a good chance you've already heard the name before; he's been in more films over the last decade than I care to mention. Not being the biggest fan of war films, I admit I haven't really seen him in action much, but this Doctor is a far cry from the military men Hartnell normally steps into the shoes of. From the moment he steps into frame, we see just why this programme is called Doctor Who. For all the mystery about Susan, the Doctor blows it out of the water.


William Hartnell as the Doctor.

The Doctor is strange. We get the impression we only hear perhaps a tenth of what he's really thinking, and that his is a mind that races far faster than theirs. It's also clear that this is a man with something to hide; every word out of his mouth is an attempt to deflect the teachers, to persuade them to leave well enough alone. But there's a mischievous twinkle in his eye; we almost get the impression he thinks of this all as a game, an amusement to pass his time. The teachers notice quickly that he's suspiciously keen on keeping them away from the police box. All comes to a head when Susan's voice calls out from inside the box, and fearing her to be in danger, the teachers burst in. At last we get the truth—or at least, our first slice of it.

The police box is bigger on the inside.


All aboard the TARDIS.

Gone is the gloomy junkyard where we had to squint to see; now we're in a bright, open room, lined with all manner of electrical equipment and control panels, and in the centre, a console. This is the TARDIS, short for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. It is both a space ship, and a time machine.

Susan and her grandfather are exiles from another time, another world, cast adrift in time and space, never able to settle in one place for too long, for fear of situations such as these. It's clear both long for home, or at the very least, stability.

"Have you ever thought what it's like to be wanderers in the Fourth Dimension? Have you? To be exiles? Susan and I are cut off from our own planet – without friends or protection. But one day we shall get back. Yes, one day."
The Doctor

The teachers may be people of learning, but this is quite beyond them, as the Doctor notes with a derisive comment. Believing the Doctor to be quite mad and his TARDIS to be an elaborate hoax, the teachers attempt to leave, but to no avail. The Doctor has locked the doors!

In a confrontation with her grandfather, Susan demands that he allow her and the teachers to leave. Seemingly the Doctor acquiesces, but as the rest of the crew make for the door, he begins to laugh in a way greatly reminiscent of the cheeky chuckle my grandfather makes whenever he's cheating at a board game.

With the flick of a switch, that mischievous gleam in the Doctor's eye betrays a hint of malice, or perhaps madness. Quick at work on the controls of his machine, the teachers' pleas to be released fall on deaf ears; his ship is launching, and they're along for the ride.

A wheezing, grinding cacophony rises, the swirling lights from the opening titles return, and all aboard have an expression of great discomfort. Clearly, travel through the extra dimensions is a little more uncomfortable than a ride on the London Underground (if such a thing is even possible). The wheezing noise fades away, and we cut to the outside of the box, but not to the junkyard. Outside the TARDIS is a barren landscape stretching as far as the eye can see, desolate and lifeless. Or is it?

Final Thoughts

So, that was an interesting start to what I hope will be an interesting series. The episode was perhaps a little slow to get going, but things really pick up at the halfway point, with some excellent decisions made by director Waris Hussein. In particular I want to praise the contrast between the dim junkyard and the bright interior of the TARDIS. The jarring transition leaves us as agape as the teachers. The mundane world of modern Britain falls away, and now we're in a place where anything can happen. Good performances all around, but especially from Hartnell, who has a real charm, even if I'm not quite sure as to the motivations of his Doctor character. Eccentric or plain mad? Mischievous or malicious? It's too early to say. The Doctor is an intriguing character, and I'm very excited to see more of his antics, and follow along on the adventure.




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[November 29, 1963] An old doll's new tricks (Twilight Zone, Season 5, Episodes 5-8)

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by Natalie Devitt

The latest season of The Twilight Zone is back in full swing, complete with great storytelling and acting that still outshines most other shows on the air. For those of you who may not be staying up every Friday night to catch The Twlilight Zone, allow me to bring you up to speed.

The Last Night of a Jockey, by Rod Serling

In The Last Night of a Jockey, Mickey Rooney plays Michael Grady, a man who has based his self worth on his success as a jockey. When he is suspended from racing after being accused of race fixing, he isolates himself in his tiny apartment. All alone, he dwells on his fears that his career is over. After having devoted to his life to the race track, he worries that he will be left with few career opportunities, except perhaps as a driver to a horse-drawn carriage in Central Park.

Grady is small in stature, and this experience leaves Grady feeling even smaller, so he wishes one night to be taller. The next morning, he wakes up to find his feet hanging over his bed. He looks in the mirror and sees how he towers over everything in his studio apartment. Initially pleased with his sudden growth spurt, he declares, “I’m big, honey, you understand that? I’m b-i-g.” As the story progresses, he begins to realize that everything in life is a trade-off.

The Last Night of a Jockey feels like a bit like a chamber play. It all takes place in one room. Rooney is the only actor who is ever shown on screen, so Grady reveals information about himself and his feelings by either speaking to himself or through phone conversations, where the other characters are never present. The episode is only a half an hour, but even that felt a little too long because The Last Night of a Jockey does not have much going on visually. It could have used a little more emphasis on the lighting or maybe different camera angles to make it look less flat. The script relies almost too much on dialogue, which I hate to say because I like dialogue driven stories, but it can be difficult to do effectively when the other person’s reactions are never shown. In addition, The Last Night of a Jockey suffers from being one of the less effective The Twilight Zone entries with the message “be careful what you wish for.”

Having said that, Rooney really shows his dramatic range as Grady. His role in The Last Night of a Jockey stands in stark contrast to his breakout performance as Andy Hardy in all of MGM’s Hardy films. The Last Night of a Jockey receives two and a half stars from me, which is entirely for Mickey Rooney’s performance.

Living Doll, by Charles Beaumont

Living Doll tells the story of Talky Tina, a doll that, you guessed it, talks. Tina has recently found a new home with a little girl named Christie. Christie lives with her mother, played by Bye Bye Birdie’s Mary Laroche and stepfather, portrayed by Birdman of Alcatraz’s Telly Savalas. She and her stepfather, Erich, have struggled to build a relationship with one another. When Christie, played by little Tracy Stratford, first receives Tina, the doll seems like any wind-up toy, telling her, “I love you very much.” However, when Christie’s stepfather is alone with the doll, he soon realizes through a series of not so subtle hints that Tina is no ordinary doll. The first of which is her telling him, “My name is Talky Tina and I don’t think I like you.” Shortly after that, the doll winks at him. Testing the doll, he lights a match in its face and threatens to hurt to hurt her, only for Tina to react with, “Not really, but I could hurt you.”

Erich grows more and more suspicious each time he sees the doll. At one point, he theorizes that his wife has installed a walkie-talkie in the doll as some sort of prank, but he soon finds holes in that theory. Things continue to escalate. Fed up, Erich throws the doll in the trash. Thinking he is finally free from Tina, he receives a phone call with what sounds like Tina on the other end, now threatening, “My name is Talky Tina and I am going to kill you.” Startled by this, Erich checks on his stepdaughter in her bedroom, where he finds Tina next to Christie in bed. Things erupt into an all out war as he confronts Tina, but can he defeat a seemingly indestructible doll?

Living Doll is interesting because it can be looked from different angles. Is the doll’s behavior a reflection of Christie’s feelings towards her stepfather or rather or a reflection of Erich’s own insecurities? The story never really answers all of my questions, which I think makes the episode all the more frightening. Dolls, especially porcelain ones, can be scary, perhaps due to their incredibly life-like appearance. The episode certainly brings to mind Michael Redgrave’s living dummy in Dead of Night, and I would imagine that The Twilight Zone fans would probably be reminded of The Dummy.

The already strong story is topped off by very believable performances by all of the actors involved. Living Doll is easily one of the strongest episodes of the season, which is why I rate it at four stars.

The Old Man in the Cave, by Rod Serling

It is the year 1974, ten years since a nuclear war. One group of people who have survived it have had difficulty finding a reliable food source. When they finally do find some canned goods, conflict arises. Is it worth the risk to eat food that could have been exposed to radiation? To settle things, they look to the title character: the old man in the cave, a mysterious entity. The men and women in the group never see him, but he always gives reliable advice. His track record is so good that when word returns that the food is not safe, the people decide not to take a gamble on the possibly contaminated food.

Not long after, some soldiers, led by The Magnificent Seven’s James Coburn, arrive in town. Coburn plays the role of Major French. French and his men claim to know of other survivors, but he may not be completely trustworthy and could just be after the cans of food. Nevertheless, this sows the seeds of doubt and leads some folks in the town to question the old man’s words.

The Old Man in the Cave seems like it could be about anything — from religion to politics to technology. In addition, it could easily be about hardwired human behavior. In fact, the episode lends itself to so many different interpretations, which is what I think makes it an interesting watch. The work of actors like James Coburn and John Anderson do not hurt, either. While The Old Man in the Cave is not as strong as other The Twilight Zone tales that have taken place in a post-apocalyptic world, such as Time Enough at Last, it certainly is a worthy entry to the series. I happily give it three stars.

Uncle Simon, by Rod Serling

How much can a person take? This question never left my mind while watching Uncle Simon, an episode directed by Don Siegel, director of 1956's Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Television actress Constance Ford stars as Barbara, a woman who has devoted her life to caring for her cruel elderly uncle Simon, perfectly cast as theater and film actor Cedric Hardwicke. Each day Barbara endures insult after insult from her uncle. It may one day pay off when Simon passes away and she inherits his fortune, but is it worth the days she spends dutifully by his side at every beck and call until that day comes? When Simon is not busy looking for any reason to put Barbara down, he spends his time in the basement, working on an invention that he goes to great lengths to keep secret from Barbara.

One day Barbara decides that she is going to find out exactly her uncle is working on down in the basement, but he catches her breaking into his lab, which results in an altercation. Simon falls and Barbara allows him to die as a result of his injuries. After he passes away, Barbara is not really free from her uncle after all. In fact, the terms of his will state that she must care for his secret invention, which Barbara comes to find out is a robot, in order to inherit his estate. Simon has figured out a way to keep her trapped, even in death.

Uncle Simon is pretty depressing and difficult to watch. It’s easy to say Barbara should leave, but I am willing to bet most of us have had situations in life that where we tolerate things for much longer than we should, which is part of what makes this story so depressing. Simon certainly has a lot of memorable one-liners, some of which are quite good while others are a tad silly.

On the bright side, Uncle Simon does have Robby the Robot. I must add that while I sometimes complain that The Twilight Zone reuses too many things from Forbidden Planet and I know I sometimes fail to take into account the budget for television, the robot designed by Robert Kinoshita was very welcome, and certainly made a dark episode a little brighter. While not bad, Uncle Simon is a bit draining emotionally. Maybe that shows its effectiveness. I could just be the tone of this entry that I find so off-putting. In any case, I am going to have to I give it two stars.

All in all, The Twilight Zone continues to move along, with stories that still intrigue and challenge its audience. Living Doll and The Old Man in the Cave are certainly great examples. I must say that I look forward to the episodes that are still forthcoming.




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[November 15, 1963] A Sign of Things to Come? (The Outer Limits, Episodes 5-8)

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by Natalie Devitt

Last month I questioned whether it was worth the average person’s time to watch The Outer Limits. Sure, The Architects of Fear was a great episode, but all of the other episodes during the show’s first month on the air were not nearly as strong. After continuing to watch the program for yet another month, I finally have reached a verdict, and the answer yes. The Outer Limits really seems to come into its own this month. Allow me to explain.

The Sixth Finger, by Ellis St. Joseph

In The Sixth Finger, Edward Mulhare stars as a scientist named Professor Mathers, who has developed a process that he hopes will improve the fate of mankind. The scientist hypothesizes that by speeding up man’s evolution that man will somehow become so intelligent that he will become more peaceful. Of course, the plan goes haywire when Mathers actually tests his hypothesis out on a real human subject. David McCallum, who you may have recently seen in The Great Escape, plays Gwyllm Griffiths, a miner who volunteers to be a test subject for Mathers. Shortly after the process begins, Mathers realizes that Griffiths is not only becoming smarter at a speed much faster than he ever could have predicted, but also that Griffiths has begun undergoing a number of physical transformations, including growing a sixth finger. Also, as time passes, Griffiths becomes more and more difficult to control.

This is the first very satisfying episode of The Outer Limits since The Architects of Fear. Part of what made both episodes so effective was the special effects makeup. Similar to The Architects of Fear, an actor in The Sixth Finger undergoes a pretty impressive transformation over the course of the episode. In this case, Griffiths’ hair thins while his skull increases in size. His ears take on more of a pointed shape, and let’s not forget the finger referenced in the episode’s title.

While I am sure the novelty may wear off at some point, I am finding myself a little excited to see what kind of alien or monster is going to be at the center of each week’s story. The creations made for The Outer Limits may not be quite level of some of Jack Pierce’s makeup for Universal’s movie monsters, like Frankenstein or the Wolfman, but they certainly are unique and ambitious for a weekly show. This is a case where great makeup really helps an already strong story reach its true potential. The Sixth Finger easily earns three and a half stars.

The Man Who Was Never Born, by Anthony Lawrence

The Man Who Was Never Born is about Joseph Reardon, an astronaut who accidentally drives his spacecraft thorough a time portal into the future. In the year 2148, he lands and realizes that much of Earth’s population has been almost entirely wiped out. The one survivor he does meet is a disfigured man named Andro. Andro is played by none other than North by Northwest actor Martin Landau, an actor who I am sure viewers of The Twilight Zone are very familiar with, having starred in Mr. Denton on Doomsday. He and Joseph decide to go back in time to stop the scientist responsible for creating Andro’s disfiguring disease, which left him looking a bit like Lon Chaney Sr. or Charles Laughton in the 1923 and 1939 versions of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

I know, the premise sounds similar to just about any plot on The Twilight Zone. A recent story such as No Time Like the Past could come to mind. So, if you are thinking this is yet another run-of-the mill time travel tale, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. An episode with a familiar beginning suddenly turns into a surprisingly good retelling of Beauty and the Beast, which I must admit I never saw coming.

What really sets this episode apart is its impressive cinematography, which was clearly inspired by Jean Cocteau’s 1946 adaptation of the story. The Outer Limits’ take on the classic fairy tale also utilizes a lot of point-of-view shots. Each shot is very expressionist, so how Andro is shot differs greatly; depending on who is looking at him and their feelings towards him. The classic Hollywood high-key lighting, shots with Vaseline on the lens and the use of images superimposed on top of one another make the viewer feel like they are actually inside a fairy tale. The whole thing concludes with a very striking shot. The Man Who Was Never Born is a feast for the eyes, which is why I give this entry in the series four stars.

O.B.I.T., by Meyer Dolinsky

Senator Orville, played by Maverick actor Peter Breck, is investigating a murder that took place at a military base. While conducting his investigation, Orville begins to uncover what seems to be a poor work environment. Behind the work-place drama, he finds a machine called O.B.I.T., which stands for Outer Band Individuated Teletracer. O.B.I.T. not only tracks employees on the base, but also records anyone within a five hundred mile radius without their consent or knowledge. As troubling as that is, that is not the worst of it. Those who use it, cannot stop using it. One user describes the machine by saying, “No one can joke or laugh. It watches. Worst of all, I watch it. I can’t stop. It’s like a drug, a horrible drug. I can’t resist it. It’s an addiction.”

Initially, O.B.I.T. seemed more like something you would find on Perry Mason rather than on The Outer Limits. Not being a big fan of courtroom dramas myself, I was not terribly interested, but when the plot started to feel more like a George Orwell novel, I suddenly felt more engaged as a viewer.O.B.I.T. is not very visually stimulating; it is an episode that really is carried by the strength of its script and the ideas contained in the script. This is an episode that stayed with me, and it became more disturbing, the more I thought about it. For me, the total erosion of privacy is terrifying because it is something that could actually happen, but O.B.I.T. is interesting whether or not you subscribe to the belief that people with nothing to hide have nothing to fear. I give O.B.I.T. three and half stars.

The Human Factor, by David Duncan

The Human Factor takes place on a remote outpost in Greenland. One of the people at the outpost is Major Brothers, played by Houseboat actor Harry Guardino, a man who feels responsible for the death of one of his soldiers. A soldier who Brothers thinks may have returned to haunt him as a ghost. Major Brothers’ goes through great lengths to rid himself of hallucinations, and ends up paying a visit to Doctor Hamilton. Doctor Hamilton, played by All About Eve actor Gary Merrill, has recently created a device to help him read other people’s thoughts. Doctor Hamilton tries to use the machine on Brothers, only for things to not go as planned. The two men end up accidentally switching minds. Brothers is now in Hamilton’s body and poses a threat to those around him. Unfortunately, nobody will believe Doctor Hamilton, who is stuck in Brothers’ body.

The Human Factor is only fair. The acting is more than good enough, but without a strong story, the episode goes nowhere. On the surface, the episode has a little bit of something for everyone, including action and romance, but the whole thing really struggled to maintain suspense and my attention for the full hour. Sadly, the brief glimpses of the ghost haunting Major Brothers were the only moments of excitement for me. As a result, I can only give it two stars.

If this past month is any indication of where the show is headed, I am very excited. So, if you have not turned into The Outer Limits yet, I highly recommend you start. As the opening monologue says, “Experience the awe and the mystery which reaches from the inner mind to – The Outer Limits.”



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[October 26, 1963] [Return to Form] (Twilight Zone, Season 5, Episodes 1-4)

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by Natalie Devitt

In case you have been living under a rock or moved on to newer programs, like The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone returned to television for a fifth season. The series has also returned to a half-hour format and is once again airing on Friday nights. Back in May, I wrote that I hoped the program would be renewed for at least another season, because I just could not bear the thought of a once great series ending its run with an episode like The Bard. Well, it seems as if the television gods must have been listening because my wish has come true. If you have not been tuning in consistently for the past month, here is what you may have missed:

In Praise of Pip, by Rod Serling

In In Praise of Pip stars The Twilight Zone regular Jack Klugman. Klugman plays Max, a bookie who learns that his son, Pip, a soldier in Vietnam, has been wounded and may pass away soon. Shortly after hearing the news, Max is involved in a business deal gone terribly wrong, which results in Max being wounded himself. Max decides not to seek medical attention. Instead, thinking only of Pip and regretting that he did not spend as much time with his son as he would have liked, Max wanders down a street at night. He stops in front of an amusement park and is overcome by memories of his son. Just then, Max spots a boy who looks eerily similar to a young Pip.

There is no shortage of episodes of The Twilight Zone where a character is able to relive and/or change past events. One thing that In Praise of Pip has going for it is that is better written than a number of recent episodes with a similar plot, like The Incredible World of Horace Ford, which you may recall from last season. Jack Klugman delivers a strong performance as Max, as does another The Twilight Zone regular, Billy Mumy. Mumy may be a young boy, but anyone who has watched The Twilight Zone will probably remember him from stories like It’s a Good Life and Long Distance Call. In Praise of Pip includes strong cinematography and an a conclusion that is enjoyable, but the finale is perhaps a little too reminiscent of the film Lady from Shanghai. Overall, the episode earns a solid three stars.

Steel, by Richard Matheson

Steel takes place in the not too distant future. More specifically, the year 1974. Boxing has been deemed too dangerous of a sport for human participation, so the sport is now played using androids. Lee Marvin plays Steel Kelly, coach to one of said robots. Sadly, the android Kelly coaches is outdated and in desperate need of repair. In an effort to earn the money necessary to repair his robot, Kelly hatches a plan to beat the latest model of boxing robots.

In Steel, Marvin is Kelly, a coach with nothing to lose. I am used to seeing Marvin playing a tough guy, but I am not used to him seeing him play a character who is this desperate underneath the tough exterior. Gone is the actor who I know for playing a man who poured hot coffee on Gloria Grahame in The Big Heat. Marvin is replaced with a character who has plenty of experience inside the boxing ring, but with laws changing and advances in technology, has really been left behind in the dust.

While Marvin may have disappeared into his role as Kelly, the special effects makeup used this time around did not always disappear onto the faces of the actors as much as I would have liked. Nevertheless, this week’s episode was a pretty good entry in this anthology, which is why I give it three stars.

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, by Richard Matheson

William Shatner, an actor you have probably seen on other fine programs such as One Step Beyond, Thriller and Alfred Hitchcock Presents (not to mention The Twilight Zone!), plays Robert Wilson, a man who is recovering from a nervous breakdown. Wilson seems to be making improvements in his mental health, until he and his wife board plane. During the flight, Wilson catches a glimpse of a strange creature on one of the wings of the plane. It is referred to as a gremlin, and it may be trying to cause a plane crash. The only problem is that Wilson seems to be the only person aboard the plane who can see it.

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet does an excellent job of creating an atmosphere of claustrophobia and the feeling of powerlessness that Wilson clearly feels during the flight. The tension builds each and every time, he peeks out his window. My only complaint is that the gremlin kind of looks like a man in a sheep costume, but costumes aside, this is by far the strongest story I have seen on The Twilight Zone this season. This one earns four stars from me.

A Kind of a Stopwatch, by Rod Serling

Richard Erdman plays the role of Patrick McNulty, a man who after being fired from his job decides to drown his sorrows in some booze at his local watering hole. While there, he meets a drunk, who gives him a stopwatch. But the stopwatch that Erdman receives is not an ordinary stopwatch: it has the power to stop time. Erdman, not surprisingly, decides to use the watch for his own personal gain.

A Kind of a Stopwatch is another example of how The Twilight Zone fails pretty miserably when it comes to comedy because nothing about is particularly funny. It does not help that the episode has pretty predictable story. A story that even as short as it is, still seems to drag. A Kind of a Stopwatch is easily the weakest entry in this program all month. For those reasons, I give it two stars.

I was not sure what to expect from The Twilight Zone this time around. Luckily, the series made the most of its return to television after its break between seasons. I just hope The Twilight Zone can keep the momentum going through the season.



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[October 10, 1963] The Outer Limits of television — a first look

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by Natalie Devitt

Does television really need another science fiction anthology series? This is a question I wrestled with not too long ago, back when I heard that ABC had announced their plans to air a new anthology titled The Outer Limits on Monday nights. Sure, I will happily watch just about anything. But does the average person have the time to devote to the show, especially after having watched anything from Science Fiction Theatre to The Twilight Zone? Would The Outer Limits offer anything new, or just simply rework the same stories that we have been watching on other programs for years? On a mission to answer these questions and to save your precious time, I went to The Outer Limits once a week for its first month. Here is what I found:

The Galaxy Being, by Leslie Stevens

The show began with a pretty strong introduction. I was immediately interested as the narrator intoned:

“There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission.”

But shortly after the episode started going, I found myself somewhat disappointed. The Galaxy Being is a great example of an interesting idea that is hurt by execution. It features a radio station engineer named Allan, played by Gidget actor Cliff Robertson, who frequently conducts his own experiments at work. Allan makes contact with a being from out of this world called the Galaxy Being.

Allan is intrigued by the Galaxy Being, but is unable to communicate with the alien for too long, due to his wife urging him to attend an event with her. So he leaves the station in the care of a trusted colleague for what he plans to only be an hour with explicit instructions not to alter the controls unless it be an absolute emergency. When Allan is unable to make it back to the station in time (of course), the disc jockey manning the controls increases the transmission, accidentally teleporting the alien to Earth. Once on Earth, the alien receives a less than warm welcome by a number of very frightened humans.

Allan is portrayed as something of a mad scientist, sacrificing his marriage in the pursuit of knowledge. The problem is that the script fails to really establish a strong relationship between him and his wife. As a result, it’s hard to care about Allan’s deteriorating romantic relationship as it is being impacted by the time he spends conducting his research at the station, and it’s hard to understand how his wife could convince him to hand over the radio controls to someone else the night the Galaxy Being is unleashed on the town.

While I did not find the Galaxy Being to be very visually appealing with his fish eyes, I must admit that he is certainly unique and that the technology used to create him is unlike anything I have ever seen before. So, that is worth noting. But unfortunately, there is the sequence where the Galaxy Being is shown causing all kinds of chaos in Allan’s home town once he is teleported to Earth.

Lights flicker and the wind suddenly starts howling, while the alien wanders through the streets at night. He breaks things, sends people screaming, women faint. I must admit as things went on, I found it increasingly difficult to suspend disbelief. The episode suddenly changed tone, and the whole episode started to feel like something straight out of a movie by American International Pictures.

Overall, The Galaxy Being was entertaining, but some elements made it hard to take it seriously as it went on. The whole thing made me wonder what kind of long-tern potential The Outer Limits has. In any case, I give The Galaxy Being two and a half stars.

The One Hundred Days of the Dragon, by Allan Balter and Robert Mintz

The One Hundred Days of the Dragon is a story about a government which may or may not be China's replacing a presidential candidate with a spy right before he is elected into office. The spy has all kinds of plans to take over the United States government, and while all of that sounds interesting, believe me when I write that you have to see the episode to believe it. It is like The Manchurian Candidate’s crazy distant relative.

The Hundred Days of the of the Dragon is more of a thriller, and the script a little more far-fetched, than I had anticipated. All in all, it was well-shot with decent acting, including the work of actor Sidney Blackmer. The musical score, while a little overdone, was effective, and would not be out of place on a Martin Denny record. My big gripe with the episode is that I am confused about the tone that the series is trying to strike with its audience this week. For that reason, I give the episode two and a half stars.

The Architects of Fear, by Meyer Dolinsky

In an attempt to bring together mankind, a group of overly-optimistic scientists devise a plan to create a threat so great that people from all walks of life will have no choice but to unite together — a hoaxed extraterrestrial invasion. The plan involves one of their men undergoing a number of procedures to be transformed into a hideous alien. Robert Culp plays Allen, the man selected at random for the role, who sacrifices everything in his life, including a wonderful marriage and an unborn baby, to try to make people see beyond their differences.

This was the episode that I was waiting for all month long, infinitely more compelling than anything else shown on The Outer Limits thus far. The character development in this episode is vastly superior than in the previous episodes; the relationship between Allen and his wife is one of the story’s greatest strengths. By understanding their bond, the viewer understands exactly what Allen is sacrificing by undergoing experiments and presenting himself as a serious potential threat to humans.

Everything was beautifully shot and dramatically lit with dark shadows, which only helped to accentuate the drama and create a strong sense of atmosphere. So did the point of view shot from Allen’s perspective when he transitions and things begin to look more blurry.  The expressionistic approach to the scene could not have been more effective.

Also, the alien that Allen transformed into is quite frightening and rather detailed. The special effects makeup on Allan during his transitions from human into alien are fairly realistic. All in all, the episode is a good balance of both heart and brain. I give it four and a half stars.

The Man with the Power, by Jerome Ross

The Man with the Power stars British actor Donald Pleasence as a college professor trapped in a meaningless job and a loveless marriage with an overbearing wife. Out of a desire to create some kind of purpose to  his life, he decides against his wife and his employer’s wishes to participate in a scientific study in which an object is implanted into his head, which causes him to develop telekinetic powers. The catch is that his new power seems to be affected by his emotions, and years of built up anger and resentment make his telekinetic abilities increasingly difficult to control.

Despite being fairly well-acted by Donald Pleasence, The Man with the Power failed to offer up anything new. In fact, the script seemed a little too much like Forbidden Planet with the whole emphasis on the man with an inability to control his id. And since the story provided no new material or perspectives, it was fairly predictable. I give The Man with the Power two and a half stars.

The Outer Limits may have the power to control transmission, but can the show keep viewers tuning in week after week? The verdict is still out. The show seems to be much more rooted in science fiction than most other anthology shows in recent years, which is a distinguishing point, but the batting average will probably have to improve: this month only gave me one fantastic, one somewhat entertaining and two otherwise okay episodes.

Guess I’ll just have to tune in next month to give you much more definitive answers to the questions that I posed at the beginning of this article. I hope you will join me next month for another a trip into The Outer Limits.



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[October 6, 1963] Birth of a genre (the Japanese cartoon, Astro Boy)

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by Gideon Marcus

Up in the sky!  It's a bird.. it's a plane… it's Superman… no.  it's…

ASTRO BOY!

If you've tuned into NBC on Saturday mornings, you may already have caught sight of the world's newest superhero.  Astro Boy, a robotic child with rocket jets, has already charmed grown-ups and kids alike.  But where did this strange new cartoon come from, why does it seem slightly off-kilter, and what is the provenance of those clearly foreign names in the credits?

The birth of Astro Boy

The story begins in Japan immediately after the war's end within the pages of a comic book.  While comic strips had been known in the country for nearly a century, it was the American occupation and the subsequent exposure to western-style comics that really made them popular in the island nation.  One of the most famous of the Japanese comic artists is Osamu Tezuka, who created the character that would one day be known as Astro Boy in 1952.  Called "Mighty Atom," he has appeared in weekly comic anthologies ever since.

As these comics ("manga" in Japanese) increased in popularity, a number of attempts were made to translate them into other media.  Live-action movies were made for many strips including Uncle Alien, Ironman #28 (no relation to the Iron Man of Marvel comics), and, of course, Mighty Atom.  They were all pretty crude affairs, calling to mind the movie serials of the 1930s.

Astro Boy arrives on television

Surprisingly, it was not until this year that manga began to come out on TV in cartoon form (I'd have thought that would have been a more natural evolution, but perhaps live action is easier to produce.) Japan has flirted with animation before, notably the movie Alakazam the Great, which came out a couple of years ago.  But Japanese cartoons are now flourishing in an unprecedented fashion.  I know of at least three animated series that debuted this year, and there are probably more.

The first and perhaps most anticipated one was Mighty Atom, which debuted in January.  By the time my family and I visited Japan in June, the story was well underway, but I managed to catch a rerun of the first episode, and thus became acquainted with the origin story:

It is the late 1990s, and the world is significantly more advanced, technologically.  Flying cars, space ships, and sentient robots are common.  Episode One opens up on Tobio, a teenaged boy cheerfully driving down the street in his air car.  A large truck suddenly looms into the lane and a collision ensues.  The accident is fatal, and his father, Dr. Tenma of the National Science Institute, carries the body away, sobbing.  That night, he resolves to cast a new Tobio from steel, to create the most advanced robot the world has ever known.

It takes a year, but the result is a metal boy, powerful and brilliant.  At first, the robot is the apple of his creator's eye.  But as the years pass, an increasingly erratic Dr. Tenma grows disenchanted with his invention, which is unable to grow into a man.  He sells Tobio to a robot circus master, who throws dubs the boy "Mighty Atom" and throws him into the ring against Golem, an enormous robotic opponent.  Despite the size disadvantage, Atom dispatches Golem with ease, thrilling the audience.  He refuses to deal a death blow to his opponent, however, and the cruel master locks Atom up and refuses to give him more energy.

During his confinement, Atom discovers a group of discarded robots, their power levels virtually exhausted.  These are former performers of whom the master has tired.  Touched by their plight, Atom offers them some of his own limited reserves of energy to make them mobile again.

That night, a dangerous performance involving fire goes awry, and the circus structure bursts into flames.  Atom springs into action, enlisting his robotic friends to save the human attendees.  He even personally saves his master, who has been trapped under a pile of collapsed timber.

In hospital the next day, Dr. Ochanomizu, Dr. Tenma's successor, entreats the circus master to release Atom into the custody of the Institute, where he will be properly treated.  Atom's master refuses, scoffing at the idea that he should be grateful to a robot who, after all, was only doing his duty.  Whereupon Ochanomizu turns on the television, which carries news of a "Robot Human Rights Act," bestowing full rights upon the robotic underclass.  The master must give Atom up or be guilty of human trafficking.  In tears, the fellow relents.

So begins Tobio's adventures with the Institute under the name, Mighty Atom.  Over the course of the next three episodes, he aids the police in the capture of a renegade robot, leads an expedition to Mars, and is shanghaied to Arabia by an evil archaeologist cum treasure hunter. 

That's the plot in broad strokes.  But it's the execution of the show that's so interesting.  The animation is weird, surreal and sparse, more akin to Felix the Cat than Hanna-Barbera, or even Mighty Mouse.  It's a genuinely funny show, with lots of sight gags and adorably outre character designs. 

What truly got me was the social commentary.  In every outing, Mighty Atom faces intolerance and discrimination.  When a robot goes amok and becomes a criminal, Mighty Atom is blamed; his heroic actions in the first episode are not enough to clear even him of the suspicion leveled against robot-kind.  In Episode 3, Atom's XO is so incensed at having to work for a robot that he tries multiple times to kill him! (and yet, the goodhearted robot can't help but forgive him).  And in the fourth episode, the villains have no qualms with enslaving the robot boy.  I can't imagine an American children's show so directly taking on the touchy topics of slavery and bigotry even though they are perhaps more relevant to our current situation than Japan's (not that Japan is absent of prejudice problems — ask the Koreans who live there).

Astro Boy's American debut

And yet, that's exactly what's happening.  Starting this September, Mighty Atom debuted on American television under the name of "Astro Boy!"

How has the show fared in its journey across the sea?  Not too badly, actually.  If you, like me, went to Worldcon, then you got to see the first show weeks before anyone else, and the general consensus there was that it made for fine viewing.  The dubbing is competent, although it tries a little too hard to match voices to mouth movements (the Japanese are more carefree about such things, putting emphasis instead on acting).  The Japanese version was very spare with its narration, preferring to let the visuals speak for themselves; the American narrator is relentless and ubiquitous.

But every scene is there, and all the lines are translated.  It is the same show. 

How remarkable is that?  We live in an age where television now crosses both seas, and we Americans can enjoy British and Japanese productions less than a year after their premiere in their countries of origin.  Perhaps next year, we'll be seeing the cartoon versions of Eight Man and Ironman #28, which began in Japan last month, on American television.

Who knows?  Someday, Japan's animated creations may end up more popular here than anywhere else!  Make Mine Mighty!

1963, anime, astro boy, mighty atom, osamu tezuka, japan, gideon marcus, television

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TV

[June 6, 1963] Bringing it home (The Twilight Zone, Season 4, Episodes 17-19)

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by Natalie Devitt

I finally finished the fourth season of The Twilight Zone. For the most part, I enjoyed the most recent episodes. The entire season has been all over the place, which unfortunately meant that I really did not know what to expect this time around. The final three episodes of the season retained this record, which meant they were not without their disappointments, but also not without selling points. This is my breakdown of the final three episodes of the season.

On Thursday We Leave for Home, by Rod Serling

The month of May got off to a great start with what is probably the most well-made episode of the month, On Thursday We Leave for Home. James Whitmore stars as Captain Benteen, the leader of a colony in space. It is the year 1991. Captain Benteen’s people fled Earth three decades ago in hopes of starting a better life in space, on a more peaceful planet. What they found was a planet with a harsh climate, where they spend their days just struggling to live to see another day.

The group contacts Earth with the intention of returning to the planet, which some members of colony hardly remember and others have never seen before. As they wait to return to their planet of origin, the people in the colony begin asking questions about Earth. At first, they listen carefully as Benteen tells them about the planet. After a while, they begin to romanticize Earth, so much so that it begins to affect the captain’s ability to control his people.

The script paints a pretty bleak picture of the future, even though I am sure that some people will argue that the episode comments accurately on the world today. Certainly one could see Captain Benteen as a man with too much power, or perhaps this is on its most basic level a tale about a man refusing to adapt to the rapid changes taking place around him. This kind of deep and allegorical story is what audiences used to expect regularly from the series.

Having said that, I must mention that I have only one small complaint about the episode, regarding the sets. I know I am probably just looking for something wrong in an otherwise very strong episode, but is there an episode that takes place in space that does not reuse something from Forbidden Planet? It took only seconds for me to recognize a spaceship from the film.

Of course, if I only have one complaint, then this must be a solid entry in the series. This one easily earns four stars.

Passage on the Lady Anne, by Charles Beaumont

Passage on the Lady Anne is the story of the Ransomes, a young couple played by Lee Philips and Joyce Van Patten, who after years of marriage, can barely keep their relationship going. In their final attempt to save what is left of their marriage, they decide to take a cruise. They visit a travel agent, who reluctantly books them a trip aboard an aging ship. Upon boarding, the young couple notices that all of passengers aboard the ship are senior citizens, and while friendly, are constantly trying to discourage them from staying on the ship. At first, the Ransomes shrug it off, but after a while, they begin to grow suspicious.

While many might argue that this episode is not quite on the same level as On Thusday We Leave for Home, it still has plenty of charm. It does not hurt that I am kind of partial to the episodes written by Charles Beaumont. As a warning to those who prefer their entertainment faster-paced, this is definitely one of the slower and more atmospheric stories on The Twilight Zone. There is also plenty of fog, which helps to create a very haunting atmosphere.

Most people will probably figure out where things are headed long before the conclusion, though it is never really completely spelled out for the audience, which just adds to the aura of mystery. All in all, it is a fun journey with some recognizable actors playing the elderly characters. I rate it at three and a half stars.

The Bard, by Rod Serling

The Bard is the story of a struggling screenwriter named Julius. While in a bookstore one day, Julius, played by Jack Weston, finds a book on black magic and takes it home. He decides to try out some of the book’s spells, one of which helps Julius to conjure up the spirit of none other than William Shakespeare, played by John Williams, who he uses to help catch his big break as a screenwriter.

After the last two solid episodes, I knew things were going a little too well. Then I watched The Bard. The episode was yet another failed attempt at comedy for The Twilight Zone. As much as I like stories about black magic, I found very few redeeming qualities in The Bard. First, the episode is jam-packed with cheesy one liners like, "I’m conjuring, baby." Second, the constant reliance on sound effects to remind the audience to laugh wore very thin over the course of the episode. Third, the ending made a silly episode even sillier. The one thing the episode had going for it is Gunsmoke actor Bert Reynolds doing a pretty good Marlon Brando impersonation, but even that was not enough to save this trainwreck of an episode.

This story barely earns one and a half stars.

On Thursday We Leave for Home was a return to form for the series, then Passage on the Lady Anne kept things going strong. Sadly, The Bard single-handedly destroyed this month’s winning streak. I can only hope that such a disappointing episode will not cause the curtain to finally come down on the anthology series. I really would like to see the show end on a high note. I guess we will just have to wait and see if the show gets picked up for another season.



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