The Mutation (14 Jan. 1967)

In a border town, David Vincent meets a stripper who claims to have seen something strange in the desert.

Director:

Paul Wendkos

Writers:

David T. Chantler, Larry Cohen (creator)

Stars:

Roy Thinnes, Edward Andrews, Lin McCarthy

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Roy Thinnes	...	David Vincent
Edward Andrews	...	Mark Evans
Lin McCarthy	...	USAF Intelligence Officer Fellows
Suzanne Pleshette	...	Vikki
Roy Jenson	...	Alien #1
Rodolfo Hoyos Jr.	...	Miguel (as Rodolfo Hoyos)
Val Avery	...	Manager
Argentina Brunetti	...	Luz
William Stevens	...	Cobbs
Tina Menard	...	Mama
Tony Davis	...	Boy
Roberto Contreras	...	Guide #1
Pepe Callahan	...	Guide #2
Ted Gehring	...	Cab Driver
Pedro Regas	...	Beggar

Storyline

Two con men trick David Vincent into believing they had seen something strange in the desert. They lure him into the wilderness, knock him unconscious, steal his money and leave him to die. But out in the desert, David sees a real spaceship. He manages to return to town, where he learns from a newspaperman of someone else who had seen something strange. This time it's a stripper, and she also proves to have a hidden agenda of her own.

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Plot Keywords:

desert | stripper | spaceship | grease fire | reference to william shakespeare | 

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 January 1967 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Samuel Goldwyn Studios - 7200 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Quinn Martin Productions (QM), American Broadcasting Company (ABC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In possibly an inside joke, the character of the USAF Intelligence Officer - Fellows - is likely named after veteran Quinn Martin Productions executive Arthur Fellows, who worked on Martin's series 'The Fugitive', 'The FBI', 'Streets of San Francisco', 'Cannon', '12 O'Clock High', and 'The Untouchables' as well as 'The Invaders.'

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Goofs

Vikki's name appears with different spellings in different contexts. A sign outside the club where she works spells it "Vickie" while it is spelled "Vikki" on an interior sign. (One mitigating factor might be that the setting is bilingual with both Spanish- and English-speaking customers, but this would not adequately explain the discrepancies.)

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Quotes

Mark Evans: [Referring to a stripper who alledgedly saw a UFO] How do you like her, huh?
David Vincent: That'll depend.
Mark Evans: I was talking about her act.
David Vincent: So was I.

User Reviews

All "invaders" are not created equal

The third episode in Quinn Martin's sci-fi series features Suzanne Pleshette as "Vicki," an alien that has a distinct difference between herself and her fellow "invaders": she was born with the capacity to feel emotion. Though she is supposed to deliver an unsuspecting David Vincent (Roy Thinnes) to the location of an disabled alien ship, she warns David and reveals her alien origins. She is then equally hunted by her compatriots, like Vincent, through the desert. This makes for a tense episode as Vincent must deal with his prejudices about the aliens and his growing feelings for Vicki.

Thinnes and Pleshette make an intriguing couple on the run and veteran character actor Edward Andrews is fine as a seedy reporter with sinister motives of his own.

Also featured is Rodolfo Hoyos, Jr., a Hispanic actor that had a long and varied career in movies and television.

Because of its similar desert location, Dominec Frontiere's score is quite unlike the music that he would provide for "The Rat Patrol." And this installment shows, for the first time, how the aliens "die".