The Outer Limits (1963): The Architects of Fear

"The Architects of Fear." (S1E3) First aired 30 September 1963. Directed by Byron Haskin. Written by Meyer Dolinsky. Starring Robert Culp, Geraldine Brooks, Leonard Stone and Martin Wolfson. 8/10

In the hopes of preventing an eventual nuclear attack, a group of American scientists develops a plan to unite all nations by creating a common, external threat. They set out to biologically transform one of the men into an alien creature, modelling it after a creature captured from Theta. A mock saucer landing is to be staged, with the creature attacking a United Nations gathering, to be taken down by the defending humans. For the plan to be carried out successfully, the person selected for transformation must ultimately die.

The chosen candidate, selected by lot, is physicist Dr. Alan Leighton. The main complication, aside from the biological difficulties in carrying out the mutation, is that Leighton is happily married. Moreover, soon after being selected, he learns that his wife, believed to have been barren due to a murmuring heart, is pregnant.

The (mad) scientific plot to save the world is a great concept. For one thing, the "mad scientists" are, unlike standard mad scientists, trying to unselfishly save Earth rather than destroy it. The idea of transforming a man into an altogether different, alien being is fascinating, and the progression by which this is achieved in the episode is great to watch. Aside from cold, rational science, there is also the inherent moral considerations, mainly, how can a small group of men toy around with the people of the world and place them at risk? The moral consideration that the episode elects to focus on is quite simple: these men have decided to end the life of a fellow human being, and seem unaware of consequences to those he loves.

This last point is where the episode proves most effective. Leighton's loving wife Yvette is, as expected, devastated by her husband's death. Her grieving is solitary, and she is even dismissed by her husband's colleagues who push her away, and would rather focus on the delicate series of operations they must perform. The most powerful scene is not the moment of alien attack, or even the final instant when [spoiler] Yvette learns that the creature is her husband, but the scene when she appears at the lab to gather her husband's belongings. The sequence cuts from the final stages of the complex operation to Yvette. While she is grieving her husband's death, he is in the next room being made un-human, essentially being killed by his colleagues. When she is done crying in Leighton's office and steps out into the hall, the scientists have just completed the transformation and have also stepped out, pushing the stretcher carrying Leighton's body. Yvette and the men look at one another, and it is implied that she suspects what lies beneath the sheet of the stretcher. The personal crisis is proven to be sometimes greater than the international.

Again some solid performances, with Robert Culp in his first of three lead Outer Limits appearances, Geraldine Brooks is superb as Yvette and essentially steals the show, and Leonard Stone is great as scientist and friend Dr. Phillip Gainer. Directed by Byron Haskin, his second Outer Limits effort immediately after "The Hundred Days of the Dragon," who once again helps produce a patient story focusing on human elements brought together by a brief climax. The climax in this story is fully integrated with the thematic considerations, more so than with "Dragon," since the death of Leighton is what ultimately provides the plot with pure tragedy. As sentimental as the death scene might appear, it is more the powerful it, rather than weakened by it. This was the first of three Outer Limits episodes written by Meyer Dolinsky, who wrote for a variety of shows over twenty-five years, including two for Science Fiction Theatre (1956), four for Lock-Up (1960), two for The Invaders (1967) and one for Star Trek ("Plato's Stepchildren," that controversial episode that featured the first interracial kiss on western television).

And of course there's the alien. Very well conceived, the creature was evidently considered too frightening for prime time (read a summary on censorship on wikipedia). The creature holds up to today's viewer, not because of its realism, but because of the episode's involving morality, as well as the slow progression of creation, allowing the viewer glimpses of what to expect. It is early 60s make-up and costume, and the eyes look artificial to our eyes, and proves that good dramatic television transcends our need for eye candy and unnecessary violence.

The Outer Limits (1963): The Hundred Days of the Dragon

"The Hundred Days of the Dragon." (S1E2) First aired 23 September 1963. Directed by Byron Haskin. Written by Allan Balter and Robert Mintz. Starring Sidney Blackmer, Phillip Pine, Joan Camden, Nancy Rennick, Mark Roberts, Aki Aleong, Richard Loo, Bert Remsen and James Hong. 9/10

The government of an unnamed Asian country south of Mongolia (in other words, China) has developed a remarkable spying technique: the ability to impersonate any man through physical alteration. This alteration has little to do with surgery, and instead relies on the injection of a drug that makes a person's skin malleable, and like clay can then be sculpted. Add voice training, character impersonation, and the best possible infiltration through body snatching can be achieved.

The shady government's intended target for replacement is William Lyons Selby, the leading candidate for President of the United States. Successfully infiltrating the White House in the guise of President Selby, the shady government can soon put into play its plan for world domination. First by withdrawing American fleets from eastern waters, and then by imitating other members of office, primarily the principled and suspicious Vice President and dear friend of Selby's, Ted Pearson.

"The Hundred Days of the Dragon" is an exceptional piece of Cold War paranoia, reminiscent of the body snatching in Don Siegel's Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). Aside from Cold War fears, and even threats of all-out war, the episode is a truly chilling piece of dramatic suspense. Incredibly well filmed, with a great script and patient sequencing, this could have been worked into a good film, with an additional half-hour to play out an extended finish.

[Spoiler.] The sudden and somewhat flat ending is the only weak point, yet with such a strong overall production the ending is only part of the whole, rather than what it culminates into. I would not ask for a massive climactic chase scene, but a more involved way of outing the criminals. Yes, the public face peeling moment is fantastic, but the lead-up is just too convenient. At the same time, had the script covered a broader and longer ending sequence, we would have lost the great pacing of the rest of the episode.

The episode was directed by Berkley graduate and former cartoonist Byron Haskin, the man behind the camera for the 1953 H. G. Wells adaptation of War of the Worlds, 1954's The Naked Jungle (adaptation of the Carl Stephenson story "Leiningen versus the Ants"), and a total of six Outer Limits episodes. Haskin combines talents with cinematographer Conrad L. Hall (who will go on to work on some great films) to deliver a truly taught, visually compelling, atmospheric piece of TV cinema. There are shadows and blinking lights everywhere, dark plant shadows reflected against white walls, and elegantly decorated rooms thrown into darkness. Low camera angles and shots peering in from behind objects, like desk lamps and plants, even peeping through doors, enhance the feeling of spying and being spied upon. Claustrophobia and paranoia are evident in nearly every frame. The visuals are necessary, especially for a script with important sequences wholly absent of dialogue.

The plot progression is played out patiently. The opening which explains the fantastic premise is given time to develop, and because of the unique and far-fetched idea, it is always compelling. The scene in which our imposter takes over the President's form is slow, patient and methodical, a lengthy scene made tenser with the lack of dialogue and the good, subdued TV music with the hint of oriental sound. There are many low shots here as we watch our communist tread across the carpeted hotel floor. The shooting of the president is cold and sudden, part of the plan, and effective still in this decade.

Special effects of 1963 prove yet again to be innovative and to hold up to the test of time. It is obvious that the faces being molded are made of clay, yet the effect of watching fingers dragging forcefully across a man's face is still quite powerful, especially when the eyebrows get pulled and the nose gets mashed. There is no silly alien in this episode, yet the alien unknown is still prevalent, and when that alien is human, the stakes are somehow higher. There is a small goof in the opening sequence, however. We learn that both Selby and the imposter have the third finger of their left hand missing, and yet when the imposter is placing the face mold over his face, the camera acting as the imposter's eyes, that third finger is clearly intact. Likely the hand doesn't even belong to the actor, and might even be Haskin's own. Throughout the episode it is clear that Blackmer himself has all his fingers intact, and that when the missing finger is prominent, it is obvious that the finger is simply taped down to look like a stub. A fat stub.

Sixty days after the episode featuring the murder of a US president is aired, on November 22nd, President John F. Kennedy is assassinated. Technically, though, Selby is not yet president when he is shot.

Longtime character actor Sidney Blackmer is excellent as the charming President Selby, and as the imposter pretending to be the charming President Selby. His use of eye and mouth motions to both intensify the charade and illuminate the characters' (particularly the imposter's) inner thoughts and feelings is fantastic. I remember Blackmer best in the excellent AHP episode "Don't Come Back Alive" (S1E4). Phillip Pine is just as good as the conscience-prone and suspicious friend and VP Pearson, with strong support from the rest of the cast.


Anthology Cast Notes (other TV anthology appearances):

Sidney Blackmer. Suspense: "Post Mortem" (S1E9) & "This Is Your Confession" parts 1 and 2 (S3E52); Tales of Tomorrow: "The Dark Angel" (S1E8); Climax!: "Flame-Out in T-6" (S2E30) & "Scream in Silence" (S4E13); Thriller: "The Premature burial" (S2E3); Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "Don't Come Back Alive" (S1E4) & "The Faith of Aaron Menefee" (S7E17).

Phillip Pine. Tales of Tomorrow: "Plague from Space" (S1E30) & "The Bitter Storm" (S2E17); Science Fiction Theatre: "Before the Beginning" (S1E34); Twilight Zone, "The Four of Us Are Dying" (S1E13) & "The Incredible World of Horace Ford" (S4E14); Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "The Safe Place" (S3E36); One Step Beyond: "Where Are They?" (S1E12); Kraft Mystery Theatre: "The Problem in Cell Block 13" (S2E8); Ghost Story: "The Ghost of Potter's Field (S1E21). Also The Invaders, Star Trek and over a hundred different shows.

Nancy Rennick. Twilight Zone: "The After Hours" (S1E34) & "The Odyssey of Flight 33" (S2E18).

Mark Roberts. Suspense: "I'm No Hero" (S2E41) & "Wisteria Cottage" (S2E42).

Bert Remsen. Suspense: "The Moving Target" (S5E4), Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "The Throwback" (S6E20), "Gratitude" (S6E28), "Services Rendered" (S7E10), "The Right Kind of Medicine" (S7E11); Alfred Hitchcock Hour: "Annabel" (S1E7)

Aki Aleong. Outer Limits: "Expanding Human" (S2E4).

James Hong. One Step Beyond: "House of the Dead" (S2E37); Tales from the Darkside: "It All Comes Out in the Wash" (S1E10). Also Wonder Woman, War of the Worlds, The X-Files & countless others.

The Outer Limits (1963): The Galaxy Being

[Edit: Mr. Cliff Robertson (1923-2011), thank you for all the great work.]


I will not be providing an overview since this is one series that was well documented and researched. Wikipedia has summaries, cast notes and interesting production information. The David J. Schow and Jeffrey Franzen companion is exhaustive, so I'm given to understand. (I have not read it and do not have a copy, though will try to nab one.)


"The Galaxy Being." (S1E1) First aired 16 September 1963. Directed and written by Leslie Stevens. Starring Cliff Robertson, Lee Philips, Jacqueline Scott, and Burt Metcalfe. 7/10

Owner of a small, local mainstream radio station, Alan Maxwell has been usurping the station's power after picking up an odd signal. By creating a series of radio waves that can emit three-dimensional images, he is able to give form to the originator of the broadcasts: an exploratory alien from another world. Like Maxwell, this being is taking part in the communication illegally, for while Max is acting against contracts with his sponsors by diminishing the station's broadcast range, the alien is communicating with Earth, an act forbidden to his people. These wise aliens are aware of Earth's destructive potential, yet this particular one believes in the benefits of sharing and exploration.

[Minor spoiler] Maxwell leaves the station to attend a social event in his honour, as does his brother, DJ Gene "Buddy" Maxwell. Replacing Gene for the evening is young and ambitious Eddie Phillips, who raises the power levels to the transmitter so he can be heard in the distant, foreign land of Canada (also inhabited by wise, exploratory aliens). Through his benevolent wish of sharing some good American music with Canadians, Phillips essentially overloads the electromagnetic field that is generating the alien's form and keeping it safely locked away, and the poor exploratory galaxy being is magica--I mean, scientifically transported Earth. It leaves the station and begins to wreak havoc on the small, unsuspecting town, but not through any form of maliciousness, rather because of his natural radiation. What will the poor, destructive humans do? (He should have materialized in Canada; the army is not as massive.)

[Major spoiler] After wreaking some havoc, the police appear, and are soon followed by the military, who show up with their arsenal and start shooting, nearly Killing Maxwell's wife, Carol. The alien tells them to go home and "give thought to the mysteries of the universe," after which he de-materializes, but since the aliens do not experience death, his fate is unknown.

Written and directed by series creator Leslie Stevens, "The Galaxy Being" is a strong entry into the series. Stevens's background included stage and Broadway work, as well as scripting many teleplays for the popular Playhouse 90. It is superbly scripted, patiently detailing the relationship troubles between Maxwell and Carol, and appropriately sympathetic with Carol rather than the neglectful hero amateur scientist. Even minor characters are well developed, from Maxwell's brother to the young DJ, as is the alien creature.

This episode is a great example of a successful hour-long anthology teleplay, showing patience, care in development and combining elements of family drama, competent 1963 science, and even some horror (the standoff a little reminiscent of many early sci-fi films, such as The Day the Earth Stood Still, but of course on a smaller scale). The episode's production budget of $213,000 (David J. Schow & Jeffrey Franzen, The Outer Limits: The Official Companion, as quoted on Wikipedia) was probably generous for a TV episode, and well spent, with varied sets, a strong cast and nice camera work. Except maybe for that scene when our wise alien is walking the streets and the camera acts as his eyes; the lights behind the camera cast some unfortunate shadows on the ground). My favourite scene is when the alien enters a pawn shop, perhaps looking for a souvenir, and curiously handling some objects, at one point peers through a pair of binoculars that magnify his radiation glow. Clever and humourous stuff.

The special effects are 1963, and yet in this case still effective, aided by the black and white and overall slick look of the episode. Cliff Robertson is great as Maxwell, and the always reliable Jacqueline Scott is superb as Carol (she did great work on two episodes of Planet of the Apes). Leslie Stevens provided the voice of the alien, and proves to be not only a fine writer and director, but a good voice performer.