"The Outer Limits" Don't Open Till Doomsday (1964)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Gerd Oswald

Writer:

Joseph Stefano (written by)

TV Series:

"The Outer Limits" (1963)

Original Air Date:

20 January 1964 (Season 1, Episode 17)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Anthology | Cult Favorite | Psychotronic | Alien | Supernatural

Cast

Miriam Hopkins	...	Mary Kry
John Hoyt	...	Emmett Balfour
Russell Collins	...	Justice of the Peace
Buck Taylor	...	Gard Hayden
Nellie Burt	...	Justice's Mother
Melinda Plowman	...	Vivia Balfour Hayden
David Frankham	...	Harvey Kry Jr.
Anthony Jochim	...	Dr. Mordecai Spazman

Runtime:

51 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Daystar Productions

The acting makes up for the idiocy of the storyline

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Miriam Hopkins, whose ingénue days of the 20's had long gone, appropriately plays "Mrs. Fry," a batty bridesmaid whose intended had been abducted decades ago by an alien that came to Earth in a boxlike craft. The alien's intent was to rejoin his fellow beings and destroy the universe. Fortunately (for us), their plans were foiled and he became the wedding gift from a scientist that had revenge for Mr. Fry's (David Frankham) father.

Mrs. Fry wants to free her husband from the alien prison and the only way to do so is to find a substitute willing to find the information the alien needs. She thinks that she has found the perfect choice in a young couple (Buck Taylor and Belinda Plowman) fleeing from the girl's domineering father (John Hoyt in the second of three "Outer Limits" performances).

All of the plans go awry and the story ends with the alien "uncreating" itself, thus preventing the intended "doomsday." As far as the performances go, Hopkins, Hoyt, and Nellie Bly (as the wife of the justice of the peace) are standouts, matched only by Dominic Frontiere's masterful score.

Even though there are many questions concerning the logic of the "science" in this installment, one can look beyond that and relish in a trio of actors that really know how to tell a story.