"Men Into Space" Edge of Eternity (1959)

Director:

Nathan Juran

Writer:

Kalman Phillips (written by)

TV Series:

"Men Into Space" (1959)

Original Air Date:

2 December 1959 (Season 1, Episode 9)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Plot:

Shortly after leaving the Moon a spacecraft is hit by an asteroid destroying their oxygen supply. The three man crew now become engaged in a life and death battle to extend their oxygen supply long enough to make it home.

Plot Keywords:

Exploration | Astronaut | Space Travel | NASA

Cast

William Lundigan	...	Col. Edward McCauley
Joyce Taylor	...	Mary McCauley
Corey Allen	...	Lt. Johnny Baker
Kem Dibbs	...	Maj. Harvey Sparkman
Mary Webster	...	Ellen Baker
Louis Jean Heydt	...	Summers
Sue Carlton	...	Patsy Sparkman
Clark Howat	...	Maj. Gordon Briggs
Hal Hamilton	...	Westlake

Directed by
Nathan Juran

Writing credits
Kalman Phillips		(written by)

Produced by
Mel Epstein	....	associate producer
Lewis J. Rachmil	....	producer

Cinematography by
William P. Whitley		(as William F. Whitley)

Film Editing by
Joseph Silver

Casting by
Henry Rackin		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Robert Kinoshita

Set Decoration by
Charles S. Thompson		(as Charles Thompson)

Makeup Department
Bud Sweeney	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Joe Wonder	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dale Hutchinson	....	assistant director

Art Department
Chesley Bonestell	....	creator: space concepts
Walter McKeegan	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Al Lincoln	....	audio supervisor
Sidney Sutherland	....	sound editor (as Sid Sutherland)

Special Effects by
Thol Simonson	....	special effects (as Cy Simonson)

Visual Effects by
Irving Block	....	photographic effects
Louis DeWitt	....	photographic effects
Jack Rabin	....	photographic effects

Stunts
Jim Jacobs	....	stunt double: Bill Lundigan (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Michael Tierney	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Milton Lustig	....	music editor
David Rose	....	special theme music

Other crew
Lawrence D. Ely	....	technical advisor
Robert Warnes Leach	....	story editor
Harry R. Sherman	....	production coordinator (as Harry Sherman)
Maxwell Smith	....	instruments and equipment

Production Companies

• ZIV Television Programs

Distributors

• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1959) (USA) (TV)

Other Companies

• Ryder Sound Services  sound

Runtime:

30 min

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Company:

ZIV Television Programs

Quotes:

Col. Edward McCauley:I suppose that's something the wife of every spaceman has to get used to, is being away so much. it must get awfully dull for you.
Mary McCauley:Oh, it's many things, but it's never dull.

A ship looses oxygen. Time to draw straws.

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

After two weeks studying minerals on the moon, the three-man crew blast off for the space station in Earth orbit. On their way, they're hit by a small meteor and suddenly loose oxygen. They don helmets and stop the leak, then McCauley rigs a line from the oxygen fuel tank. But it's soon empty. A scientist on the station instructs them to turn their ship so the fuel tank faces the sun. This will heat and vaporize the remaining liquid oxygen, allowing them to pump it into the cabin. They make the maneuver, but calculations show that, counting the oxygen in the suit tanks, they've bought only enough time for one man to make it back alive. McCauley breaks a couple of pencils in half and they draw straws. The winner, at McCauley's insistence, puts on his helmet, and the losers set about writing their last letters home. But sitting behind his two doomed crew-mates, watching as they weaken by the minute, is two much for the young crewman. He removes his helmet. McCauley relents. All or nothing. They put on their helmets and hope for the best.

This is the first appearance of the space station we saw construction started on in episode three, and the second episode based on a ships loss of oxygen.