Moonquake (11 Nov. 1959)

Trailblazer I is on route to the Moon when one of the crew gets word their wife has been hurt in a car wreck. Although distracted, the crewman needs to focus all his skills and abilities to overcome a major accident.

Director:

Lee Sholem

Writer:

William Templeton

Stars:

William Lundigan, Arthur Franz, Denver Pyle

Cast

Episode cast overview:
William Lundigan	...	Col. Edward McCauley
Arthur Franz	...	Captain Tom Farrow
Denver Pyle	...	Dr. Peter Riber
Bek Nelson	...	Jane Farrow
Ross Elliott	...	Dr. George Batton
Britt Lomond	...	Bruegel
Robert Karnes	...	Sy Robbins
Ann Doran	...	Nurse
Mike Keene	...	Dr. Strauss
Leonard Graves	...	General
Sumner Williams	...	General's Aide

Storyline

McCauley takes two scientists to the moon to conduct seismographic experiments. His communication officer, Captain Tom Farrow, learns of his wife's car accident and begins to make mistakes. However, when a moonquake damages the ship and destroys the radio, Farrow is the crew's only help of repairing the radio so that they can contact Mission Control and summoning a rescue ship.

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Genres:

Sci-Fi

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 November 1959 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ZIV Television Programs

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Jane Farrow: You know one thing I've learned, Colonel?
Col. Edward McCauley: What's that?
Jane Farrow: Wives with husbands on the moon shouldn't look up while driving in traffic.

User Reviews

Thrilling moon adventure.

Col. McCauley heads a six-man lunar mission. As part of their study of the lunar crust a series of charges are placed and detonated. Moonquake! A fissure opens and an astronaut falls in. Other men are stranded by the fresh chasms. The ship topples over. Contact with Earth is lost. The best episode so far.

Effects highlights: On lunar surface miniatures fissures open, the ground moves, mountains wobble and the ship topples. McCauley leaps a wide chasm via wires and slow motion (He makes a test leap on solid ground first, in keeping with the shows emphasis on realism.) Astronauts stand on opposite outcroppings as an oxygen cylinder is tossed across a wider chasm to a stranded man. And later the ship's ladder is used to straddle the chasm as a makeshift bridge. Nice space shots of the descending moonship are used again.