King Nine Will Not Return (30 Sep. 1960)
"The Twilight Zone" King Nine Will Not Return (original title)

A pilot of a downed WW II bomber comes to in the African desert and desperately tries to find out what happened to the rest of his crew.

Director:

Buzz Kulik

Writers:

Rod Serling, Rod Serling (created by)

Stars:

Robert Cummings, Gene Lyons, Paul Lambert

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Robert Cummings	...	Capt. James Embry (as Bob Cummings)
Gene Lyons	...	Psychiatrist
Paul Lambert	...	Doctor
Jenna McMahon	...	Nurse

Storyline

A USAF bomber pilot awakens in the desert, lying next to his downed B25 Mitchell. Capt. James Embry commanded the aircraft but has no memory of how he got there. More importantly to him, his crew is nowhere to be found. At one point, he even begins to wonder if he is hallucinating, especially after he sees one of his men momentarily sitting in the cockpit. When he awakens in a hospital bed he thinks it was all a dream but then wonders: did he really go back to the desert.

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Plot Keywords:

bomber | desert | missing person | world war two | hallucination | 

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Genres:

Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 September 1960 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cayuga Productions, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First Twilight Zone episode to feature the familiar Marius Constant theme. Also the first to feature an on-camera Rod Serling narration at the beginning of the episode.

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Goofs

Captain Embry mentions the name of his plane's waist gunner, but his B-25 is an earlier model without a waist gun position.

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Quotes

Narrator: [Closing Narration] Enigma buried in the sand, a question mark with broken wings that lies in silent grace as a marker in a desert shrine. Odd how the real consorts with the shadows, how the present fuses with the past. How does it happen? The question is on file in the silent desert, and the answer? The answer is waiting for us - in the Twilight Zone.

User Reviews

The name of Bob Cummings' character may be an in-joke.

Dear All,

"King Nine Will Not Return" is one of the very best episodes of "The Twilight Zone." The lead is "Captain James Embry," played by Bob Cummings. Captain Embry is a U.S.A.A.F. aircraft commander who wakes up in his B-25, "King Nine," which has crashed somewhere in a desert. He cannot remember how he came to be there; neither, despite searching for them frantically, can he find his crew.

When this episode was filmed, one of the best flight academies in the country was the "Embry-Riddle School of Aviation."

For its commander, King Nine's post-crash status is certainly an "Embry riddle"!

Sincerely,

Gordon F. Corbett