The Twilights Zone (1959) 1.20

Elegy

starring Cecil Kellaway, Jeff Morrow, Don Dubbins, Kevin Hagen

written by Charles Beaumont

directed by Douglas Heyes

Three astronauts Captain James Webber (Kevin Hagen), Kurt Meyers (Jeff Morrow), and Peter Kirby (Don Dubbins) land on an asteroid that looks very much like 20th century Earth. They left Earth in the year 2185. Their spaceship got damaged. They had only just enough fuel to land on the asteroid. There are people on the asteroid but they are all frozen in place. None of them moving.

Webber, Meyers, and Kirby wander around town unsure what to make of what they have found. They meet a man who moves, Jeremy Wickwire (Cecil Kellaway). He tells them a little bit about where they are and then he tricks them. He drinks a toast with them but he is not human and what they drink kills them and preserves them. He puts them back on their spaceship and they become part of the museum piece that is on this asteroid.

Thoughts

I wonder what the shoot for this episode was like. The people who are frozen are all just standing there as still as possible. Some of them are unable to remain completely still and can be seen to be swaying just a tiny bit if you watch closely. 

One bit of information that comes up in this episode is that the Earth was devastated by an atomic war in 1985. 

There is something about Wickwire's motivations that reminded me a bit of Brainiac from Superman comics books and cartoons.

This was a weird one. It isn't awful but I would not say that it is a favorite. Maybe if I found the characters to be a little more interesting then I might like it more. I think it might have worked better for me if it had been played more as a horror story with Wickwire revealing his intentions to the audience in the opening minutes and then trapping the men one by one.

Notes

This is the first of two episodes of this show in which Cecil Kellaway appeared. He has been in a few movies that I have seen but none that I have seen recently.

This is the only episode of this show in which Jeff Morrow appeared. He also appeared in one episode of The Twilight Zone (1985).

This is the only episode of this show in which Don Dubbins appeared. He was in one episode of Kraft Suspense Theatre, 2.02 Operation Greif. He also appeared in episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955), The Invaders, The Six Million Dollar Man, and The Incredible Hulk.

This is the first of two episodes of this show in which Kevin Hagen appeared. He also appeared in one episode of Amazing Stories (1985).

This is the second of 22 episodes that was written by Charles Beaumont. The first was 1.09 Perchance to Dream. He also wrote episodes of Four Star Playhouse, Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955), and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

This is the second of nine episodes of this show that Douglas Heyes directed. The first was 1.11 And When the Sky Was Opened.