This 1961 broadcast of ONE STEP BEYOND (one of the very last episodes) features a familiar British cast, most of whom were making their debuts on American television. The series supposedly based their scripts on actual unexplainable events, and this one was no exception. Christopher Lee stars as Wilhelm Reitlinger, German officer during the First World War, assigned to finish putting up telegraph poles to increase communications to Berlin in 1915. Martin Benson plays Klaus Karnak, a simple farmer who, it is said, can see into the future and make things happen. Reitlinger is distraught over a letter from his beloved Elsa, and visits Karnak to ask what can be done. Karnak hypnotically permits Reitlinger to instantly travel to Berlin to see her, only to discover her bidding goodbye to another officer. Apparently friendly to the entire regiment, and dismissive of her one-time lover, Elsa is shot down by the jealous Reitlinger, who confesses to the murder, but cannot find anyone to believe him, seeking vengeance against the 'sorcerer' Karnak. A brief, black and white half hour, depending on its cast to pull off a difficult story. As Elsa, lovely Gabriella Licudi had a short career in England, distinguished by a starring role in the forgotten gem "Unearthly Stranger" (1963), where she played the sympathetic alien bride of John Neville. Martin Benson would never again work with Christopher Lee, but would immediately co-star with Peter Cushing in Hammer's "Captain Clegg" (1962). He also appeared in "The Strange World of Planet X" (1957), "Goldfinger" (1964, as the gangster crushed in the trunk by Oddjob), and "The Omen" (1976). Christopher Lee made rare forays into Hollywood prior to his 1976 relocation to America, the first being THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR ("The Sign of Satan") in 1964, and "Poor Devil," a 1972 TV movie opposite Sammy Davis Jr., a longtime fan of his Hammer classics (in 1966, he turned down the Clock King role, designed to appeal to international audiences, on the popular BATMAN, being replaced by Walter Slezak). He had previously appeared in the 1954 "At Night All Cats Are Gray" episode of Boris Karloff's British-filmed teleseries COLONEL MARCH OF Scotland YARD, syndicated in the US. At this time in 1961, Lee had just married, moving from England to Switzerland, and embarked on a series of Continental productions, mostly in West Germany and Italy, returning to England in 1963, beckoned by Hammer to star back-to-back in "The Devil-Ship Pirates" and "The Gorgon." The multilingual actor adopted an effective German accent for this role, and would actually essay a German-speaking role in an English-language American comedy, "1941" (1979), for director Steven Spielberg.
