tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post9002349538277907430..comments2024-03-13T23:42:41.022-07:00Comments on We Are Controlling Transmission: The Man Who Was Never BornJohn Scolerihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15830334036783163702noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-3079362651875209932023-04-05T19:31:11.306-07:002023-04-05T19:31:11.306-07:00It's a great episode. I had forgotten what a ...It's a great episode. I had forgotten what a kind character Landau is. He's nice to frogs and flowers and takes delight in the beauty of the world. So that's a nice ecological theme. You really feel his inner struggle so great acting. I couldn't do it, I would let the planet die before I could kill an innocent. Sorry. The gross mask is effective. I can't believe Shirley would kiss him after knowing what he looks like. Although he has good teeth for a mutant. I agree the ending is sad and effective. 4 Zantis.CNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16648877307525667089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-42108144365522949352023-04-02T18:42:53.119-07:002023-04-02T18:42:53.119-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.CNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16648877307525667089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-7101121448190697342018-06-18T23:38:16.128-07:002018-06-18T23:38:16.128-07:00Very good episode, despite some drawbacks in the p...Very good episode, despite some drawbacks in the plotting. Oddly enough, upon my first viewing the parallels to the Beauty and the Beast story never occurred to me; what was foremost in my mind was some similarity to Cameron’s The Terminator. (Could this have been yet another inspiration for that film?)<br /><br />I do really like this one, though it has a sort of heightened unreality. This is in regards to both some flowery dialogue, and the fact that many of the characters don’t act/react in a realistic manner to the situations in which they find themselves. That bothered me just a bit, but the real problem was with some of the plotting. Oh, it was convenient in terms of story for Captain Reardon to simply disappear after the second time jump, when he was on his way back to earth, but why the heck did that happen? I’m assuming the ship was on auto-pilot to land, since Andro wouldn’t have the slightest idea about flying a space-craft, but to have the ship land at PRECISELY the spot where he would run into the mother of the man who destroys the human race? That more than stretches credibility, it snaps it in two.<br /><br />Andro certainly doesn’t seem to know what he’s about, once he lands; can’t quite figure out a quick and sensible way to get the job done. As for the romance angle, well---that seemed to come out of the blue, and this Beauty and the Beast element could have been much better developed. <br /><br />Poor Noelle, to end up lost in space! I wish the original ending had been utilized, where she at least got to land on future earth unmarked by the spread of mutations. But then, how could she have piloted the rocket on her own…. Come to think of it, how did Andros pilot the rocket on his own---how did he even know how to launch it to make his escape, at the end?<br /><br />Was fun to see MGM’s Saint Louis Street utilized yet again. This was the section on one of the back lots that contained about a dozen very elaborate Victorian house sets. It was first built back in 1944 for the film “Meet Me in St. Louis,” and used over and over again for various televisions shows and films, before it was sadly demolished in the early 1970s. The boarding house in this episode was in fact the same exterior set as the Smith home, from the 1940s film…<br /><br />Noelle seemed very familiar to me, but I couldn’t place her. So I looked up Shirley Knight’s bio and saw that oh, of course---she played “Heavenly” in the 1962 film “Sweet Bird of Youth,” which I’ve seen numerous times.<br /><br />As I said---good episode, but there are lots of little nit-picks that keep it from being absolutely first-rate.<br />octobercountryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10730345596655835129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-65859061379400424232018-03-02T10:59:51.157-08:002018-03-02T10:59:51.157-08:00Cmac: "What I don't get is just because K...Cmac: "What I don't get is just because Knight doesn't have the scientist's son who will destroy the world, how does Laundau know he won't have another kid with someone else who does the same."<br /><br />It just occurred to me: Anthro seems to know a lot about Bertram Cabot Jr. Maybe he knows that Cabot was an only child? Mark Lungohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470025194827675845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-75501845754500858702018-02-28T21:35:55.477-08:002018-02-28T21:35:55.477-08:00It didn't occur to me till now, but it would&#...It didn't occur to me till now, but it would've been nice if Conrad Hall had played that wedding photographer. Granthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09603892208775996594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-64571095448138226112017-06-22T15:58:14.213-07:002017-06-22T15:58:14.213-07:00Well, I personally would have preferred the happie...Well, I personally would have preferred the happier ending, but there you go.Mark Lungohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470025194827675845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-54194428014995752442017-04-01T16:22:07.742-07:002017-04-01T16:22:07.742-07:00Yep, this is for sure Top 5 O.L. material, gang. T...Yep, this is for sure Top 5 O.L. material, gang. This is one of the 2 or 3 episodes I recall best thru the years. I've probably watched it 3 or 4 more times the past year, on my never ending OL binge. I still love it! I try not to find any fault with it. Too much GOOD stuff in it, to find any negatives in it. Well written, Landau is great, Jeez... The whole thing is top notch! Plus of course, the music. The best! And the ending shot has stayed with me over 50 years now. One of the best ending scenes of all time, movie or tv. You guys with me on that?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06899760253608859423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-29168083242511382312014-11-07T08:24:58.573-08:002014-11-07T08:24:58.573-08:00CMac:
"Which leads me to my theory- here goes...CMac:<br />"Which leads me to my theory- here goes: Knight is a mental patient who imagined the whole episode. Am I alone in thinking this?"<br /><br />This was EXACTLY the impression I got at the end of the monstrously-awful Rob Zombie film, "HALLOWEEN 2". So much of the plot of that thing contradicted everything we'd seen in his previous film, and when you get to the ending, and the sole survivor of the carnage is seen in a mental hospital, it hit me, hey, maybe the ENTIRE MOVIE I just saw never happened?Henry R. Kujawahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01607373491331529952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-40884247260898444642014-04-23T20:56:18.175-07:002014-04-23T20:56:18.175-07:00It just occurred to me the last time I saw it (whi...It just occurred to me the last time I saw it (which was tonight), but Outer Limits definitely had more luck with real frogs in that scene in the woods than they did in CRY OF SILENCE (if you've read the back-story about that). Instead of jumping away before the scene can be finished like the CRY OF SILENCE ones, this frog really feels like cooperating.Granthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09603892208775996594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-28210233700858071132014-03-18T08:42:11.728-07:002014-03-18T08:42:11.728-07:00Very very good story! Loved it!Very very good story! Loved it!Bobothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04355417947900847294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-31153493127643985882013-12-12T05:03:15.773-08:002013-12-12T05:03:15.773-08:00Greetings from the distant hellish future of Decem...Greetings from the distant hellish future of December 2013 .... Must somehow go back in time and prevent We Are Controlling Transmission from ever being born -- so I can get some damn work done! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-56310704502541850372013-06-19T14:53:42.724-07:002013-06-19T14:53:42.724-07:00I saw it again last night. It never occurred to me...I saw it again last night. It never occurred to me before to compare them, but it's funny that the secret group of CIVILIANS in ARCHITECTS OF FEAR can come up with a ray gun for Allan, but the SPACE AGENCY gives poor Reardon a regular gun. In spite of his landing (he thinks) on another planet, not knowing what he might run into that might be impervious to it.<br /><br />I also noticed for the first time a very small "L-OL" moment in the wedding scene. It's that very quick moment when the maid of honor sort of "scampers" out of Andro's way. What I mean is, it looks more like that than some all-out panic on her part.<br /><br /><br /><br />Grantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-43556879119015739892012-12-14T08:52:19.019-08:002012-12-14T08:52:19.019-08:00In the attached book chapter, the ending in the or...In the attached book chapter, the ending in the original script had Noelle on the future earth talking to an old man in a levitating car about the year and about a town in the distance. This ending which was filmed was much more complete and upbeat than the present ending but was cut out due to time constraints. I wish someone could piece this segment back in or just show it as an alternate ending but I guess we just have to imagine it.<br /><br />The old man is played by Jack Raine. He was in the credits but was never seen in this episode because this was his only scene and it was cut out.<br /><br />I have read that some people recall this episode as from the Twilight Zone because of the tone and dreariness of the ending.mathman1https://www.blogger.com/profile/00189491419121218261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-7033055976564335422012-10-24T18:06:58.059-07:002012-10-24T18:06:58.059-07:00i would't.I'D pick Galaxy Being or Boarder...i would't.I'D pick Galaxy Being or Boarderland>Doc Thompsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08255204147754923490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-13641174900458467032012-05-14T02:27:20.046-07:002012-05-14T02:27:20.046-07:00Saw this one recently when the relatives who grew ...Saw this one recently when the relatives who grew up with the show brought home VHS and DVDs by the bushel. Hope Cmac will forgive the '60s TV budget -- the view from spaceship over Earth was quite impressive. Didn't at all get the impression that Miss Knight's situation is hopeless. After all, these TV spacecraft are 'automated' and we can hope that everything had been set to give a 'returning' Andro a soft landing (after all, how did Andro land the thing in 1963?)<br /> Also, if the Plague had been averted, presumeably 'future' Earth is hale and hearty and SOMEONE there might be making some space flights of their own, or at least have 'ground control'. After all, the 'ground covered' is largely orbital here.Admiral Nelsonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-85921075322297154332012-04-12T19:18:26.738-07:002012-04-12T19:18:26.738-07:00Love the mutant mask, the spaceship effects are cr...Love the mutant mask, the spaceship effects are crappy, you don't even see it land either time, the interior is badly designed- so I think the low budget hurts this one more than others, still its a great episode. Who knew Shirley Knight was so hot (see her in a Oscar-worthy performance in The Rain People). Landau is great, although he seems nuts from the moment he shows up, you'd think they'd call the cops at some point. Terrific photography, love those low angles. Its a rather poetic episode, with a great score. But Knight's quick acceptance of Laundau is a bit hard to swallow (although my mom thinks young Martin Laundau is the most handsome man in the history of TV next to Roy Thinnes). I think there should have been a shot of Knight kissing Landau in the mutant mask. What I don't get is just because Knight doesn't have the scientist's son who will destroy the world, how does Laundau know he won't have another kid with someone else who does the same. How did Landau land the spaceship? How is Knight going to? Its rather convenient that Landau can hypnotise people into not seeing he's a mutant- what applicability does that have on 22nd Earth where everyone alive is a mutant. In the last shot, the capsule disappears and Knight is seen sitting in a chair floating into space. Which leads me to my theory- here goes: Knight is a mental patient who imagined the whole episode. Am I alone in thinking this? Anyways, 3 1/2 Zantis.Cmacnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-21923801964493302632011-09-08T10:55:19.185-07:002011-09-08T10:55:19.185-07:00When it comes to Noelle going off with Andro after...When it comes to Noelle going off with Andro after his "meltdown" at the wedding being far-fetched, I can think of a similar scene that's right up there with it (for me), and that's the end of The Graduate. I may be the only one I know, but I just can't get completely into the spirit of that film, so to me that scene just has a bride running off with the man who became a raving maniac at her wedding (even if it's without a gun)! So it's AT LEAST as hard to roll with as Noelle going off with Andro.Grantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-5885766345256128182011-01-19T12:18:41.335-08:002011-01-19T12:18:41.335-08:00Bobby---nice summation of the surpassing qualities...Bobby---nice summation of the surpassing qualities in every aspect of this classic episode.<br /><br />And Lisa---beautiful thumbnail profile of Noelle. She's a woman almost too delicate, too ephemeral for the harder surfaces one must navigate in life. Her fate is truly, existentially tragic: she did nothing to deserve it. You'd like to have the alternate ending as an extra just to assuage your sense of justice, now and again! But to its credit, TOL seldom shrank from the truth of life's crueler moments. We grieve over the tragedy of such rich and fascinating characters as Noelle, but we neither regret having known them nor ever forget them.<br /><br />Thank you, yet again, TOL for a rewarding experience.Ted Rypelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-71349093766588712922011-01-19T10:04:18.235-08:002011-01-19T10:04:18.235-08:00A touch of the fairy tale, a dash of Stefano's...A touch of the fairy tale, a dash of Stefano's humanitarian concerns, a sprinkling of Bradbury poetry and most of all, a Van Vogtian sense of a charged delirious dream. Which makes all of it's fantasy elements coherent. As for the implusibilities, it could be assumed that the craft had a computer that wasn't seen on screen.<br /><br />This is perfection. A soaring verbal, visual, aural, Thespian poetic assault on the senses. The type of staggering watch that can't be forgotten, causes immersement and flow and is celluloid bliss. <br /><br />The third great classic so far.bobby jossonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-30019004340197393152011-01-19T07:09:01.049-08:002011-01-19T07:09:01.049-08:00Seems like most of us agree on this one -- no ambi...Seems like most of us agree on this one -- no ambiguous ending, though Poor Noelle. Obviously perfect to end it with her abandoned in the space vehicle, but that unused filmed ending talked about in DJS' book sounds interesting, too. Somebody must have searched for that footage and NOT found it, right? What a shame.<br /><br />Was that Barry Atwater as the preacher whose voice was clearly dubbed? He was in "Corpus Earthling" later though this one doesn't appear in his credits. Sure looks like him; he has a distinctive brow/forehead.<br /><br />TOL always seems to cram so much goodness into 50 minutes; when you think that the future scenes take up about 15 minutes, it's incredible that in the remaining 35 minutes the episode is able to simultaneously rush the plot forward to its hand-to-hand combat and chase scenes, while still making it seem like it's nothing but leisurely, contemplative and beautiful scenes and conversations between the characters. A lot gets done in this one. Such a well-done mood piece. Definitely 100% fairy tale whenever Noelle and Andro are in the picture.<br /><br />Poor Andro. He's an undercover spy in the past, passing as human but clearly not one of them, too fine, too kind, too courtly -- a man out of time, for sure. He does get the crazy-man thing going when he remembers his mission, and no doubt he, as a romantic and classic fiction enthusiast, hoped/dreamed that everything might turn out all right as he found himself entranced by Noelle. I don't know who was doing more of the entrancing, come to think of it -- Andro on everybody or Noelle on Andro? He was completely smitten.<br /><br />Cabot is a steady All-American soldier but he's also a scientist. He's so easy to dislike in his uniform but if he were wearing a lab coat perhaps he'd seem more potentially evil and scary. He must have had some unique qualities to have hooked up with Noelle; he boarded at that odd old house so that speaks to some kind of interesting personality. Seems like a bad fit for Noelle, but we only see him as a soldier. He seems to be genuinely bereft when he watches the spaceship take off.<br /><br />Shirley Knight as Noelle is transcendent. She's a vision, a glowing angelic presence who can tame frogs of all species. It's a completely unique performance; she's perfectly cast and definitely magical. If she had been played by anyone with a sharper edge or a less beatific mien you'd never believe Andro falling for her. He didn't expect to, but she was truly a fairy princess and we believed it because they believed it,and Landau and Knight played it just right.<br /><br />This is an episode that never inspired any jokes or goofy references for me throughout the years, which is unusual. TMWWNB simply exists -- as a beautiful and delicate tragedy. It's almost more like a myth, at least Noelle's predicament, doomed to sail the universe. Is she starring in the space version of "The Flying Dutchman"? <br /><br />What a great episode, one of my top favorites. <br /><br />Super job, guys!Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00345830456539347899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-58220153561971910712011-01-18T20:41:04.711-08:002011-01-18T20:41:04.711-08:00Thanks, DJS! Hey---some oblique musings about the...Thanks, DJS! Hey---some oblique musings about the episode:<br /><br />(hard to let this one go; there will be others like it, of course)<br /><br />Do you know who dubbed the preacher and why? I don't recall seeing any mention of this, probably because it's really inconsequential. But it's weird to watch him closely during the wedding scene.<br /><br />That's a lovely shot of Noelle and Andro reflected in the pool as they run from their pursuers. You just don't see a lot of that kind of visual variety in TV, to this day. With TOL it wasn't simply, Let's get the shot. Refreshingly often, it was, Let's give them more than they'd ever expect.<br /><br />"Beauty is always on the edge of being lost." Lines like that from Tony Lawrence's script tend to linger with the bard in your soul.<br /><br />DJS, does the script specify in the final shot's set-up that CAMERA PULLS BACK from Noelle seated beside an empty chair on a bare stage? or the equivalent stage direction? I'd like to know whose trenchant idea it was to cut from the cabin of the spacecraft to a shockingly stark set-up of two chairs on a bare stage, to underscore the poignance of the situation. Or was it a simple expediency determined by Horn when he realized there was no good way to pull from the cabin while yet keeping Noelle's trauma in the shot? Either way, it was a stroke of dramatic lightning, I humbly submit.Ted Rypelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-30673646587095635252011-01-18T20:14:57.313-08:002011-01-18T20:14:57.313-08:00Western Alert! There's a good career intervie...Western Alert! There's a good career interview with Anthony Lawrence at:<br /><br />http://www.classictvhistory.com/OralHistories/anthony_lawrence.htmlDJSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-35897539254072391692011-01-18T18:13:24.739-08:002011-01-18T18:13:24.739-08:00Good point about the Connie Hall cinematography in...Good point about the Connie Hall cinematography in this one, Larry. Hall was so uniformly excellent that he's sometimes easy to take for granted.<br /><br />Damn! Sorry, Larry, for calling on you to repeat yourself. I have only DJS' 1986 edition, so I can't even access your contribution. Excuse me, folks, for cajoling our resident musicologist, Larry Rapchak, to rehash things many people on the forum may have already read in the refreshed edition of the authoritative TOL: THE OFFICIAL COMPANION. (Gonna have to rectify this lack soon, now that I have John and Peter's blog as a reminder.)<br /><br />And a near top-of-the-blog-winning episode for both of our hosts, this time out! How much do you wager that we'll be repeating this phenomenon here more often than with THRILLER?! <br /><br />Landau's Lugosi is arguably his finest role. In TOL, though, he starred in two masterpieces, and I still prefer the one to come, maybe my second favorite of the series. Erelong we'll cross "the trembling way."Ted Rypelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-54002018780527401902011-01-18T16:32:06.166-08:002011-01-18T16:32:06.166-08:00TED---
Sorry to be a dud, but re: the score---the...TED---<br /><br />Sorry to be a dud, but re: the score---the best I can do is refer everyone to DJS's mighty tome "The Outer Limits Companion", in this case, page 137. Maybe we will see a re-print of the music section on this blog; all I'd be doing here is rehashing the notes I contributed to that iconic volume, since I have no new insights (though I think we'll be hearing more about the score to "Nightmare" on WACT in the near future).<br /><br />But---yes, there is something truly magical, luminous, sumptous in Frontiere's score for this episode, which is built around Andro's ominous 5-note theme which prowls around the lower depths of the orchestra, and Noelle's wistful flute theme, a lovely pastorale that perfectly evokes the sylvan environment where she exists in total harmony with her surroundings.<br /><br />Which brings me to a point----I have NEVER had a problem with Noelle leaving Cabot Jr. suddenly for Andro on her wedding day (in the first version of the script, I think they ultimately grabbed a bus, where they sat in the back seat...or maybe I'm thinking of some other film where the same thing occurs...)<br /><br />The characters AND the excellent casting make total sense to me (the argument is beautifully laid out by Ted Rypel's post above). Why cast Shirley Knight? Obvious-- she is the prototypical pre-hippie, free-spirit, soulful, romantic, nature-kid, flower-child, frog-lovin', tree-huggin', golden-haired, poetry-reading princess of our dreams. Why in the hell would she be marrying a macho, militaristic, beer-drinking, frat-house, jut-jawed, steely-eyed, crew-cut, establishment-type, etc etc---you get the picture. Millions of young people have made the same mistake and sometimes....perhaps not as often was we would hope...true, idealistic, star-crossed lovers find the person of their dreams BEFORE they tie the knot...sometimes just in the nick of time. Then, that delirious, impulsive, passionate, "forbidden" thing kicks in....and you end up running through the forest in your wedding gown. That's what romance is all about.<br /><br />I agree with Peter's comments about Landau, an actor who clearly relishes a tender, tasty piece of scenery for an occasional snack (when all is said and done, I think Bela Lugosi WAS in fact the role that he was born to play); here he's bascially controlled and quite effective as Andro. <br /><br />Hey, Conrad Hall----how did you get your camera lens into the onscreen photographer's lens so that we could actually see the whole wedding party behind us in a mirror image?! Man, that guy was GOOD.<br /><br />An absolute classic.<br /><br />LRLarry Rapchaknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-26174408036333616302011-01-18T15:27:46.872-08:002011-01-18T15:27:46.872-08:00"The Human Race Was Ever Born?"
Thanks ..."The Human Race Was Ever Born?"<br /><br />Thanks so much for your props to TOLAIR, Mark. It's a genuine honor to have gotten to know you and your brother. As for plans for #3, they're still floating out there somewhere in the "whelming brine of space"! I was a terrible businessman, as far as distribution was concerned, selling them at under cost to dealers to get them out there. Not a good business model. Then the marvelous TOL: THE OFFICIAL COMPANION came along and obviated the need for anything more formulated than this fabulous forum we're engaged with.<br /><br />(Wow---Stefano-esque alliteration,eh?)<br /><br />Can't recall specific literary references off the top of my head at the moment without going back to notes or re-checking episodes. (Except for the favorites that have run through my mind for decades, from "Bellero" and "Forms," most notably.) Something nags from "Second Chance" but won't move from soft focus into crystal clarity. I've laid these venerable episodes aside for much too long---as good a reason as any to stick with this TOL block party!Ted Rypelnoreply@blogger.com