Saturday, January 29, 2011

THE OUTER LIMITS … IN COLOR!


by David J. Schow

One of the big, vaunting targets that never got hit with the 2nd edition of the Outer Limits book was a middle section of color plates, for the very few, rare color shots from the show.  (Another was a limited hardcover run, which also got killed by budget.)  So … feast your eyes!

Joe Stefano with Ichthyosaurus Mercurius from “Tourist Attraction.”

 CLOSE-UP view of the Thetan as he appeared in the Fall Premiere 1963 issue of TV Guide … “slightly modified” because the original color 8x10 transparency was heavily damaged.  (A bigger version of this shot is seen on page 121 of the book.)

 Janos Prohaska works on an ape sculpt in his workshop.

 Joe Stefano (L) and Leslie Stevens in a photo by Gene Trindl for the Richard Gehman’s TV Guide article, “They Deal in Ideas … and Outer Space” (21 March 1964).  Note crate from KTTV, formerly Metromedia Television’s Channel 11 in Los Angeles, the location of the soundstages used for most of Season One’s interior shots.

Charles Schneeman’s promotional artwork for the premiere (the painting is now owned by Joe Stefano’s son, Dominic.)

 Tinted trade ad announcing the completion of  Please Stand By, probably from The Hollywood Reporter.


 GROUP SHOT from Look Magazine article, “Those Clean-Living American Monsters” by Ira Mothner, September 8, 1964, which laments, “but things may improve next season.”  That’s Allyson Ames (Leslie Stevens’ third wife) front and center.  Note the ubiquitous (and somehow symbolic) TV antenna over the Ebonite’s left shoulder.

A much-reproduced, all-over-the-internet candid of a screen-used Zanti,  taken at the home of Joe Stefano (that’s his swimming pool in BG).  Note the “mouth rot” and absence of pupils, which indicates this was one of the articulated (posable) models — the jaw moved, the head could turn, and the pupils were separate pieces dropped in and manipulated so the Zanti could “look” in different directions.

 David McCallum in full makeup gives Joe Stefano “The Sixth Finger.”

NOT COLOR, but an interesting shot nonetheless, of Wah Chang’s matte painting for the library in “The Man Who Was Never Born” – the actual illustration was a mere eighteen inches wide.  (From the collection of Bill Brace, of Project Unlimited.)

 DJS with the rotting remnants of “Turdo” from “Don’t Open Till Doomsday,” taken at Forry Ackerman’s house by Chris Matthews, for the L.A. Times.

DJS with a “reconditioned” Zanti from “The Zanti Misfits,” taken at Forry Ackerman’s house by Chris Matthews, for the L.A. Times.

 Our Bifrost pal from “The Bellero Shield”

Chill Charlie, never used in “The Human Factor.”  (Sorry, folks – he’s basically only one color.)

Gary Dumm did wonderful full-color silkscreen prints of his own design as special giveaways for Ted Rypel’s The Outer Limits: An Illustrated Review:  “Fun and Games” (Volume One) and “Soldier” (Volume Two).  Below is the rough for the “Sixth Finger” print that was to accompany Volume Three.  “Keeper of the Purple Twilight” – never done – was planned for Volume Four.

 And while we’re at it, here’s Steve Bissette’s poster for “Fun and Games.”

 The son and daughter of 2nd Season Ben Brady assistant B. Ritchie Payne pose with Janos Prohaska’s “Mikie” from “The Probe,” giving a true sense of the suit’s scale, and attempt to reconstruct the Megasoid from “The Duplicate Man.”  (Courtesy B. Ritchie Payne.)

 “Everybody Say Cheese” from TV Guide, 9 December 1963.

 
 AND NOW FOR SOME ZANTI-CAKE:  Joe and Marilyn Stefano guest at DJS’ 1992 birthday party.  (DJS doesn’t recall whether Joe actually ate the frosting Zanti.)

Cocktails with the Chromoite, after the Project Unlimited auction, toaster unknown.  From the collection of Forrest J Ackerman.  What became some of the other costumes and props?  WE THOUGHT YOU’D NEVER ASK!  Stay tuned to this blog …

22 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing these color photos. I was especially interested in the Charles Schneeman art for "The Galaxy Being". I have several Schneeman interior illustrations from ASTOUNDING including some scenes from Robert Heinlein stories and one from SLAN. I've always thought Schneeman should have received more attention from the SF field.

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  2. Fantastic, David! Several genuine discoveries for me here. I had that TV Guide for many years before it was lost in the whelming brine, etc. But I've never seen some of this smile-inducing stuff.

    Fun to see the shots with you and various critters (did you decontaminate after contact with Turdo?!). Always a treat to see new shots of the beloved Stefanos---and at your TOL-themed birthday party---how cool!

    And thanks for harking back to those beautiful silk-screen prints Gary Dumm did for TOLAIR. (I frankly like them as well as anything he's done, including all his work for AMERICAN SPLENDOR, and other things he's done for me since. I recall his laughing, back then, at your comment about all the "frou-frou pink" on the Calico-man!) I'm not sure whether Gary has plugged into the blog here. I'll tell him today that he should check this out, at the very least.

    Thanks for sharing all these treasures with us. It's an additional unexpected benefit of this terrific blog.

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  3. Probably not surprisingly, Mark & I used to have the "Soldier" silkscreen by Gary Dumm (along with, of course, TOLAIR 1 & 2 - bravo still, T.R.). Had never seen the "Fun & Games" print, it's BEAUTIFUL. Thanks DJS, for the continued rarities!

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  4. DJS

    What a treat. So great to wake up, have a cup of coffee and see new stuff from the Outer Limits universe. Thanks for posting this stuff. Zanti cake...YUM!

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  5. The thing I'm most excited about here? The idea of Joe Stefano at your birthday party.

    Ted, us TOLAIR-deprived would love to hear more about that, if there's some appropriate place here at some appropriate time.

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  6. wow, what a treasure trove...

    I seen so many of these in only BW from the companion. Alas, I was too young to get Ted's TOLAIR though I used to see and long for it in 'Starlog'.

    The poster for 'Galaxy Being' is superb, I just wish there were a bigger version, full page version.

    Here is an image that I think the designers of 'Soldier' must have seen and therefore, kinda of related to this post. Was going to post it up for that episode....What do you think guys:

    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PB-O1yT5EYg/SiciuoUWi1I/AAAAAAAAlKA/PJnKDwBtl8M/s1600-h/1955_06_fantasticuniverse_freas.jpg

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    1. The poster for 'Galaxy Being'was used in Starlog's Outer Limits episode guide.

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  7. The spectacular Bill Boyett was also at that party -- the "I want this car. I need the keys" guy from THE HIDDEN. He was in the very last episode, "The Probe", for like, three shots. Don Gordon, alas, responded to the invite but could not make it.

    Bobby J: The Schneeman art IS full-page in the second edition.

    Larbs: I'm leaning on Ted C. right now about TOLAIR. Will report soonest.

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  8. What a treat to see these. The quality is beautiful. Though we all love our B&W, it's always eye-opening to see color takes on movies or TV we've known only in B&W. Did we miss out by having OL in B&W? It certainly contributed to its timeless quality, somehow. We wouldn't trade the original for anything, but it's great to see Meeker's Monster in color, isn't it? And McCallum looks superb. These are all wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing!

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  9. Alas DJS, I was out of the country at the time of the 2nd edition and with no Amazon either to flag it up. I'm still leafing through my beloved 1st edition and patiently awaiting the 3rd. The new quotes are a splendid addition. I might try to see if I can pick up one on the 2nd hand book market, though I did hear the price being very, very high in an earlier thread.

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  10. BJ: I hope you can get some idea of the differences between the first and second editions from the excerpts posted here. Compare the texts side-by-side to see how each entry was illuminated. Up until two years ago, I was still selling copies of the 2nd edition (like, at Wonderfest in Louisville -- for COVER PRICE!), but that well is long dry. I stay on the lookout for "ding 'n dent" copies I can pass on to the faithful. You never know ... hell, last year a guy bought a 16mm print of THE HAUNTED off eBay for NINETY DOLLARS.

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  11. Great seeing some of my "old friends" again! As we discussed ages ago, David, a couple of these trannies I obtained in a trade with CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN's Calvin Beck -- a 4 x 5 of the Schneeman painting, and "The Bellero Shield," which was also a 4 x 5 (but with a little better color back then). When I started working at Topps in the early '70s I sought out the old OL "job ticket," which contained a ton of black and white stills and three color trannies: the 4 x 5 of Stefano and the Lizard-Fish, and two 2 and quarters of Chill Charlie: the one shown above, and a tighter version that had some subtle differences in lighting. Both of the Charlies still retained their original color values (blue background, icy body, yellow eyes). Interestingly, the CC used as front man for the Topps trading cards was NOT taken from either one of these color trannies, but from a b/w photo that Topps rather nicely colorized (which is what they did with the entire set, of course). For the record, the first time these original color pieces were published (Stefano/Lizard-Fish and "Bellero Shield") was in that OL STARLOG article I wrote in the '70s; as I recall, the mediocre color printing didn't do these rare images justice. And yep, just like you, DJS, I was expecting to have a "color section" in FANTASTIC TELEVISION, where I had planned to present this cool OL material for the very first time. Ultimately, FT's loss was STARLOG's gain...

    And 90 bucks for a print of THE HAUNTED on eBay? Good God!

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  12. For the original edition of the OUTER LIMITS book, I was at such a loss for at least ONE photo from each episode that I finally resorted to using the Topps card with the shot from "The Special One," simply reversing it back to its original black-and-white! Remember, this was before easy-peasy frame grabs, when I had access to very few 16mm prints, which selection tended to favor the more "important" episodes. The frame grabs I DID manage had to be taken to a lab with a string tied through the sprocket hole of the desired frame, a laborious process that sometimes took two weeks ... and then you still didn't know what you had until you looked at the positive. Even worse, the Ace edition was a matter of sending a box of manuscript and photos to New York and hoping for the best. The second edition, for better or worse, is at least my design.

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  13. To Bobby Josson and/or DJS: Is there going to be a third edition of the COMPANION?

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  14. Joseph Stefano. Surprised to see him with Dave Schow since I personally heard Stefano complain bitterly about the first edition of Dave's book back in the 1980s because it said season 2 of OL was better than season one, which Stefano took as a personal insult. When an OL panel was put together at a convention in Anaheim in the 1980s, Stefano found out that Harlan Ellison would be on it and he said he'd refuse to participate of Harlan was involved because he "knew" that Harlan would "take over" the panel. Harlan gratiously chose not to participate rather than cause trouble. Even though Stefano never worked with Harlan himself, he clearly had a grudge. About 10 years ago when the Museum of Broadcasting in Beverly Hills was going to do a tribute to OL with Stefano as the featured speaker, Harlan offered to be there with Robert Culp so they could show "Demon With A Glass Hand" and discuss it afterwards. When Stefano found out, he threatened to boycott the event if they showed "Demon", so again Harlan backed out, but the museum had to offer refunds on tickets bought with the expectation of seeing Harlan and Robert Culp there. Stefano was clearly a bitter man who resented the praise that the second season of OL received after he left as producer.

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    1. Harlin is one pain in the ass.He likes to raise hell and sometimes that hell goes on and on.I once heard that "Demon With A Glass Hand" was intended as another Outer Limits potential pilot episode.Anyone know if thats true ?

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  15. The Man Who Was Never Born” is another one,whose sience drives me nuts.First we get a dumassed name for ship-space probe one or something.Then we get the mushfaced guy Martin Landau plays-i can see why,he clouds peoples minds with illusions,like the Shadow.The neat scene is the money exchange.Everyone wishes they do the Obi Wan thing .But the story falls on it's ass in the end.Martin Landau takes Shirley Knight up into space,so her unborn kid won't destroy the world.Ok.then then dissappears setting up a time paradox.Shirley Knight then driffs around the earth forever.Cruel way to fix the problem.If he dissappears.He was never born to encounter the astronaute and steal his ship to take Shirkey Knight into space.Maybe somebody could explain all.He was there-then wasn't,but his actions can't undo what an unborn guy did ?And is there other ships going into this time rift?Do we even know if Martin Landau went into his past ?Maybe he's still there,waitting the arrival of the astronuate.Maybe Shirley Knights kid grows and worst thing he does is write bad tv episodes.

    Anyway,I can see OUTER LIMITS limitted budget won out.The creatures look better in black and white than color –'
    /

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  16. as a fan of the black and white outer limits with it,s classic special effects will season one episodes 1963-64
    be available in color one day?

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  17. I own a medallion prop from 'The Chameleon'.

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  18. As long as people keep visiting, yes.

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