Controlled Experiment
- Episode aired Jan 13, 1964
- 51m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
664
YOUR RATING
A pair of Martians try to understand the human phenomenon of murder.A pair of Martians try to understand the human phenomenon of murder.A pair of Martians try to understand the human phenomenon of murder.
Bob Kelljan
- Frank Brant
- (as Robert Kelljan)
Linda Hutchings
- Arlene Schnabel
- (as Linda Hutchins)
Vic Perrin
- Control Voice
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
Leslie Stevens
- Martian Computer Control
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Leslie Stevens(uncredited)
- Writer
- Leslie Stevens(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis episode was an unsuccessful backdoor pilot for a potential spin-off series featuring the characters of Phobos and Deimos.
- GoofsThough Carla is frozen in time, she can be seen swaying slightly.
- Crazy creditsLeslie Stevens receives no credit as either writer or director.
Featured review
"The Outer Limits" goes for tongue-in-cheek in this episode ...
"The Outer Limits" goes for tongue-in-cheek in this episode with two Martians (assuming ordinary earthling appearance) who are sent to earth to study human beings. They are told there will be a murder taking place at a 'less than first class hotel' and take their equipment to the scene and wait for the event to take place.
The scene: A sexy blond waits in the lobby. The elevator door opens, a man steps out. The blond stands up and faces him.
Blond: "Bert Hamil!! You're a two-faced, no good, black-hearted two timer!" Man: "Carla!! Don't shoot!!" Blond: "Don't come begging to me. Take that!!" The gun goes off, the man grabs his chest and falls to the floor. (Love the dialogue--right out of a 40s murder mystery.) The Martians watch but are dumbfounded and have no clue so they decide to rewind the scene (in real time) but still draw a blank. Then they run it in slow motion, backward, forward, upside-down, inside-out, stop the action stepping into the scene for human physiology tests such as blood pressure, temp, etc., and now take the scene further back in time and follow him to find out where the man was coming from on the upper floors--a sexy brunette is up there. Still nothing. They finally decide to redirect the bullet trajectory to see what result that produces, and do so but according to headquarters, what they have done will alter future events with a devastating result to the solar system. Now they're in quandary and discuss what to do.
Considering television was in its teens in 1964, this "Outer Limits" episode isn't bad. Carroll O'Connor plays one of the Martians and its interesting to see him in action prior to his "Archie Bunker" fame.
The plot was hokey but enjoyable and the Martian equipment looked like gadgets anyone could have bought at a toy store in 1964; the special effects are simplistic (the director got a lot of mileage out of "the scene" by playing and replaying it) and when the Martians stepped into the stopped action, the actors did their best to hold their positions and not flinch.
If its a Saturday night and there's nothing else on cable, give this one a shot. Ooops.
The scene: A sexy blond waits in the lobby. The elevator door opens, a man steps out. The blond stands up and faces him.
Blond: "Bert Hamil!! You're a two-faced, no good, black-hearted two timer!" Man: "Carla!! Don't shoot!!" Blond: "Don't come begging to me. Take that!!" The gun goes off, the man grabs his chest and falls to the floor. (Love the dialogue--right out of a 40s murder mystery.) The Martians watch but are dumbfounded and have no clue so they decide to rewind the scene (in real time) but still draw a blank. Then they run it in slow motion, backward, forward, upside-down, inside-out, stop the action stepping into the scene for human physiology tests such as blood pressure, temp, etc., and now take the scene further back in time and follow him to find out where the man was coming from on the upper floors--a sexy brunette is up there. Still nothing. They finally decide to redirect the bullet trajectory to see what result that produces, and do so but according to headquarters, what they have done will alter future events with a devastating result to the solar system. Now they're in quandary and discuss what to do.
Considering television was in its teens in 1964, this "Outer Limits" episode isn't bad. Carroll O'Connor plays one of the Martians and its interesting to see him in action prior to his "Archie Bunker" fame.
The plot was hokey but enjoyable and the Martian equipment looked like gadgets anyone could have bought at a toy store in 1964; the special effects are simplistic (the director got a lot of mileage out of "the scene" by playing and replaying it) and when the Martians stepped into the stopped action, the actors did their best to hold their positions and not flinch.
If its a Saturday night and there's nothing else on cable, give this one a shot. Ooops.
helpful•269
- Mkeydude
- Apr 28, 2007
Details
- Runtime51 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
- 4:3
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