"The Twilight Zone" The Lonely (1959)

Director:

Jack Smight

Writer:

Rod Serling (writer)

TV Series:

"The Twilight Zone" (1959)

Original Air Date:

13 November 1959 (Season 1, Episode 7)

Genre:

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

Plot:

A convict, living alone in an asteroid, receives from the police a realistic woman-robot. |

Plot Keywords:

Convict | Asteroid | Futuristic | Shot In The Face | Loneliness

Cast

Rod Serling	...	Narrator (voice)
Jack Warden	...	James A. Corry
John Dehner	...	Captain Allenby
Jean Marsh	...	Alicia

Runtime:

25 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Filming Locations:

Desolation Canyon, Death Valley National Park, California, USA

Company:

Cayuga Productions

Trivia:

The first of many episodes (including "I Shot an Arrow Into the Air", "A Hundred Yards Over the Rim" and "The Rip Van Winkle Caper") to be filmed on location in Death Valley. Unprepared for the terrible conditions they would face, the crew suffered extreme dehydration and heat exhaustion and director of photography George T. Clemens even collapsed, falling from a camera crane while filming continued.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Corey is in solitary confinement on an asteroid. However, asteroids are neither large enough nor stable enough to hold an atmosphere.

Quotes:

James A. Corry: Alicia and I will climb into that ship of yours and we'll look out the port and we'll give it all a big kiss good-bye.
Adams: Who, Corry?
Captain Allenby: Oh, my dear God, I forgot her.
Adams: He's out of his mind. Who's Alicia?
Captain Allenby: A robot.
James A. Corry: She's a woman.
Captain Allenby: Corry, she's a robot.
James A. Corry: *She’s a woman*. She's gentle and kind. Allenby, she kept me alive. Why if it wasn't for her I'd have been finished. I'd have given up.

Compelling Story Of A Man And His Robot

"The Lonely" tells the futuristic story of a man found guilty of murder. His sentence is to serve 50 years on a small asteroid alone. This episode starts with the convict looking forward to a supply ship arriving with provisions for him. This ship visits every 3 months and provide the convict with a brief break from the tedious boredom of his daily life. The captain of the supply ship feels sorry for the convict and believes his story of self-defense. We are told he often prolongs his stay on the asteroid to visit, play cards, and entertain this prisoner. But, on this visit, the captain leaves the convict with a present: a robot companion. The rest of the episode deals with the prisoners relationship with the robot. This is a well-written episode of "The Twilight Zone". We feel for the prisoner and understand his loneliness as well as the many emotions he feels after meeting the robot. This episode is well worth watching. It earns 9.3 out of 10.