...but this remains among my favorite episodes of The (original) Outer Limits because its premise is more than offset by the direction, photography and acting, that last part in particular by David McCallum.
I hold this series in high regard if only because I viewed many of the episodes at their Stateside TV broadcast premieres. I didn't consider The (original) Twilight Zone preparatory in any way, for viewing that at an impressionable age hadn't scared me--on the outside--while TOL pulled all the stops the network censors would explicitly permit, and that took as much courage.
If you can, read up on how TOL was conceived, pitched and produced. I wouldn't call it ahead of its time (save for its episode "O. B. I. T.") but what it managed with what it had available should continue to be studied. Joseph Stefano edited the first-season scripts, and he himself merits study.
As for this episode, focus on McCallum, whose portrayal progresses along with his makeup. There must have been an agreement to "keep the face free" so he could "act through the makeup". Truly, his is a transcendent performance.
And, yes, to address other reviewers' concerns, maybe this wasn't set in Wales, maybe they were company police who could in fact bear arms "on premises", and maybe McCallum's character in his most advanced state just couldn't bring himself to remotely manipulate that of Jill Haworth (or, maybe he did anyway). Regardless, you'll want to stay to the very end. In these times that alone provides sufficient incentive for a viewing.
Finally, there's more than a little George Bernard Shaw in the script, but "Man and Superman" isn't the GBS play to read. Instead, find "Back to Methuselah". And be sure you're well rested, for this playwright just loved to explain things...and himself...a lot.
I hold this series in high regard if only because I viewed many of the episodes at their Stateside TV broadcast premieres. I didn't consider The (original) Twilight Zone preparatory in any way, for viewing that at an impressionable age hadn't scared me--on the outside--while TOL pulled all the stops the network censors would explicitly permit, and that took as much courage.
If you can, read up on how TOL was conceived, pitched and produced. I wouldn't call it ahead of its time (save for its episode "O. B. I. T.") but what it managed with what it had available should continue to be studied. Joseph Stefano edited the first-season scripts, and he himself merits study.
As for this episode, focus on McCallum, whose portrayal progresses along with his makeup. There must have been an agreement to "keep the face free" so he could "act through the makeup". Truly, his is a transcendent performance.
And, yes, to address other reviewers' concerns, maybe this wasn't set in Wales, maybe they were company police who could in fact bear arms "on premises", and maybe McCallum's character in his most advanced state just couldn't bring himself to remotely manipulate that of Jill Haworth (or, maybe he did anyway). Regardless, you'll want to stay to the very end. In these times that alone provides sufficient incentive for a viewing.
Finally, there's more than a little George Bernard Shaw in the script, but "Man and Superman" isn't the GBS play to read. Instead, find "Back to Methuselah". And be sure you're well rested, for this playwright just loved to explain things...and himself...a lot.